I found this video online of research from Dr. Russell Hurlburt on the topic of inner monologue. He lists five general ways that people think—inner speaking, seeing, feeling, sensory, and unsymbolized—but there is a lot of overlap and variation. It would be interesting to see if there are patterns related to learning styles, career choices, mental illness, and developmental challenges.
I’m becoming increasingly aware that human brains do not function exactly the same for all people. Following are a few examples of the way my brain works. I have no idea if these are unique or common, and I’d be curious to find out.
Images
In recent years there have been articles popping up on the internet about aphantasia, an inability to see mental pictures. Some people see no pictures, others see variations from simple black and white to full color, lifelike images. In my case, I see everything in full detail; however, I tend to see things from a certain perspective. I do a lot of drawing and when I want to draw, say, a hummingbird* I search for images online so I can make sure I get my dimensions correct. But I can only use images that match my mental picture. It has to be facing the right direction. (Animals usually have to be facing the left side of my paper.) I can’t simply turn my mental image or my drawing around. Oddly, saving the computer image and reversing it doesn’t help much because I remember the original and then it looks wrong reversed.
I have the same perspective limitations when thinking of rooms. If someone asked me to describe my bedroom, I’d describe it as seen from the doorway. This would be true even if I were laying on my bed at the time. This may be similar to my memory of where certain images or concepts appear on the pages of books. Although I read some eBooks, I find it harder to read when things aren’t always in the same place and I can’t see the surrounding context. (This is a good argument for using a physical Bible and using the same Bible for as long as possible.)
When going someplace new, I like to have a mental map of the area. If I use my phone app to give me directions, I don’t know where I am in relation to other roads. More than once I’ve gone the wrong direction because I wasn’t paying enough attention to my phone and didn’t know where I was even in my own city.
Numbers
Even though I work in accounting and love numbers, I am bad at mental math. Someone may ask “What’s 36 * 9?” and I would turn on my adding machine. For as long as I can remember I’ve used touch point math, even before I knew there was such a thing. I don’t recall ever being taught that, but I happened to find a method that worked for me. I’ve recently started playing the Nerdle game online, and I struggle to do some of the math without writing it down or using a calculator.
Conversations
In social settings, I’m always trying to figure out what to say and exactly how to say it. I have to think things through before I’ll open my mouth. Unfortunately, this often means that the subject changes before I have found the right words, so I won’t say anything at all. Some people seem to be able to think while they speak, which I find difficult.
If I have to explain something and I start mentally rehearsing it, I have to go through it from beginning to end before my brain will let me move on to something else. I can’t skip from A to D, no matter how simple B and C are. If I do try to fast forward, I’ll have to start over at A.
Following certain conversations or meetings, I will often rehearse what was said almost verbatim. This is definitely not because I want to, but because my brain won’t stop. This tends to happen more if the conversation was emotionally charged.
Concluding Thoughts
God has created widely diverse people, and I don’t think I’ve always fully appreciated this. We’re so quick to put labels on people to categorize and segregate them. But people don’t fit in nice little boxes, and we were never meant to. We should be slow to label variations of human development and processing as “right” or “wrong” even if something is statistically far more common. Different is not necessarily bad.
“For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God” (1 Cor. 2:11).
*When I write my pastor’s paychecks, I usually decorate the envelope. This was the most recent one.
© 2022 Dawn Rutan text and picture. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.
