• Philosophy and Spirituality
    Welcome Guest
    Posting Rules Bluelight Rules
    Threads of Note Socialize
  • P&S Moderators: JackARoe | Cheshire_Kat

How does *your* brain work?

How do you think without using words? Like, what do you think about?

I never think with a voice in my head. It's forced whenever I do so.
 
I'm guessing here that you mean that you think in words but without a voice in your head, that the voice is you and not your (subconscious/phyche/soul/<insert your favourite term>), right?

Is that what you mean, or have I missed your point completely?
 
It's spelled Asperger's. There are self-assessment forms that you can download on the Internet, but your best bet is to see a clinical psychologist about it. That's about as much help as I can give you. My mum's an expert of sorts in the field, as a matter of fact.
 
Last edited:
I called it an ability because i think it is a more advanced or universal way of thinking. Though it has facilitated development, I think language has massively constricted the human brain. Language is like a set of rules or options for your thoughts proccess to follow. I think language has taken the human conscious away from the "universal tone." So a brain that connects things primaraly in a way other than word is closer to an enlightened state. IMHO
 
I am torn wether to agree or disagree that this way of thinking is more or less advanced.

Anyone who has delved a little into human psychology and evolution of our brains knows that language and our brains use of symbols was indeed a turning point in our evolution that lead to where we are today. We owe our bulbous brains very much to language. It allowed us to catalogue information in a much more efficient way within our brains.

Yet I cannot argue that it has also restricted our sense of universality. Our connection with the outside world has very much been removed due to this sense of language and symbolism that we throw upon our world. We have a word for everything around us....yet still have trouble defining ourselves and our consciousness. This creates an imaginary barrier of separateness.

I think we also need to address the issue that evolution does not necessarily head towards a point or goal, it just goes with "what works". A language based brain or a universal mind are not nescesarily better than each other...they are different ways of thinking and can both be used to reach desirable and not so desirable goals.
 
I havnt herd of Asperger's before but find the way of thinking very similar to the visual ways of thinking outlined in the studies of NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming). I would like to see if there is anyone who may be more educated in NLP than myself and would like to elaborate on different thinking styles in relevance to Asperger's if any.
 
Puntuality

I see your point but i personally believe that there is a universal tone and it is nothingness. or rather the not absolute nature of everything in this world... thought, time, shape, speed....whatever. The one thing that can be considered ultimately true is energy. The universe (despite the relativity of physical laws) can be deduced to energy. It is the light verses the dark. only when you come to terms with the concept of the dark (nothingness) can you truly recognize the light, the life, the now, the infinite possibilities, the energy.

So since language pushes our focus on the world around us, it distracts us from truth. While stuck in analysis, you are out of the moment and missing the ongoing YES that is our universe. So a brain that operates on another level than language would be more likely to hear the tone.. This is why i think animals are so in the moment and content.... they can hear it

In terms of evolution- We are on the brink of an evolutionary explosion. Advances are happening so quickly, we will soon see a climax. I think that the universe is also cyclical in nature. There was dark before light. Through quantum physics, logical deduction, and philosophy (all products of language) we will be able to mentally harness the dark, which will make a higher tone, or next level of universal energy. It's not that we are progressing or digressing, but rather we are very close to where we started and will reach it with a new understanding.

because language (despite the advances it causes) pulls us out of the tone, a mind that worked without it would be more likely to analyze the world from a less detached origin.

Sorry this is a bit off subject and i realize that it is kind of a unique theory. It's just the phase i'm in at the moment. (following my battle with nihilism) any comments that would progress or completely shatter my current understanding would be appreciated.
 
Raw Evil said:
It's spelled Asperger's. There are self-assessment forms that you can download on the Internet, but your best bet is to see a clinical psychologist about it. That's about as much help as I can give you. My mum's an expert of sorts in the field, but I wouldn't let her within 50 miles of this forum just incase she finds a post I made somewhere... else...

>_>

<_<
Click to expand...

I'm glad not everyone endures what I went through. I was falsly dignosed as having ADHD, but it turns out I had Asperger's. The whole time though, they told me I was having hyperactive issues, and kept increasing the dosage of Ritalin, until I was taking 60mg a day, which since you guys should know here, that's a lot for a child my age, of only 12. They still had me under eval, from the age of 10 to 15, and could not figure out, why I knew the material, but had issues with the work. They thought I wasn't paying attention, but I had problems with understanding what they were telling me I had to do, but the work itself was easy.

In the seventh grade (14) they even started me in this advanced science program, where we worked with computers, and learned how to program, and do simulations on them. We even learned advanced trig, and the such in there, but the work I just didn't do it. Not because I was lazy, I just could not understand what they wanted me to do, unless it was with pictures, or hands on. I won the National Geographic Geograhy thing four years in a row, and went through all the way to state three times. So knowing the stuff was not an issue, it was the communication barrier, between me, and the people around me. I would speak about something, and they would just stare at me, and have no idea what I was talking about. It was like I was speaking in tongues, and they were just not knowing a damn thing about what I was talking about. I could answer every question they asked me correctly though.

It took me until I turned 24 to get a clear definiton of what I had, or why this happened to me. My case is not as severe as some people's, and through a lot of work I got through my issues, and for the most part can hold straight conversations with people, but there are times, when I can open up a dialogue with people, and just totally lose them on the second word. My own sister is case in point. I can start to explain to her how the big bang is thought to have happened, and she will stare blankly, and not understand a single word I have said. Even though I spoke in layman's terms, and used straight everyday english.

