I think this is an interesting question. What is it that you want to be able to think of non-verbally? Some of the replies discuss using this to perform mathematical manipulations. Is this your primary goal, or is it something else? What is it you want to process faster? Also, does this mean you want to be able to visualize more, or that you want to somehow think of things in an abstract but still completely non-verbal way (abstract meaning nothing that you could see, hear, touch, taste, or smell)? I may have some input for the first, but not really for the second (at least, not that I know of—the only things I can’t see, hear, smell, taste or touch that clearly exist in my thoughts are my emotions, though these are often also imbued with linguistic and visual associations).
Being able to visualize doesn’t necessarily require cutting off your word-thinking abilities at all. I know this because I think of a lot of things both visually and in words and symbols and tend to swap between the two interchangeably. This is actually my natural mode of thought. Whether you can adopt my approach may depend on how your mental architecture works. On the other hand, maybe it is possible to learn how to adopt this approach even if your mind doesn’t currently work this way, much like people can train to improve their memorization skills. I don’t currently know how easy or hard that is, but I like the approach of trying to change something to see if it works. As I understand it, some people are very good at visualization and some never think in pictures at all and are even surprised to learn that some people do. Some people can play songs in their head, and some people can’t (I can do this, though I have no special musical ability). I know that I often use visualization both when I am doing math and writing novels, and also when I’m just daydreaming. On the other hand, I will sometimes both see and hear words and symbols in my head in addition to or instead of visuals.
What is the current way that your mind works? Are all of your thoughts in your personal voice, like hearing yourself speak inside your head, or are some annotated with pictures, sounds, smells, etc? People have very different ways of naturally thinking about things, so I’d need to know more to write a more detailed response to your question. I would also be immensely interested to know what kind of thinking styles people have here.
Hmmm. Okay. I’m not sure what you’re trying to say, though. Are you trying to say that you think this ability is unique but not interesting or that it is interesting but not unique (I would say it is nice to have but not unique)? Is there a reason you have a particular interest in this ability, one way or another, or are you making a comment on the phrasing of the sentence? I looked at the articles you linked to, but the meaning of your comment is still unclear to me. Perhaps I am missing something obvious.
I am trying to say that the ability to play music in one’s head without the presence of a musician or radio, etc. is a superpower, a form of mundane magic.
Granted that it is an awesome ability, how can we explain referring to this super power as “no special ability”? By noting common biases! People might think less of their musical superpower if they compare it to greater superpowers, such as the ability to freeze time, or the ability to compose music. Once one asks “how good is this superpower?”, one might forget it’s a superpower if the answer is “not comparatively good”.
I see now. Thanks for the clarification (and upvoted because of it). The phrasing I used does seem to imply that I don’t think that it is a special talent, although that was not my intent. I actually meant that I can play music in my mind but not on an instrument, nor can I write music (I can compose short melodies in my head, however). I do greatly enjoy being able to listen to songs I know by playing them in my head. Playing them on an mp3 player is a bit higher fidelity, but requires charged batteries, so my ability does come in handy.
Probably a more accurate thing to say would have been that I can hear or compose music in my head, but I do not have the ability to play an instrument, sing, or write music (at least not currently well enough that I would be able to pass any kind of music test whatsoever). I tend to be fairly happy with what I have, actually. While I do compare what I have to what other people have, I am rarely dismayed by the comparison. One reason for this is that other people often have rather different utility functions than I do, so I tend to not be trying to maximize what they are.
I agree that it is highly useful to appreciate what you have. Especially since that will help you enjoy life and solve problems better than the things you don’t have.
I think this is an interesting question. What is it that you want to be able to think of non-verbally? Some of the replies discuss using this to perform mathematical manipulations. Is this your primary goal, or is it something else? What is it you want to process faster? Also, does this mean you want to be able to visualize more, or that you want to somehow think of things in an abstract but still completely non-verbal way (abstract meaning nothing that you could see, hear, touch, taste, or smell)? I may have some input for the first, but not really for the second (at least, not that I know of—the only things I can’t see, hear, smell, taste or touch that clearly exist in my thoughts are my emotions, though these are often also imbued with linguistic and visual associations).
Being able to visualize doesn’t necessarily require cutting off your word-thinking abilities at all. I know this because I think of a lot of things both visually and in words and symbols and tend to swap between the two interchangeably. This is actually my natural mode of thought. Whether you can adopt my approach may depend on how your mental architecture works. On the other hand, maybe it is possible to learn how to adopt this approach even if your mind doesn’t currently work this way, much like people can train to improve their memorization skills. I don’t currently know how easy or hard that is, but I like the approach of trying to change something to see if it works. As I understand it, some people are very good at visualization and some never think in pictures at all and are even surprised to learn that some people do. Some people can play songs in their head, and some people can’t (I can do this, though I have no special musical ability). I know that I often use visualization both when I am doing math and writing novels, and also when I’m just daydreaming. On the other hand, I will sometimes both see and hear words and symbols in my head in addition to or instead of visuals.
What is the current way that your mind works? Are all of your thoughts in your personal voice, like hearing yourself speak inside your head, or are some annotated with pictures, sounds, smells, etc? People have very different ways of naturally thinking about things, so I’d need to know more to write a more detailed response to your question. I would also be immensely interested to know what kind of thinking styles people have here.
Oh?
One classic evil genie move is when someone wishes to be the best at something, it makes everyone but the wisher incompetent at it.
That illustrates a sense in which unique special isn’t as special as we feel it is, unlike awesome special.
Hmmm. Okay. I’m not sure what you’re trying to say, though. Are you trying to say that you think this ability is unique but not interesting or that it is interesting but not unique (I would say it is nice to have but not unique)? Is there a reason you have a particular interest in this ability, one way or another, or are you making a comment on the phrasing of the sentence? I looked at the articles you linked to, but the meaning of your comment is still unclear to me. Perhaps I am missing something obvious.
I am trying to say that the ability to play music in one’s head without the presence of a musician or radio, etc. is a superpower, a form of mundane magic.
Granted that it is an awesome ability, how can we explain referring to this super power as “no special ability”? By noting common biases! People might think less of their musical superpower if they compare it to greater superpowers, such as the ability to freeze time, or the ability to compose music. Once one asks “how good is this superpower?”, one might forget it’s a superpower if the answer is “not comparatively good”.
I see now. Thanks for the clarification (and upvoted because of it). The phrasing I used does seem to imply that I don’t think that it is a special talent, although that was not my intent. I actually meant that I can play music in my mind but not on an instrument, nor can I write music (I can compose short melodies in my head, however). I do greatly enjoy being able to listen to songs I know by playing them in my head. Playing them on an mp3 player is a bit higher fidelity, but requires charged batteries, so my ability does come in handy.
Probably a more accurate thing to say would have been that I can hear or compose music in my head, but I do not have the ability to play an instrument, sing, or write music (at least not currently well enough that I would be able to pass any kind of music test whatsoever). I tend to be fairly happy with what I have, actually. While I do compare what I have to what other people have, I am rarely dismayed by the comparison. One reason for this is that other people often have rather different utility functions than I do, so I tend to not be trying to maximize what they are.
I agree that it is highly useful to appreciate what you have. Especially since that will help you enjoy life and solve problems better than the things you don’t have.