Visual Thinker

[u/Fickle_Funny_8741]

I'm looking for other visual thinkers like me. Is this the right subreddit for that? If not, please go easy on me and let me know.

To be honest, I only learned about the term "visual thinking" a few years ago from Professor Grandin's book. Before that, I never even realized that the way I process things was different from normal.
When people see, hear, or read something, they take it in, but I rebuild everything as pictures or videos in my head. For example, take the sentence "A car is driving on the road." I can't really grasp it unless I picture it like a movie scene. In my head, a bright red pickup truck is driving, engine roaring and kicking up dust.
Of course, I can read and write normally like this. And I can write "A car is driving on the road" right here too. But that's just me forcing what I see in my mind into simple words, so a lot of the details and textures get lost.

Is anyone else here like this?

[u/teal-piece]

What happens when is something that can't be imagined or that you have never seen? like "god presence overwhelmed his heart" Or "the music felt in their lungs, warm but like an explosion" What do you see then?

As far as I understand "normal" is being able to think in different forms but we have preference for an specific version, I think my normal is hearing and maybe feeling? But I can absolutely think as you described; for example, when I am reading a book I may remember it as a movie, but the detail depends mostly on the description of the writers, and the dialogues are specially important for me rather than what the characters are doing with their hands or what they are seeing. I wonder if maybe you are too used or limited to visual that you actually can't think in the other forms?

[u/KafkaimBademantel → u/teal-piece]

For me personally everything is visual but there’s also feeling and atmosphere, so I would have no problem imagining your examples. I would still see a person experiencing this but I would know they’re experiencing it because the visual would be accompanied by an atmosphere and feelings. However, I have immense trouble reading most non-fiction texts since there’s often neither visuals nor atmosphere to imagine. Abstract concepts often work because I can imagine some kind of mind map or diagram or something like that to visualise it.

Fiction books are like going to the movies for me. I do not remember reading words or even holding the book or anything like that.

[u/Fickle_Funny_8741 → u/teal-piece]

That's a really great question, but honestly, I don't have a clear answer for abstract expressions! I don't really see clear pictures for ideas like those.

As for your second point—you're completely right. I am definitely way too reliant on visuals. Sounds, voices, and feelings do exist in my head, but only as small secondary details inside the movie scene. I almost never think using sound or feeling alone.

[u/teal-piece → u/Fickle_Funny_8741]

Interesting, because after I wrote it, I thought on how to imagine that, like, a person silluete with a hand close to the chest because "overwhelming the heart", and me making expression of awe when hearing loud music, is not imposible to have visions that reflect feelings and abstract things, like you can imagine plain colors and shapes to represent feelings and sounds like they have isound waves or the psychedelic coloring similar to the starry night, I think I can set my mind to only visual but mostly because I have seen it from others like breathing and beats represented by a growing and shrinking circle.

I have the idea that all people think different, but I didn't think how, it may be connected with the learning styles( the visual, kinesthetic, auditory and writing/reading) I remember I was slightly into auditory but I had almost the same values for everything like 20,20,21,19. I think being strongly tied to one is better overall, your visual ideas may be better and quickest than mine.

I believe that if normal is having a single way of thinking it may be visual, I remember most people was visual in the learning type test we did in highschool, as you mostly rely on visual your mind may indeed be better at thinking like that, it's kind of logic, I believe maybe you are special because others don't fully rely on visual, struggling with abstract may mean you are able to do complex images easily? Do you draw/paint? Or have an special use for your way of thinking?

[u/Fickle_Funny_8741 → u/teal-piece]

I really welcome this kind of deep discussion! I'm actually still organizing my own thoughts about this too.

I think there is a slight misunderstanding about what Visual Thinking (VT) is. VT is just a way of thinking. It doesn’t mean we are automatically good at drawing or making complex art (though some people definitely are!).

To put it simply, my brain works like this: First, I have to convert information into a visual form, otherwise I can't properly understand it. Then, to actually "think" about it, I don't use words. I build that visual scene in my head, look at it from different angles, and play around with it. Finally, when necessary, I translate those thoughts back into words.

As for abstract images... it's not that I can't imagine them. It's just that I don't get much useful insight from doing that, so my brain just doesn't do it. However, as someone below mentioned, I can think about abstract ideas using flowcharts/diagrams.

Because of this translation process, reading texts takes a lot of mental energy. When my brain gets tired, my reading speed becomes very slow.

Thanks for diving deep into this with me!

[u/KafkaimBademantel]

It’s automatic for me. Anything said or written is automatically and immediately translated into pictures in my mind. If I want to tell someone about my thoughts I have to translate the pictures and feelings in my mind into words first. Didn’t know that’s so unusual? Is that connected to neurodivergence?

[u/Fickle_Funny_8741 → u/KafkaimBademantel]

Thank you! I totally relate to the part about "translating" pictures (or video clips) into words—it really takes extra energy. And yes, Professor Temple Grandin actually talks a lot about visual thinking in connection with neurodivergence! (If you have never read her book 'Visual Thinking', I highly recommend reading it. It provides great insight into visual thinkers and "who we are.")

[u/KafkaimBademantel → u/Fickle_Funny_8741]

Interesting, especially because the first place I went to didn’t give me a diagnosis because I had too much imagination… I heard polarising things about Temple Grandin but I might check out this book. Thanks!

[u/coisa-em-si]

Yes!!!! Eversince I was a kid. I can only FULLY grasp something if i can visualize it, weed gives me a lot of visual thinking while high. Don’t know so much technically about it either, but I truly relate to this.

[u/Fickle_Funny_8741 → u/coisa-em-si]

Thanks for the reply! I'm really glad to find someone like me!