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Visual imaging

Martin

I recently realised why I cannot do mental arithmetic and it is due to how my mental visual imaging works. If I think of something visual, or consciously remember something I have seen, I get an overall impression, it is very generalised and quite 'fuzzy'. I can then mentally zoom in on a detail of the image and that is sharp. I can draw fairly well and can draw horses (which are considered relatively difficult subjects) from memory. My visual imaging 'system' is fine for doing that, I can get the overall proportions right from my fuzzy general image and then mentally zoom in, for example, to get the shape of a nostril. My visual system does not work for arithmetic, though. I can visualise one number, but if I try to mentally arrange a sequence of them to add or subtract then all the numbers other than the single one I am concentrating on just dissipate into nothingness.

I was wondering if, like Temple Grandin, anyone here can visualise objects in great detail and rotate them mentally to view from different angles? Also, in general, how people's mental processing of images differs.

  • Oh, fun! I haven't seriously engaged in complex visualisations for years. Mostly, I only use them for insomnia, where I choose a material - wood, wrought iron etc - and create a visual image of a number using that material. I hardly ever got beyond four before falling asleep. I can rotate and I can visualise detail if I really try, but it's more like substituting a magnified photo than zooming in.

    I don't think I'd be able to draw anything I imagine, although I'm good at describing things.

  • For me every word and every concept comes with an image, thinking is like a constant screen of moving images and colours, except with numbers, they're grey on grey and made of concrete.

    I can draw a bath and thats about it! I can't make what I see in my mind come out of my fingers, I also get stuck on painting or drawing the same images over and over again, I don't know why, but I did get a lot of flak for it, both as a child and as an adult when I was trying art as a hobby.

    I'm dyslexic and the worst part of it for me is sequences, I suspect that could be one of the reasons I have so much trouble with maths and tech.

    I think everything coming with its own image and colour is why I don't understand most poetry, its just a visual mess, like when you squidge to much plasticine together.