Everything comes to me in a formed thought not step by step thinking

[Anonymous]

Help me to understand if you receive thoughts as step by step processes what that means exactly.

I was trying to explain to a friend because she says she has a step by step process for her thoughts and I cannot for the life of me picture how that must be. In my mind it’s an immediate yes/no/questions/whole thought in one.

Give me examples of how this is in your mind. Are your steps separate? What does that look like?

[Anonymous]

Define "thoughts" for this purpose.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Help me to understand if you receive thoughts as step by step processes what that means exactly.

I was trying to explain to a friend because she says she has a step by step process for her thoughts and I cannot for the life of me picture how that must be. In my mind it’s an immediate yes/no/questions/whole thought in one.

Give me examples of how this is in your mind. Are your steps separate? What does that look like?

I may be like you. Here's how my mind works: I am presented with a problem and I know exactly how it should be handled to obtain the desired outcome. I can also anticipate areas where the plan can go astray and how to handle it. Unfortunately, most problems are handled by more than one person and we have to allow for input from our colleagues, friends, family and partners, lest we be labelled "controlling." Does that sound familiar, op?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Help me to understand if you receive thoughts as step by step processes what that means exactly.

I was trying to explain to a friend because she says she has a step by step process for her thoughts and I cannot for the life of me picture how that must be. In my mind it’s an immediate yes/no/questions/whole thought in one.

Give me examples of how this is in your mind. Are your steps separate? What does that look like?

I may be like you. Here's how my mind works: I am presented with a problem and I know exactly how it should be handled to obtain the desired outcome. I can also anticipate areas where the plan can go astray and how to handle it. Unfortunately, most problems are handled by more than one person and we have to allow for input from our colleagues, friends, family and partners, lest we be labelled "controlling." Does that sound familiar, op?

Spot on! I was trying to think of a scenario for the earlier PP when I saw this. My mind goes straight to outcome, visual mental scene, risks, done!

Scenario as presented> mind immediately evaluates/simulates the whole experience visually + emotionally at once as a whole picture decision in what feels like nearly instantly

There’s not a piecing together period where there’s steps for me. I also have MS with brain lesions and ADHD and Dyscalculia. I’ve wondered if this type of rapid processing has helped me feel more in line with the regular world as I’m not of outstanding intelligence and was a terrible test taker in school! I don’t have a large vocabulary or great educational background either but I’ve managed to land great job opportunities over the years.

[Anonymous]

Heptapod humblebrag.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Heptapod humblebrag.

What is a Heptapod?!

[Anonymous]

That’s interesting. My DS and my mom think in pictures, which I think is similar to what you’re describing. I know I do both ways (but there are probably many ways) where my brain charts a path with step by step instructions or, alternatively, it sorta lands all at once. I think boredom is the key. If it’s boring, I get the path with steps.

[Anonymous]

tl;dr

"I think I'm right all the time. Other people say I'm not. What is wrong with other people? They keep messing up my immediate, perfect problem-solving."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:tl;dr

"I think I'm right all the time. Other people say I'm not. What is wrong with other people? They keep messing up my immediate, perfect problem-solving."

I’m not the OP but I don’t think it’s anything like that.

We believe that the way we think is the way “people” think. That’s not true at all. My DS has dyslexia and he’s more similar to OP. My brain does both.

[Anonymous]

OP this is fascinating. Would you or someone please give an example of this, using a stated problem or issue.

Is it as simple as “the restaurant where I made a reservation for dinner tonight just called and said they are closing early due to a water issue.” That kind of problem?

[Anonymous]

I think it would be helpful to understand what kind of "thinking" you are talking about here.

If there is a problem with my sink, for example, I do not immediately understand the full scope of the issue and the correct solution to the problem. One step would be "identifying the problem" if possible. Is sink clogged? Is sink broken in some way? Is this something I can fix myself or do I need to call a plumber for that? If I can fix it myself, do I need parts or tools? Where should I get the things I need?

Is that the kind of step-by-step processing you do NOT experience? You see a clogged sink and think "here's how to fix a sink" and then just do that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP this is fascinating. Would you or someone please give an example of this, using a stated problem or issue.

Is it as simple as “the restaurant where I made a reservation for dinner tonight just called and said they are closing early due to a water issue.” That kind of problem?

When I get information, I don’t process it as isolated steps. My brain instantly builds the entire situation visually and logistically at the same time. This is where me and my friend were saying we get two different experiences:

So if someone says, ‘The restaurant is closing early because of a water issue,’ I immediately see the physical place, the street, the storefront, the crowd flow, what time our reservation is, what time they now close, whether we can realistically get there earlier, what has to shift to make that happen, and the chain reaction on the rest of the evening.

It doesn’t flow sequential to me. It arrives all at once as one connected scenario.

For the visual that I just got, it was a storefront setup similar to Gettys in Acadia/Bar Harbor and the time that my mind went to was 6pm, can we do it sooner?

What is it like for you? Is there a break between the question and your brain responding? My friend was describing that for her it’s sequential steps that aren’t all coming to her at one time like a dump of information.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it would be helpful to understand what kind of "thinking" you are talking about here.

If there is a problem with my sink, for example, I do not immediately understand the full scope of the issue and the correct solution to the problem. One step would be "identifying the problem" if possible. Is sink clogged? Is sink broken in some way? Is this something I can fix myself or do I need to call a plumber for that? If I can fix it myself, do I need parts or tools? Where should I get the things I need?

Is that the kind of step-by-step processing you do NOT experience? You see a clogged sink and think "here's how to fix a sink" and then just do that?

Yes - my brain goes immediately to the visual of a white sink standalone and gives me five reasons for what could be causing the clog straight away. I immediately upon reading this went straight to hair clog, DrainO, hook unclogged tool, all at once.

[Anonymous]

If it's in your area of expertise, I think it is normal to instantly understand what the answer is.

When something new hits me, a problem that involves issues that I don't know enough about, I do a deep dive into the information. The answer comes in full, as if my magic, after I stop the intense focus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it would be helpful to understand what kind of "thinking" you are talking about here.

If there is a problem with my sink, for example, I do not immediately understand the full scope of the issue and the correct solution to the problem. One step would be "identifying the problem" if possible. Is sink clogged? Is sink broken in some way? Is this something I can fix myself or do I need to call a plumber for that? If I can fix it myself, do I need parts or tools? Where should I get the things I need?

Is that the kind of step-by-step processing you do NOT experience? You see a clogged sink and think "here's how to fix a sink" and then just do that?

Yes - my brain goes immediately to the visual of a white sink standalone and gives me five reasons for what could be causing the clog straight away. I immediately upon reading this went straight to hair clog, DrainO, hook unclogged tool, all at once.

My brain says, go look at the sink. Next, it says try all the simple things first. Drano is last because it excludes me trying anything else.