How do you think?

I think in words and also, like others, talk to myself in my head. (I live mostly alone so that's probably why!) I think things like, 'you need to do xyz' as a means of geeing myself up, but if my daughter were present, would then say, 'I need to do xyz'.

I can't imagine thinking in images purely because I can have weeks where I don't speak to anyone. I think I'd go bananas! At least I hear a voice, albeit my own.

When my late husband read a book, he told me he could ‘see’ every scene as if it happened to be a Tv programme!

I definitely think in colour images, but I do a crossword every day and read a lot, but when I read, I do visualise what and who I am reading about.

Made me quite cross when I saw tiny Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher when the book clearly describes a cross between Arnie and Dolph Lundgrun

Also one of my sons thinks in words which means he’s always had real trouble reading books as he can’t imagine the story that he’s reading. It’s just words.

I think in images. I have to picture something before I say it.

I can visualise almost anything and when I read books my mind conjures up all the characters and settings in huge detail. I cant really watch films or dramas of books I have read because they always disappoint me - most of the characters and settings are 'wrong' i.e. not the same as the ones my brain has dreamed up. Radio however is fine, I can still construct my version of everything.

I asked DD2 if she could imagine sitting on a beach in her head and she cannot. She is very articulate though and has a masters degree. I can do this this without any problem but DH is just the same as she is. They know what an apple is but can’t visualise one whereas I can ‘see’ every variety of apple and stages of ripeness.

Words for me - sometimes spoken to myself i.e. I need a drink - ok then lets have a coffee. Sometimes if I am shopping I will converse with myself and occasionally someone else will join in - good fun and a way of chatting to people. Makes me sound completely nuts.

I think in words, in whichever of my languages I happen to be speaking at the time, or thinking in, writing or reading.

But when I think of people I know, or my pets, I see them in my mind's eye.

I have a very intellegent friend who told me once, quite recently, that she never thinks in pictures. I did not know that was possible. Art means very little to me, but I think in pictures as well as words,

And in musical phrases, if it comes to that, and dance steps.

I talk to myself, so it must be words!

I remember asking my mother, who was German, but spoke perfect English without any accent, what language she thought in, and her answer was "English "

Definitely words and imaginary conversations. Even here I will think ( sometimes even type out) responses never speaking or sending them. Just because they are ever changing. Pretty convinced I have some kind of adhd tendencies.

I don't think we think in words. We think in concepts and put them into words later on. If we limited all thought to words we already know, how would anything ever have been invented? We would still be eating raw meat and dying of simple infections before we were 25.

I hear myself think in an American accent!
Probably after bingeing on an American series. it is a very interesting subject. 🤷🏼‍♀️

I think in words, sentences. Not pictures. I can with an effort conjure up a picture but it doesn’t come naturally.

Actually NT or ND here does not mean much. We all think.
I personally thrive on ideas and reading....I can spend 1000 days alone in my own thinking fuelled by books, programs or memories....

And then I have this man colleague who bless him is very inoffensive but has 0 social filter, grew up in the Zulu cultures and basically tells everyone all single thought that comes to his mind.

We think using words , images, sensations, concepts. Thoughts occur to us all the time which we correct if we have moral compass or accept if we don't. Sometimes we daydream and can have visions, sometimes we sit down and think practically on purpose. Musical people get even more fun because they are genius ...then the physicists must be amazing in their own brains

then you have philosophers who ponder things without any success just a lot of theory

M0nica

I am neurodivergent and I do not think in words or pictures. I think in concepts.

I think that best describes how I think too. I’ve tried to identify how I decide to do something, and just then I remembered I had to close the shed door. It was neither words nor an image of the shed, and I think a concept is the best way to describe it.
I’m going to read Gardiner, as J52 suggested, as I’m finding this interesting.

I write and draw, so I probably think visually. Not that I have ever thought about it before now. A bit like breathing .

Whethertomorrow

This is so interesting.

I don’t know which one I do, I’ve never noticed if I do one or the other consistently.

I do know I don’t think of myself as ‘I’ . It’s always ‘you’. Example you should get up and have a shower. What does that mean? Should I be worried I’m a psychopath or something?

Hope there’s a lot more answers.

I say ‘ come on Oreo, get moving!’ In my head it’s either my name or ‘I’ never ‘you’.😁

I think in both words and pictures, depending on the subject matter.
Since animals don’t have the luxury of language I suppose that they picture things in their minds.

Aah eddiecat78 that’ll be me then. I can’t remember my daughters car make I know it’s not white or red. If asked to describe someone’s appearance …At a loss and asked if someone is good looking or not ditto…I only really notice stunning attractiveness or staggering unattractiveness🙃

If I am looking for the coffee beans, I visually think of a red package in my head.

I am unable to visualise. I can't do meditations which require me to "imagine a peaceful place/beautiful flower etc"
I also have a very poor visual memory - eg I've seen my daughter's car many times but couldn't tell you what colour it is. But I can remember conversations I've had word for word.

I am neurodivergent and I do not think in words or pictures. I think in concepts.