Is my brain weird?
Whenever I am posed with a theoretical question my brain seems to automatically try to convert it to a graphic of some kind. Some kind of picture that I am familiar with that also follows the rules/laws of the theory being considered.
For example - when considering yin and yang or opposing forces dueling each other to equilibrium my mind pictured it as 2 of those log roller guys battling on the water. This is also the same picture my mind uses to understand extremists and centrists battling in political situations. If the extremists get too much energy on either side then both guys are in the water.
There are a bunch of other examples which is irrelevant but the point is does everyone think like that? When you are reading does it make a movie in your head? I don't know because I am only me. Do y'all think that way also??
2
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Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.It sounds to me like your brain is WIRED. 
BestWithoutGods
Level 8
Jan 1, 2019
2
wired? I might be high. that would be about it.
@kauva No, from what you've described, you have a wonderful thought process.
And I mean that in a good way.
@BestWithoutGods oh I wasn't taking it bad. I thought maybe you were saying that people on drugs do that. That would be interesting and appreciated information. namaste
@kauva Namaste.
Not weird. I'm similar. I know I'm highly visual--as well as verbal--and am trying to work around and take advantage of this propensity.
I'll develop this theme even further:
- Purposeful visualization: Not long ago I started to develop a habit of visualization as an effort to help remember things: a name or the title of a book (I would visualize the words, reading over the letters slowly, several times) ; counting repetitions (I would visualize sequential numbers, starting out hollow, then filling up with color, and bursting like a balloon before the next number appears) ; even lectures (I would pick out key words or concepts and marry it to an image in my mind, creating a running catalog of pictures; I try to keep track of different lectures, sermons, classes, etc. by "filing" them in a mental cabinet).
- Visual attention attenuation: I found that watching a speaker usually diverts some of my attention away from what's being said, so I'll often close my eyes or focus on something neutral like a wall or the floor. It seems like when my eyes are not getting visual input, my brain is more able to readily generate images to go along with the words I'm hearing, and that helps me better understand and retain the material. I sometimes tell people that when I'm looking away from their face as they talk, it means I'm paying even closer attention to their words.
Embrace your "weird". Use it.
stinkeye_a
Level 8
Jan 1, 2019
1
excellent! The purposeful visualization doesn't help me a whole lot. I have tried that over the years after getting a few of those "memory enhancement" packages and repetition does more for me. I would actually convert all my lecture material in grad school to questions and quiz myself constantly.
The visual attention attenuation is quite another story though. I agree with you a million percent there. If I am hearing information and making my own pictures in my mind then my understanding increases dramatically. I really lose something if I am forced to watch them. I keep trying to tell the Bar Association this as they put little visual alerts in the distance learning CLE's to make sure people are watching the screen. If I am forced to watch the screen I can't manipulate my internal pictures like I can if I am just hearing it.
Thx for the input!!
This illustrates how amazing our brains are and how each individual has their own unique brain. No two people think exactly alike. It is a futile undertaking to try to force individuals into thinking only one way, thus the issues with politics and religion (among other things).
jlynn37
Level 8
Jan 1, 2019
1
I think that's a big plus, and one that my brain lacks. I'm more spatially gifted. Given what you described, you must score incredibly high on a Pictorial IQ test.
Darius77
Level 6
Jan 1, 2019
0
thats nice of you but I wouldnt score high on any IQ test. I am not that smart.
i do think visually to an extent, and i do see stuff happening when i read, as if watching a movie, but no, the visualizations don't match yours too closely. that doesn't make either of us weird (or NOT weird, for that matter).
g
genessa
Level 8
Jan 1, 2019
0
this is what I'm interested in. I wouldnt think our visualizations would be the same because we have different experiences. I just didnt know if everyone thinks like that.
If your brain is not weird you should not be on this site. Thanks for the images they are now lodged in my brain too.
Fernapple
Level 9
Jan 1, 2019
1
really? you think agnostics are weird?? I've always thought the other side was weird in that regard.
@kauva No of course agnostics and atheists are not weird, but this site is fun, so the ones on here must be.
@kauva Agnostics are weird in the respect that 70% of Americans believe in an invisible man floating around in the sky watching what 7.5 billion people are doing and thinking. Ghosts, spirits and the supernatural seem to be the norm. I'm happy to count myself as weird and not a sheep.
@rogueflyer thats a good point. I agree with you there. I am a buddhist in that regard but I don't believe in any deity.
@kauva How about reincarnation? Humanism is similar to Buddism but without the reincarnation, karma aspect. I'll make a post of my favorite definition of Humanism. All the best.
@rogueflyer Well said.
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