Anonymous wrote:I'm an architect. I see the end result in my mind when (formerly) a client would say they wanted a building for a certain purpose at a certain site.

Unfortunately, because I am brilliant and do not show my work, I was never able to get planning approval or complete a plan set.

I am a clerk at a 7-11 now.

My point is that linear, sequential thinking is a learned behavior for most of us. Imagining five different ways to unclog a sink at once is just what the rest of us call "troubleshooting". It is certainly easier to go through life imagining that our "fully formed solutions" are correct. But too often the contrary is easily shown.

Anonymous wrote:Op again. The visualization and logistical processing happen automatically and simultaneously. For instance the visual, logistics, timing, consequences, and adaptation all appear together. Randomly, I was reading recently that this can actually explain why showing my work was difficult for me in school.

I’m curious about how other people think in these scenarios.

Anonymous wrote:I have/do both. Some things are automated - "I have to go to the library" is one thought and it fully tells me to grab the library books, my phone, keys, slap on sunscreen, etc.

Some things need to be thought out - "I'm going into the office tomorrow" will mean I need to make a list of everything I need to bring, prep it, put each thing in a bag, etc.

Some things are instinctual - do I want to watch my niece's dance recital? Yes, I will cancel my own surgery to watch her dance, nothing will stand in the way.

Some things get thought out - do I want to meet this person at this restaurant for dinner? Well, let me go online and check the menu and map the address and see how long it'd take me to get there and back, etc. Then I come to a decision.

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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 wrote:Heptapod humblebrag.

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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 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?

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Anonymous wrote: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.

I don't get problems like that anymore in my area of expertise. Mostly, what exactly is broken. Now that we have isolated what is broken, why is it broken? Finally, what would be the easiest way to fix this. I work on complex systems involving millions of lines of code.

Yes, which speaks to my first point. In my second point, the issue would be out of my expertise. I don't come up with instant answers when out of my expertise, but after a deep dive, once I stop the focus, the answer literarily pops into my head full blown. In the middle of the night. While taking a shower, cooking, doing something that has nothing to do with the issue, as if my brain is solving the problem without my being aware it's being solved.

Your brain running a background process without your conscious involvement is not the same as not having a process.

You think that you are coming up with the answer "all at once" but that is not what is happening. You do have a process. You just do not seem to be able to break it down into steps, possibly because you think it is cool that things just come to you all at once, fully conceptualized. Why on earth would you trust an answer to a problem that you admit is outside your expertise that just "came to you"?

When I was learning to ride a bike, I had to think about how to hold my body to stay balanced. I had to think about which handle was the brake. That was 40 years ago, so now when I get on a bike, I just ride the bike and there is no "process" of operating the bike that I consciously participate in.

Maybe what you are saying is that you have a lot of automatic processes and do not ruminate about decisions like some people do. Maybe you would benefit from explicating your process more, since what it sounds like is that you don't feel like you should have to show your work.

Op here. I’m not that PP but for me things like swimming and riding a bike that others remembered automatically did not come back to me as an adult after years of not doing either.

Well, when you relearned how to do those things as an adult, did you think about the more granular process, in reflection? When you are learning how to do something new, what is your learning process like?

I agree with the poster above that suggests this is related to processing speed. There are definitely people who process faster than others, but there IS processing happening. It's not just magically knowing the answer.

Anonymous wrote:Op again. The visualization and logistical processing happen automatically and simultaneously. For instance the visual, logistics, timing, consequences, and adaptation all appear together. Randomly, I was reading recently that this can actually explain why showing my work was difficult for me in school.

I’m curious about how other people think in these scenarios.

Anonymous wrote: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.