Thinking in images?

Question

Ive always wondered about this. If you were born on an island and never learn to speak or write and had never been exposed to this idea...How would you think? When I think to myself it is almost always as if Im talking to myself in my head. However, if I didnt know language I couldnt do that. Would someone like this think purely in pictures? If they wanted to think "I like oranges" would they just picture an orange in their head and then have a feeling of happiness? Or maybe they would visualize themselves eating one and visualize themselves being happy that they are eating one?

If this is true, isnt this a more "natural" way to think? Surely we were not born with the ability to think in words so I would assume pictures is more natural. Of course speaking is considered a benefit...But perhaps we are limiting our thoughts by trying to think in words. (We have all had emotions or feelings we say we cant explain in words.)

As a final note, I remember reading a quote from Einstein saying he almost never thought in words...Only images. It makes me wonder if perhaps forcing ourselves to think in images allows better thinking. Thoughts?

I dont visualize the words at all. I just talk to myself in my head. Sometimes images pop up that relate to the words, but little focus is put into these images. If Im thinking about a volcano, I might picture one in my head but Im not thinking about that picture. Im just speaking to myself in my head. And problems that are easier to solve by drawing a picture I may just "draw" in my head but thats the extent.

Answer 1

If you grew up alone on an island, you wouldn't think properly at all. In my speech pathology and linguistics classes, we discussed Genie, a poor kid who grew up in a closet until she was about 12. Then, she was discovered and taken to live with a group of researchers (yeah, there were some ethical violations with having her guardians studying her...oh, well. The whole situation was really f*cked up all around.) Anyway, Genie had never been exposed to any schooling, any speech, really, any affection, any stimulation. She could barely respond to emotions, much less express things or think things clearly. She got a little better living with the researchers, but she never learned to speak and wound up living in a group home since she was so developmentally retarded. What a downer.

Normal people communicate, in speech or sign language, and they think in terms of the language they're familiar with. Now, some autistic people think in pictures (see Temple Grandin's work for more details), but it's not exactly "normal", since the condition usually comes with problems of its own. Some autistic people communicate OK, but they don't understand emotions properly, or they don't respond to touch (or they're overstimulated by the sensation and can't stand to be touched), or...it varies. But normal people under normal circumstances think in a language because communication is important to normal human interactions. Some people are very visual (Temple, for instance, can see like animals see and works designing livestock enclosures and slaughterhouses and dip tanks, stuff like that.) But if you grew up without language...you wouldn't be thinking straight at all, not in pictures or anything. It's not more natural to think in pictures at all. It's usually a bad sign.

Oh, and by the way--some people think Einstein was autistic. He had issues with learning, with his clothes, with the way he thought and visualized things--he was brilliant, but it was very likely he was autistic.

Answer 2

i think that if anyone were to poll a random sampling of people, very few would admit to thinking in words... but moreso with images. is this a more 'natural' way to think? i can't really say that thinking of words is 'unnatural'.

when you attempt to think in words..... do you visualize the word?
is the image of the word a non-image?

regardless of our 'handle' on language, i figure we are inclined to make sound to communicate much like many other animals. language is merely definition to mental perceptions.

are we doing a disservice to mental images by reducing them with definitive words? sure.

is it less natural?
that's a toss-up.

Answer 3

Thinking in images and being able to manipulate that image in your mind is one of the true measures of brilliance. Just one man's humble opinion was I search for those damn words.

Answer 4

They say babies are able to dream in the womb (I think at around 7 months). So on a similar train of thought, I wonder how they dream/think.

Answer 5

Like a unidentified flying objects?

Answer 6

I've always wondered that about people who were born deaf.. what is their inner voice?

Answer 7

If you think in images, your answers will be nothing more
than reflections of reality !