NationStates Jolt Archive

Before a flood of sarcastic replies comes in, I'd like to explain what I mean by this question.

I discovered awhile back that I may be unusual for my mode of thinking. When I first have a thought, it comes to me in written language. Only then does my mind's "voice" read it. The "voice" never says anything that written words do not, so I consider my primary mode of thought to be written, as opposed to spoken language.

Choose only your PRIMARY mode of thought. Other modes that "follow" from your first way of thinking do not count (ex: spoken language does not count for me because it can only follow the written).

There are other modes, too, which I've given as options. I'm curious to see how unusual I really am, or am not. ;-)

I'm like you - thoughts tend to appear in written words at first. However, I quite often have a combination of images and "sounds" as well, though they are not as prevalent as the written words and do not always show up.

Edit to clarify: That is, I always have text unless I'm thinking of what something should sound like when I'm playing an instrument. I almost always have images and "sound" at the same time as the text.

What sort of sound do you mean, musical, or other non-verbal sounds?

Another note about my particular mode of thought...for a long time I could not understand how people could misspell words they had seen once, because for me, to hear a word is to see it in my mind, or to think it is to do so in written form.

I find I think in music/sound far more than most people do. My metaphors tend to be sound-based and I've got a constant jukebox playing in my head.

For the record, Barenaked Ladies' "If I Had a Million Dollars" is currently playing.

What sort of sound do you mean, musical, or other non-verbal sounds?

Mainly musical, as I do a lot with music so that takes up a lot of my thought processes. ^_^ Though, other sounds do occur, just not nearly as often.

As to the bewilderment at the misspelling of words, I'm in the same boat as you, heh.

I find I think in music/sound far more than most people do. My metaphors tend to be sound-based and I've got a constant jukebox playing in my head.

For the record, Barenaked Ladies' "If I Had a Million Dollars" is currently playing.

I also have the jukebox thing in my head, too. ;-)

But for you, does that mean that when you think of concepts, they are expressed by music and non-verbal sounds? (Pardon my confusion.)

I also have the jukebox thing in my head, too. ;-)

But for you, does that mean that when you think of concepts, they are expressed by music and non-verbal sounds? (Pardon my confusion.)Not so much--I can understand abstract concepts as visual symbols or in terms of language, but the default tends to lean toward music. Here's an example--I currently work part-time in a brewery on the bottling line, where I interact with various types of machinery. I tend to see that interaction as a dance of sorts, where the machinery sets the pace and I have to learn to dance with it. I've tried to work with it in other ways, but the dance metaphor seems to work best for me in that situation.

Depending on the situation, my mind feels like a news coverage with an image a commentator. God it's like watching mainstream news 100% of the time. :p

spoken word, my spelling is to bad to think in written words, i'd never be able to read my own thoughts well enough to know what i've thinking. also like speech my thoughts are generally not broken up into nice concise sentences, more like giant run ons and short phrases all jumbled together.

As I understand your question, my primary mode of thought is spoken. However, my primary perception input and learning are very visual.

Interesting topic. Mostly because I have always presumed human thought to be more or less a similar thing between individuals.
I my case mostly a mixture I guess, but predominantly spoken language. However being a scientist there are issues where language in itself is insufficient and in these cases I think in imagery and charts. With that said I am one of those people who "speaks before he thinks" meaning that I think at an alarmingly high pace and I am pretty sure it wouldn't make much sense written down. Naturally this is annoying as I frequently think way ahead of the issue at hand.
I always think in the language I am using. It takes a few minutes to "switch", but I never have to translate in my mind. There are exceptions to this. For instance if I am using English and have to count in my head the first 10 numbers are in English whereafter I switch to Danish (my native language). I attribute this to the very peculiar numbering system of the Danish language.

At one time, I was sure that my mode of thought was the way everyone thought! You don't question something like that that seems so inherent in the nature of thought itself...even though you're the only available data point out there. ;-)

I think at a fast pace, too...imagine what it would be to see full sentences emerge in your mind (or at least several-word phrases), fully written out, punctuated, and so on, with no effort. That is what my thoughts look like--almost exactly like you see on this page, except only one sentence or clause remains in my mind's eye at a time. It contributes to a slightly annoying echo-effect, though. The thought appears, and is then "read aloud" more closely. ;-)

What's interesting is the effect this has on me speaking. I find it difficult sometimes, when I'm trying to say something very complex because conversations don't flow like that. Written language has its own conventions, once you think about it--there is not the same degree of slanginess or liberties taken in it, plus in writing it's a lot harder to interrupt someone mid-sentence. ;-) If someone interrupts me, sometimes I can lose the entire next sentence ahead, because my thoughts occur in full sentences, or at least large clauses. I DEFINITELY have to "think before I speak"...it's very important for me to have a clear idea where I'm headed before I start to speak. I wonder whether it would be accurate or not to say that spoken language is in fact my second language! (To further confuse the matter, I've been told that when I was very little, I had tremendous difficulty taking in spoken language, and it was only when I was taught to read at age 2 1/2 that I ever spoke properly for my age.)

