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Yeah, I don't visualize text when I think, it's more of a spoken voice kind of thing. Only silent, and it is my voice as I hear it when I speak out loud that I imagine in my mind. (And yeah I've done the thing of listening to a recording of my own voice and felt utter horror at how different it sounds from a perspective other than my own head.)
But for instance if I am thinking about what kind of house I may wish to buy one day, I am not visualizing a mental picture of things, I am thinking my own inner voice-over saying, "Definitely prefer privacy in the backyard, hate when you see the windows of the neighbors houses peering at you, in fact if I see the neighboring houses a few feet away on either side in the listing image, I'm gonna pass it by. Those cookie cutter suburbs are the worst. I'd like to have some trees, but not too many..." and so on. It becomes a list. Hell, sometimes literally, I make lists.
As soon as something silly happens in my life, I am spinning it into words to use as an anecdote later. I will mentally tell and retell the story until I feel I can remember the important bits, then share it to amuse my husband.
I saw a thing recently online where it had something like these words: "A woman with an apple on her left, and a pineapple on her right" and it asked, when you read those words, do you just hear them sound out in your head, or do you build a picture of it in your mind, and if so is it sharp and detailed or is it fuzzy?
I will automatically sound out the words in my brain, I won't automatically build the image. But when I'm reading a book, sometimes I will slow down on purpose to savor something descriptive and build some imagery before moving on with what's happening in the story. I CAN imagine scenes of imagery or other sensory information, I just don't do it by default.
OK, when I read your apple/pineapple line, I could see a mental image of those relative to the woman. The fruit was kind of distinct while the woman was kind of indistinct. The fruit images were better than that of the woman.
So maybe that is what they mean by thinking in images because yes, I could see those when I read the line.
OK, when I read your apple/pineapple line, I could see a mental image of those relative to the woman. The fruit was kind of distinct while the woman was kind of indistinct. The fruit images were better than that of the woman.
So maybe that is what they mean by thinking in images because yes, I could see those when I read the line.
I have to stop reading and make an effort to visualize that image. I can do it, but it’s not automatic at all.
I have an inner narrator. I do have some thoughts that are more of a visualization, but usually not a highly vivid or detailed one. Most of my thinking is in words.
And I was also an insatiable reader as a child, learned to read at a young age, and for most of my life I have one if not multiple books that I am reading at any given time.
This is very interesting. I am exactly the same.
Not only do I think in sentences (as well as have photographic memory), but when doing something like driving I think ahead in scenarios and walk myself through them as if they were happening so I'll be ready when and if they do happen. It actually works, too. I've only ever had to put those scenarios to use twice that I can remember, but it only proved to me that it could be done, that you can train yourself to act a certain way in an emergency.
As far as reading, I cannot help but read everything I see. I memorized the side panel of the Brownberry Croutons box at home when I was a kid. I knew the ingredients in my Crunchberries. My parents would joke about it, but I feel pretty lucky that my dad was a teacher and he instilled the love of reading in me.
And to this day I still love real books. I do not have Kindle or any other reading app on my phone, although I really should do that. Because all those hardcovers take up a lot of space and they're more expensive than getting the Kindle version.
But for instance if I am thinking about what kind of house I may wish to buy one day, I am not visualizing a mental picture of things, I am thinking my own inner voice-over saying, "Definitely prefer privacy in the backyard, hate when you see the windows of the neighbors houses peering at you, in fact if I see the neighboring houses a few feet away on either side in the listing image, I'm gonna pass it by. Those cookie cutter suburbs are the worst. I'd like to have some trees, but not too many..." and so on. It becomes a list. Hell, sometimes literally, I make lists.
As soon as something silly happens in my life, I am spinning it into words to use as an anecdote later. I will mentally tell and retell the story until I feel I can remember the important bits, then share it to amuse my husband.
Are you adopted? Have I met one of my long lost siblings?
When I was reading, inner monologue was 'reading', but I was also visualizing what I was reading - at the same time.
So, if you're reading a book, and you have an inner monologue, are you just seeing the words, or what are you seeing while you're reading and your inner monologue is doing the reading.
I'm hearing my voice read the words but visualize the setting, the people, and the objects, as long as the author is a good storyteller.
If they aren't, I can't finish the book. I hate putting a book down that I haven't completed; it makes me feel...not whole...but on the other hand, I can't deal with reading terrible books.
