I guess I'm a pattern thinker?

[Dark Jaguar]

People are way WAY more different than I ever knew. Now I know what this one old teacher I had insisted that thought was "impossible" without language, which seemed so bizarre to me since I don't usually think in words at all but rather connect the raw ideas and logic in my head instead. I can "picture" things, but I guess some people do it like, literally and not metaphorically?

[A Black Falcon]

... How does thinking not in words even work? I've heard of it, but it doesn't make much sense...

[Dark Jaguar]

I just... think the thoughts that the words represent. That's all words are when you get right down to it, shorthand for ideas. Like, if you are thinking about how a light switch works, words don't come into it, right? You just think the logic of it all. The downside is I have trouble communicating sometimes because it takes a bit for me to put my thoughts into words.

[A Black Falcon]

I just... think the thoughts that the words represent. That's all words are when you get right down to it, shorthand for ideas. Like, if you are thinking about how a light switch works, words don't come into it, right? You just think the logic of it all. The downside is I have trouble communicating sometimes because it takes a bit for me to put my thoughts into words.

Words are shorthand for ideas? No, as far as I'm concerned ideas are words! It's clearly possible, but I can't really imagine not thinking in words... trying to imagine other ways of thinking seems to be pretty difficult.

[Dark Jaguar]

I have to imagine that if for you words are so integral to the way you think, you must not have trouble putting things into words. Like, you must just, think it and it's already in a speakable format. That's got to be convenient.

I am curious though, how do you think about how, say, a light switch works? Like, if you're looking directly at one wired right in front of you, or just playing around with one and figuring out the logic. Do you have to convert the notions into words to understand it, or is that something you grasp without any need for words?