Verbal thinking

Deleted User said:

what I’m now wondering is if everyone’s brain works this way but my neurodivergence just makes me aware of an earlier stage of thinking that most people don’t notice

It is quite possible to change the way we think, but it takes some training and discipline.

I discovered the limitations of this verbal thinking when I was sent on a speed reading training course where you read the page of a book in a few seconds. There is no way to do this by reading it word by word using our old ways of processing and you have to relax and let your eyes scan and your brain process in the background.

The process is incredibly effective with around 80% of the information absorbed in less than a 10th of the time of conventional reading.

I was able to use this same technique in other sorts of mental processing and shut off the old ways of working through things slowly so I could analise fairly complex problems and come up with the nucleus of a solution very fast - a real advantage in competetive environments.

The drawback is that you are still missing 20% of the info so it is only effective when you can work in a "lossy" situation where you just need to get the bigger picture and not fine detail. For the detail you still need to go slowly.

I suffered bad headaches for the first few days of speed reading until my brain could adjust to the continuous flow of information for long periods.

For pleasure reading I always go slowly and savour the prose of a good author for example, but if I was just reading the background of a new topic to get loosely up to speed on it then it works fine.

The same goes for problem solving - it is great for getting closer to possible solutions but you need the detail to be covered to see if it has any flaws or will cause side effects.

Being able to shift gears like this is also great in dangerous situaions where you need to assess risks fast.

In essence, your limits are only what you let them be most of the time. Other ways of thinking are possible with the right training but they are rarely easy.

Deleted User said:

what I’m now wondering is if everyone’s brain works this way but my neurodivergence just makes me aware of an earlier stage of thinking that most people don’t notice

It is quite possible to change the way we think, but it takes some training and discipline.

I discovered the limitations of this verbal thinking when I was sent on a speed reading training course where you read the page of a book in a few seconds. There is no way to do this by reading it word by word using our old ways of processing and you have to relax and let your eyes scan and your brain process in the background.

The process is incredibly effective with around 80% of the information absorbed in less than a 10th of the time of conventional reading.

I was able to use this same technique in other sorts of mental processing and shut off the old ways of working through things slowly so I could analise fairly complex problems and come up with the nucleus of a solution very fast - a real advantage in competetive environments.

The drawback is that you are still missing 20% of the info so it is only effective when you can work in a "lossy" situation where you just need to get the bigger picture and not fine detail. For the detail you still need to go slowly.

I suffered bad headaches for the first few days of speed reading until my brain could adjust to the continuous flow of information for long periods.

For pleasure reading I always go slowly and savour the prose of a good author for example, but if I was just reading the background of a new topic to get loosely up to speed on it then it works fine.

The same goes for problem solving - it is great for getting closer to possible solutions but you need the detail to be covered to see if it has any flaws or will cause side effects.

Being able to shift gears like this is also great in dangerous situaions where you need to assess risks fast.

In essence, your limits are only what you let them be most of the time. Other ways of thinking are possible with the right training but they are rarely easy.