Give me a math problem and I visualize the process.
Give me a math problem and it's the only time the slate is completely blank. It's embarrassing. I never passed Pre-Algebra. The whole of my high school was spent taking it over and over and going to summer school, until my senior year when my guidance counselor told me math could be an elective, so I picked the Jane Fonda class in gym.
But a few years later I became a programmer. For some reason I could do variables as long as it's in language form. Figure that one out.
This reminds me that a couple of years ago, I found a solution to my lifelong problem of having trouble getting to sleep. I deliberately turn off the "voice" in my head and imagine myself in a scene. For example, I imagine walking up a long, steep trail on a cold, snowy day. I am tired, wet, and freezing cold. Finally I come across a small abandoned cabin, go inside, and use some scraps of wood that are lying around to build a fire in the fireplace. The flames crackle and the room becomes warm and cozy.... by then I am asleep.
This works most of the time. But if I lie there and let myself keep thinking in words like I do all day, I may stay awake for hours.
I've been working on a mental novel most of my life. It has been influenced in major ways all along, depending on what I've seen or experienced for myself, what I've read, watched, or heard during my lifetime. While it didn't have anything to do with trying to get to sleep initially, it has served me well when I did need that. Sometimes I tweak little details, sometimes it gets major re-writes. Characters, locations, situations, and outcomes can change any time. Whenever I happen to have down time such as sitting in a waiting room or an airport or trying to release the day's events after going to bed, I can flip the switch to novelist mode and sort of float away. Next thing I know, time's up and life continues. It's there whenever I need a bit of pleasant distraction and the sense of creating something new always feels good.
OK, when I read your apple/pineapple line, I could see a mental image of those relative to the woman. The fruit was kind of distinct while the woman was kind of indistinct. The fruit images were better than that of the woman.
So maybe that is what they mean by thinking in images because yes, I could see those when I read the line.
I am like Igor. First I have to remember which is right and which is left , but then I see the pineapple on one side, the apple on the other and the woman indistinct in the middle. I don't see any words. The word immediately gets translated into the image.
It would be confusing if I had an inner (or outer for that matter) narrator. Who would be speaking, and who would be doing the listening? Listening to an inner monologue means we aren't in present time. We miss the moment while we're up there in our head, when reality is right in front of us.
I do occasionally catch myself falling into that trap. It's an illusion, a fantasy, and I prefer reality. Whenever I become aware of this happening, I pull my attention back to my breath. It's a Zen or mindfulness practice that always works.
In the end, it isn't important what I think. Much of that is personal opinions or how I thought about something in the past. I care about what is actually happening right now, and I cannot experience it while my mind is "mindlessly" chattering away. This doesn't mean that I don't plan and kick around different schemes or scenarios around because of course that has it's place, but it also has to be put back IN it's place when it's done.
It's impossible to listen and fully pay attention while that inner narrator is jabbering away. It isn't "me" anyway, it's just thoughts, and they bubble up and often don't mean a thing. The brain's job is to think and our mind should be directing those thoughts. Noticing the thoughts, we go back to the breath and they dissipate. Guess they weren't so important after all.
Last edited by stephenMM; 03-02-2024 at 08:45 AM..
While I do use both imagery and narrator it depends on what I'm thinking about. When I'm imagining, planning, or trying to figure something out it's usually in images. If I'm rehearsing what to say or write to someone obviously that is narrated. I don't tend to narrate my life to myself but I do tell stories to others and that tends to be narrated. I visualize and dream in fine detail and full color along with other sensory input: hearing, touch and smell. Now that I am retired and have more time to spend on the computer recreationally, one interesting thing I've noticed is dreaming about text: typing and editing..."seeing" the text appear and disappear as it is revised. Sometimes in typical dream manner the sentences don't always track together, they jump from topic to topic. It can be quite funny or confusing. I don't visualize test while awake.
Same. I have an inner narrator that seems really hard to get to chill when I want it to. I also visualize when planning, even if it's something logical like financial planning.
Seeing text in a dream seems interesting. One of the other posters on here commented a while back being able to read in a dream in rare. I don't remember ever doing that.
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, but then I see the pineapple on one side, the apple on the other and the woman indistinct in the middle. I don't see any words. The word immediately gets translated into the image.