When I read my mind takes what I am reading and provides a rich imaginatory backdrop replete with emotional undertones that unfolds and plays out as the words become concepts and the concepts link together in context to the plot/scenario/etc. It’s like a combination of a movie and playing make-believe in real time. It doesn’t seem to require any particular effort, it just happens automatically.
Except with math heavy subjects, I can usually get the gist of any topic by reading about it.
Conversely, I can barely follow audio instructions or explanations at all. Having something explained by a friend is fine, lots of back and forth until it clicks. Casual listening, like a fiction book, is fine.
Anything else and I get a little lost halfway through, usually trying to remember the first thing that was said.
Being at work is torture because I’m nodding along with the boss but I usually don’t know what the heck he’s talking about if he’s trying to explain something complex. Just let me read the documentation, bro.
Hyperphantasia. I had to look that up. While it is pretty descriptive of my inner world, I don’t think I would ever self-identify as that. Feels… a little much.
I find the whole concept of cognitive styles fascinating and I think there is a trade off. While the advent of reading is certainly a great thing, I think for many it has shrunk a part of the brain that processes speech. Prior to books, if you needed to know something you had better listen close, comprehend it quickly, and be damned sure you remembered it because there may not be a second chance.
That’s wild, I am the complete opposite.
When I read my mind takes what I am reading and provides a rich imaginatory backdrop replete with emotional undertones that unfolds and plays out as the words become concepts and the concepts link together in context to the plot/scenario/etc. It’s like a combination of a movie and playing make-believe in real time. It doesn’t seem to require any particular effort, it just happens automatically.
Except with math heavy subjects, I can usually get the gist of any topic by reading about it.
Conversely, I can barely follow audio instructions or explanations at all. Having something explained by a friend is fine, lots of back and forth until it clicks. Casual listening, like a fiction book, is fine.
Anything else and I get a little lost halfway through, usually trying to remember the first thing that was said.
Being at work is torture because I’m nodding along with the boss but I usually don’t know what the heck he’s talking about if he’s trying to explain something complex. Just let me read the documentation, bro.
You do sound like the opposite. Do you have hyperphantasia?
I’d definitely take just audio over reading any day.
Reading just requires me to play the audio in my inner voice. If someone else read and said it then it’s less brain power for me.
Hyperphantasia. I had to look that up. While it is pretty descriptive of my inner world, I don’t think I would ever self-identify as that. Feels… a little much.
I find the whole concept of cognitive styles fascinating and I think there is a trade off. While the advent of reading is certainly a great thing, I think for many it has shrunk a part of the brain that processes speech. Prior to books, if you needed to know something you had better listen close, comprehend it quickly, and be damned sure you remembered it because there may not be a second chance.