How to know if you are a visual thinker?
It has to do with the way we perceive and think about the world, the way the brain processes information. Visual thinkers think in images, and verbal thinkers think in words.
And what does that translate into?
Visual thinkers are very good at art, photography, and building things or designing mechanical devices. They tend to have a good musical ear, prefer drawing to writing, and are good at working with animals.
Because?
Because animals are sensitive beings, they do not have words, in fact I work with cattle for this reason, I put myself in their shoes.
Do you see how cows or pigs see?
Yes, when I started designing livestock facilities what I did was see what the cattle saw in the facilities; a shadow or reflection can make cattle stop or get stressed, it was very obvious to me.
Give me a picture of thinking in pictures.
It is literally having movies in our heads, photorealistic images that allow us to make quick associations.
For example?
Some visual thinkers are able to easily locate a place they have been to only once, since their internal GPS has recorded the visual landmarks.
Any handicap?
It is not uncommon for a visual thinker to often take time to learn to speak and have difficulty in school with traditional teaching methods. Algebra tends to choke them off because the concepts are abstract, with little or nothing concrete to visualize. And socially we seem awkward.
Having difficulties in school is not a good thing.
It is essential to prepare children for success, and that begins with understanding how they think and, therefore, how they learn.
Do verbal thinkers do better in school?
Yes, because word-based thinking is linear and sequential just the way learning is structured.
Are they better at understanding general concepts?
Yes, they are those children who have a clear and organized agenda and when they are adults their desk is an orderly place.
It has its advantages.
In an increasingly verbally oriented world and despite the great talents of visual thinkers, they tend to be marginalized. We need new ways of educating, living and working with these people.
What else distinguishes them?
Verbal thinkers learn to speak quite early and like to do so, so it is common for them to tend to dominate conversations, and they are more social.
In what professions do we find them most often?
In which mastery of language is essential, they make good politicians, lawyers, administrators, writers, teachers.
And the visuals?
They are good at photography, art, graphic design, industrial design, programming, and all kinds of computer activities, but mentors are essential for them.
What is more abundant, visual thinkers or verbal thinkers?
We don't know, but visuals make up a much larger proportion than previously thought, from photorealistic object viewers, with their intuitive design and problem-solving skills, to mathematically inclined visual-spatial thinkers.
Good tandem.
Despite this, most people use a combination of visual and verbal thinking to navigate the world.
What is your case?
I am an extreme visual thinker of objects; and along with mathematical extreme thinkers who think in patterns, it is often the autistic way of thinking.
When and how did you discover that you were a visual thinker?
At 20 years old I believed that everyone thought in images like me. My childhood was complicated, I didn't speak until I was four years old, and I didn't start reading until I was eight. I am autistic.
AND?
My parents were told that I should enter a psychiatric institution, luckily a mentor recognized my abilities. In 1986 I published Crossing the Doors of Autism in which I shared my experiences, and ten years later Thinking with Images.
He also invented a hug machine that is very successful.
People with autism often suffer anxiety when hugged by another person, and I designed this device to calm us down, it helps us relax and empathize with other people.
