Thread: Thinking Without Words

You actually think with words? I've never done that before. I remember my friend asking me the question, and I looked at him strangely. I didn't know you could think with words, all I ever see is images. The only time words are in my thoughts is when I read something, or if I'm talking to myself. How does one read something without saying the word in their mind? I'd love to learn that.

Originally Posted by Daniel Danciu

You just did.

When I looked at this... I saw many different things. I saw myself, I saw people running around, and I saw a large city. I could hear noises and kids playing, and much more.

I do that with japanese since it's not my native language and they use kanji which are more like pictures in order to communicate...

I do, but I think super fast, I don't have the time to think of the words.

I actually read super slow, since I create what is happening in my mind. I visualize the characters, setting, and hear their voices...but I recreate it every line i read or so...

Originally Posted by freak

You actually think with words? I've never done that before.

I remember reading in one of my old textbooks that the majority of people (around 90% if I remember correctly) tend to subvocalize all or most of their thoughts, but that a minority of people do so rarely, if ever. I think that for most of us, one of the only times that we aren't thinking in words is when we are consciously trying to visualize something (or recreate any other kind of sensory experience).

I'm not sure that there are any significant implications for the minority of people who tend not to think in words, but I do think that it's interesting.

Yeah, that's pretty much what I do. Let's say I was hungry, I'll start to see images of my favorite foods appearing in my thoughts but I never say "I'm hungry" or the name of the food. My imagination was always fueled by my emotion, and that's both an advantage and a disadvantage. I very rarely think, and my mind is at rest the majority of the day. I do have "inner dialogue", which is just conversation with myself (I'm crazy lol), and that and reading are the only times words are in my mind. Whenever I go for a walk, I do a sort of astral projection where I tend to overlap this reality with my own, and I can see my characters walking along side me. I hope that one day I can completely overlap this one with my own... if that's even possible.

I think you can think without words....to be honest, I think words slow everything down in general, and there are times where it's better to think without thinking in words....they only slow thought down.

I see words more like....anchors for thoughts <----hell yeah, that was impressive!

I think so fast I have time neither for concepts nor words

It depends on how you define thinking.

Different people think differently.

I usually think in words, but sometimes I get onto a thought train that just doesn't stop. When I enter that state, I do not use words, nor pictures, I use more feeling. Those thoughts are aroused by thinking about my actions and the reactions of those actions, or how things could be perceived in different ways that may lead to certain views. I'm not quite sure how else to explain it. These thoughts are usually ones that I get frustrated at because I cannot quite explain their to myself with words, though I still know what they mean.