I think primarily by spoken word, but I know that sometimes there's something else going on. For instance, I will occasionally (~once/week) be having a train of thought, get distracted, and as I think about the distraction at some level, repeat the last few words of what I was thinking of before over and over in my head until the distraction has been fully processed and I mentally listen to what I've been repeating and try to use that to remember what I was thinking about (How's that for a run-on sentence :D). When I'm thinking about distractions like that, the thought doesn't seem to be verbal, visual, or associated with anything else in particular - just thought.

Never images. I tend not to conceptualize in terms of objects but in terms of relationships. When I have a concept and wish to codify it I primarily use the verbal thought process, but that's not really a good description of what is basically an internal editorial debate, constantly reorganizing and reforming the concept until it is pinned down with words. I wind up with numerous concepts beyond my ability to use language to communicate, they remain concepts with verbalizations which almost express them, but not quite. I also tend to wind up with concepts where a relationship leads somewhere, but I don't have/know where it leads, a black box that I can't get my mind arround.

I think in mainly speech and sounds, images sometimes.

How can you think in text? I really can't imagine it. And do you make typo's?

... i dunno... i seem to think most in bullet point, making sentance stucture hard for me... i use these dots a lot. >_<

Just straightforward vocalization for me.

I tend to "hear" myself when I think. What I hear tend to lead me into writing what I hear. Sometimes what I write may actually be wortj reading.

Sometimes what I write may actually be wortj reading.
LOL

I gave it a little more thought and I came up with a demonstration of how I think. When I'm typing I will sometimes type homonyms rather than the words I was intending because I say the sentence in my head and write what I hear. For instance I have found myself typing "light" instead of "life" while typing quickly.

How can you think in text? I really can't imagine it. And do you make typo's?

LOL on the typos! ;-)

My answer to that would be, only in ignorance. If I've never heard a word before, and someone says it, my mind tries to put the most reasonable/likely spelling on it. But once I have seen the word, there are no typos.

It depends.

When I do math; I see shapes.
When I do Networking; I see binary :eek:
....

It varies.....

I expect everyone's primary method is unconscious - if you need to pick up a mug to drink, you just do it, you don't say "I'm going to pick up the mug" in your mind. But, secondarily, it is spoken word. Spoken much more properly than I actually do, weirdly enough.

I think I think in words (spoken language if you insist), followed by image.

I am generally better at languages than at maths, and I am right handed.
Would you say I have a dominant left brain half?

What do you mean by "signs"? I assume that would be like images, but thats another option.

Mostly I think in spoken words, though abstract and music can come in too, especially when I'm tired.

But I know what it's like thinking in written words. It's been happening to me over the past couple of weeks, from writing a couple of big reports against the clock. It's like your thoughts appear on a small screen in front of your mind's eye, ready drafted, punctuated and formated for easy comprehension.

What do you mean by "signs"? I assume that would be like images, but thats another option.

Are you referring to the option of "Signed language"?

If that's the case, I'm referring to things like American Sign Language, and other gestural languages.

A combination of sensory images (visual, olfactory, taste, tactile, audtiory) and/or emotional impulses which are most closely related to the given thought.

I find I think in music/sound far more than most people do. My metaphors tend to be sound-based and I've got a constant jukebox playing in my head.

For the record, Barenaked Ladies' "If I Had a Million Dollars" is currently playing.
I have an audio recall that's kinda creepy. NOT perfect pitch, and often can't sing melodies, but if I hear it I can play it in my head for quite some time. Break it down, slow it down, all that. I could do that before I studied music. Didn't help as much as you'd think. Probably cause of the practicing thing....

I think visually with sound, kinda like trailers for ideas playing in my head...which explains why I went the way I did with things I guess.

My colaborator does things the way the original poster does. He says he doesn't picture a tree, he pictures the description of the tree. Weird.

I just realized I could alter settings, and now I notice everyones got sigs...it's a strange new world.....

Are you referring to the option of "Signed language"?

If that's the case, I'm referring to things like American Sign Language, and other gestural languages.
Yeah, thanks. :)

I often hear a voice in my head as I read or write, and usually think a whole lot faster than I talk, or can read/write. MY spelling is almost perfect, unless I happen to not be thinking about what I'm writing and don't pick up any mistakes. I go over things thoroughly, and often many times over, in order to ensure it's right.

You're welcome, Kleptonis.

BTW, the way I think certainly doesn't mean absence of image or sound...it's just that without a conscious effort, I can't form real concepts without seeing the written words in my mind.

My primary mode of thought SEEMS to be mainly symbolic. The first layer of my process seems to be heavily dependent on representations (icons, if you like) and description (visual and verbal metaphor).

Perhaps that explains why I was always good at math.

The next layer of my process is a conscious thought-stream (which, I am aware is non-vocal... since I can 'program' my thought into a 'vocal' thought stream instead, if I wish...). My conscious thought-stream arrives in one of two forms: 1) An internal dialogue, where two facets of the same 'voice' debate an issue... which is my 'analytical' mode and 2) An internal 'voice-over', which seems to arrive fully scripted, although it is sometimes edited in situ, by the 'analytical' mode.

I think mainly in images, not only symbolic stuff, but when I think of things I have to do I think in the actual actions I have to take; speech and writing only come along when I need to think about talking or writing/reading. You could say I do Real-Mode Thinking (tm) :P