Do you think with words?

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I believe I usually think with words.

But (to pick a number) it seems like maybe 20 or 30% of the time I'm awake, conscious, and probably thinking...
but there are no words to it.

Does anyone else have this experience?

I mean, do you think in words all day long?

Or are there times when your brain is "on," but its not verbal, symbolic, images, whatever...just seems like chemicals/compounds/gas clouds moving around or something...

What is going on during that time? (I have this idea there is a lot going on in our difficult to access subconscious all the time--much of it may not be verbal or translatable to a form we can logically understand)

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I believe I always think in words, but it's hard to be sure. Emotions can be pretty wordless.

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I think in words and images - and sometimes, I think, in something that is sort of in worldless concepts - or mebbe the words are there, but subliminal.

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I very rarely think in words. Exceptions would be if I'm thinking about what I will say to someone.

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FreeDuck wrote:

I very rarely think in words. Exceptions would be if I'm thinking about what I will say to someone.

Interesting. I think I do that sometimes. Whew, I'm not crazy--maybe.

What would you say you think in? Sometimes it seems like I'm thinking in entire concepts at once or something. Like maybe I'll read a really good gripping book that has an intense message.

And then, I won't exactly think in words when I remember what it taught me. Its like the book is this symbolic huge chunk of information...but that doesn't quite get at it either.

Its like thinking with different colored gas clouds or something. And the clouds can mix in an infinite number of ways & colors. Meaning & words sometimes drip out of these clouds, and sometimes it doesn't. It just stays in the colorful indescribable ethereal gas of thought.

Something like that. Not quite though.

Anyway, what would you say you think with if not words? Is it possible?

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Well, that's a good question. Sometimes I think in images albeit not very clear ones. Other times, it's something less tangible that, ha ha, there are no words for.

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Well if words such as red or blue symbolize the exact color that they are what is the difference between thinking of the color blue and thinking of the word blue. Its fun if you wanna waste some time. go between thinking of colors and picturing words and how to spell those colors. Try and figure out if your thinking words or colors

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Discreet wrote:

Its fun if you wanna waste some time.

Good points, D.

I guess that was part of my point. Just because you are not "thinking with words," is that wasting time?

I mean, must we think with words during every waking moment? Is it possible that some of our best breakthroughs in our lives come when no word-thinking was involved?

Just asking everyone's opinion, heck I don't know...

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When I accidentally burn my hand on the stove, my skin does
the thinking for me (and very quickly thank goodness!)

The actual words come a few seconds later.

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I let my mind do the thinking... When it's done it lets me know, and I can convey my thoughts in any way I chose. Sounds, images, words...

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I would guess both. I definately know I do think in words. The realization came when I was traveling in Great Britian for a few weeks and when I was thinking - the words came through to me in a British accent.

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dlowan wrote:

I think in words and images - and sometimes, I think, in something that is sort of in worldless concepts - or mebbe the words are there, but subliminal.

That is almost verbatim what I was going to write.

What have we learned here? Dlowan and I share the same thought process.

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there may be a rare occasion when i don't think with words- i feel awareness.

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I think I almost always think in words. Odd I thought everyone did.

Wierd!

TTF

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Here's another exercise, kind of related to the topic. What do you see in your head when you count to 30? What do the numbers look like in relation to one another? If I say to you "29", what comes to mind? The number itself, a quantity the size of 29, the number 29 with a 30 to the right and a 28 to the left? Or is the 30 above and the 28 below?

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A very good book i just read on thinking "Blink" discusses how your intial thoughts usually tend to be right and how thinking behind something skews your thought. I don;t agree with that because i think thinking without thought behind it always leads me into trouble. But in the book blink it gives examples of times where "first impressions" were right and how that intial thought your mind makes usually has come to more conclusions then you are aware of

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Discreet wrote:

A very good book i just read on thinking "Blink" discusses how your intial thoughts usually tend to be right and how thinking behind something skews your thought. I don;t agree with that because i think thinking without thought behind it always leads me into trouble. But in the book blink it gives examples of times where "first impressions" were right and how that intial thought your mind makes usually has come to more conclusions then you are aware of

D,

This sounds pretty cool. I think there is something too this. Its kind of like if you're not sure the answer on a multiple choice test, and you really are pretty much guessing, they say your first instanteous guess is more often correct than if you think about it tooooooooo much.

And its kind of like that in life sometimes. Sometimes we know things very well at a glance. But then we start thinking about it all too much and you can twist yourself into believing almost anything is correct.

There is something to be said for immediate first reactions.

But of course there is plenty of times I guess we need to think long and deep about certain things to come to the "best" conclusion.

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FreeDuck wrote:

Here's another exercise, kind of related to the topic. What do you see in your head when you count to 30? What do the numbers look like in relation to one another? If I say to you "29", what comes to mind? The number itself, a quantity the size of 29, the number 29 with a 30 to the right and a 28 to the left? Or is the 30 above and the 28 below?

The symbol for the number 29 comes along and pushes out 28, then 30 pushes out 29. Between that, and wavering to seeing it all on a sort of colored number line.

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thethinkfactory wrote:

I think I almost always think in words. Odd I thought everyone did.
Wierd!
TTF

And to think--you're The Think Factory!

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raheel wrote:

there may be a rare occasion when i don't think with words- i feel awareness.

I agree. Thats a good way to put it.

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Do you think with words?

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