I have the same issue with some people here, that are either that dense, or I simply can not understand a word they are saying. It's like a comprehension thing, I comprehend things, in a different fasion. It makes me no better than anyone, or any worse. I think it may be an evolutionary thing, where one type of thought works better in certain situations, but other than that, I'm normal.
 
i wouldnt say its more "universal" because it seems everyone has very different ways of thinking, of putitng words together or making connections, so its basicly not a universal brain language but an individual's brain language

it wouldnt even be universal if you were thinking in pure simple connections between ideas because different peoples ideas could be constructed differently
 
I found this thread very interesting as I've not heard of Asperger's before this, but many of the so-called "symptoms" seem to apply to me, though not extreme. I was wondering if those any of you who have been diagnosed with this have somewhat of a selective memory. I find that if I meet someone only once or twice, I cannot remember what they looked like...yet if I ever see them I again, I will know exactly who they are. I never forget a face and rarely ever numbers of any kind. I'm slightly addicted to memorizing random numbers. Yet I cannot for the life of me remember, say, dates of wars or where I just put my keys.

I also sometimes have an extremely hard time trying to verbally say what I mean. Sometimes I have to resort to saying random words that pop into my head that relate to what I'm trying to get across...fortunately for me, all my roomies are English/Lit majors. Go figure. But does this sound like anyone else?
 
AstridAsteroid- I don't think that is what they're trying to get at....I think it's just a point that people with Asperger's think in a different way than the average human brain not to say that it is uniformly and more or less exceptional way to think. Just different. A difference in the way their brain processes and puts out information.
 
kizool- no, no, I'm not saying I have Asperger's, I've just been reading through the posts and I think somewhere someone mentioned something about constant train of thought. I was just wondering if it's normal (for people with or without Asperger's) to have that constant, running commentary.
 
>>kizool- no, no, I'm not saying I have Asperger's, I've just been reading through the posts and I think somewhere someone mentioned something about constant train of thought. I was just wondering if it's normal (for people with or without Asperger's) to have that constant, running commentary.>>

I'll just chime in to say, yes, this is how I think. I have a little voice in my head ,a voice that sounds like me. If I read, that little voice reads to me (albiet, much faster than I could talk). If I type or write, like I'm doing now, this voice talks as my fingers move. Furthermore, if I'm awake, I'm thinking. period. Forever talking to myself. Is this how most people's minds work? who knows...

ebola
 
I don't know about asperger's but life being a constant train of thought, in of the train word itself implies a narrow view. I know the comentary aspect is compleetly subject to will, desire and training of that persons thought process, infact in consciousness it appears that chan meditation can proove the mind to be more in idle down time then that of the unconscious.
 
Originally posted by kizool
I found this thread very interesting as I've not heard of Asperger's before this, but many of the so-called "symptoms" seem to apply to me, though not extreme. I was wondering if those any of you who have been diagnosed with this have somewhat of a selective memory. I find that if I meet someone only once or twice, I cannot remember what they looked like...yet if I ever see them I again, I will know exactly who they are. I never forget a face and rarely ever numbers of any kind. I'm slightly addicted to memorizing random numbers. Yet I cannot for the life of me remember, say, dates of wars or where I just put my keys.
Click to expand...

Selective memory is not the term that would properly fit it. It's more of a visual memory for me, or a tactile one. I only remember where stuff is, because I can think about it, and remember where I saw it last, by actually seeing it in my mind. I can even remember what I was feeling at the time.

I also have problems with word to object, and name association. I have to think about a person, or objects name for a little while before I can actually remember it. Sometimes even then, I'll forget it without the face in front of me, and even then, I'll occasionally draw a blank.

It's been like this all of my life. Which is why I pretty much have that attitude, that names don't matter. I don't own a phone, and don't plan on getting one, and prefer to speak to people face to face, if it's important. Otherwise all of my communication is through the internet.

I also sometimes have an extremely hard time trying to verbally say what I mean. Sometimes I have to resort to saying random words that pop into my head that relate to what I'm trying to get across...fortunately for me, all my roomies are English/Lit majors. Go figure. But does this sound like anyone else?
Click to expand...

I'm horrible for that. Sure my typing is great here, at least I've been told that, and I have a very extensive vocabulary, which I almost never use.:\

Yet, my thoughts are visualized, and they are hard to explain to another person, unless I think about what I'm trying to say ahead of time.
 
Yep, it's true - I don't have a 24/7 running commentary on my life. To tell the truth, I had always assumed that 'thinking in words' was just a way to get thoughts across. I had never even considered the idea that people would actually constantly think using words.

kizool: I'm also addicted to memorising numbers - I have a 12-digit PIN for my bank account, and can remember most of my games' CD-keys. I also remember that the square root of 36481 is 191 (line out of the mario bros. movie - ah memories of childhood).

David: Names kill me. I'm horrific at remembering names. It took me a whole two semesters to remember more than a handful of people's names at school/uni.
 
Same here, I can remember phone numbers the first time I hear them, great with the ladies at least.

Basically phone numbers are my specialty, because I used to have to use the payphone all the damn time, for those illicit activities. Otherwise, it's all in pictures for me.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top