Thread by @IntuitMachine

Indeed, one shouldn't expect that people think in the same way. nytimes.com/2021/06/08/sci…

It's analogous to some people being aware of verbalization in their heads and is completely absent in others. It is surprising that people are too often surprised that this is true.

So are verbalization and visualization just unnecessary representations in our minds? I suspect they are useful in some kinds of tasks and not others. These are mechanisms for your mind to validate one's thoughts.

But they are not the original thoughts themselves! These thoughts are below one's subconscious and it is likely that very efficient thinkers do not require all thoughts to surface into their conscious awareness.

As an example, if I make an effort to observe my thoughts, I am unable to efficiently think of complicated subjects. It is only in the flow where I am unaware of my thinking that I am most effective.

Humans are simply not very good at multitasking. We can only attend to one thing at a time. Furthermore, that attending is in fact subconscious.

It is also the same with reasoning. Our reasoning is actually a subconscious process.

We become effective reasoners through practice and habits. People who have spent more time in school are more effective reasoners than those who have not. That's because if a skill is not practiced, it doesn't become a habit. Our level of competence relies on establishing habits.

It is just like language. Learning a foreign language requires practice. It is also the same as drawing. Learning how to draw requires practicing the vocabulary of drawing. It is the same as dancing.

It is surprising to many that language, drawing, and dancing are all the same thing! One dimensional, 2 dimensional and 3 dimensional are all the same!

How we learn how to be competent in different vocabularies shapes how we think. We have preferences for one kind of vocabulary over another. We frame our perspective using the vocabulary that we know.

The failure of modern society can be linked to our preference for symbolic thinking. Symbolic thinking is a double-edged sword. It allows us to think of complex subjects but it can also be divorced from reality and meaning.

Idolatry is a kind of symbolic thinking that prioritizes that symbol over the meaning behind the symbol. Many people adore the flag, but these same people are unaware of what the flag stands for.