# Translating your Mind's Language



## Vanderlyle (Jan 19, 2012)

I don't know about you, but I tend to think in a way that doesn't correspond to well to the spoken word. Textures, colours, feelings, etc are how I classify the world around me, which is why it's so difficult when I have to express my thoughts. 
People are often given different feelings, along with combinations of colours and shapes that could not exist in real life. So not only can I not put into words what they mean, but I can't even express what they are! 
Heck, this is even how I remember events and memories. I'm fantastic at 'Spot the Difference" because I'll notice that something's different because "I would have felt and visualized something sharper if the sweater had been that shade of green."

How do you guys think? Do you have a mental language of your own that makes it difficult to express yourself? Do you think this has something to do with Se?


----------



## chrisu (Mar 6, 2012)

if it has to do with Se, i'm mistyped.
i mostly think in dialogues, monologues and see some words that are especially significant floating through my mind (serif, black text, white background, sometimes italic).


----------



## Fat Bozo (May 24, 2009)

chrisu said:


> if it has to do with Se, i'm mistyped.
> i mostly think in dialogues, monologues and see some words that are especially significant floating through my mind (serif, black text, white background, sometimes italic).


Yeah, I think in words. Sometimes gibberish words, but almost always words. Some music.


----------



## Tula13 (Dec 2, 2012)

That sounds like some Ni...or synesthesia.


----------



## MandiKind (Oct 27, 2011)

I tend to think visually, so I have to first picture my thoughts (I see pictures in my mind). After that I have to do the best I can to put these images into logical and orderly verbal language. Because of this I often don't make a lot of eye contact when I'm telling a story or talking about an event. This is probably caused by my focus on these mental images.


----------



## DecadentDisCordis (Dec 17, 2012)

My thoughts are voiced through debate as a new idea comes to mind it brings with it another voice to join in the discussion. It is very easy to verbalize or write my thoughts. Expressing emotions when they are there is very difficult. I end up wearing a facade of emotions when I must. Only my loyal friends and my family will ever see true emotion from me.


----------



## Ellis Bell (Mar 16, 2012)

chrisu said:


> if it has to do with Se, i'm mistyped.
> i mostly think in dialogues, monologues and see some words that are especially significant floating through my mind (serif, black text, white background, sometimes italic).


Yup, I think in walls of scrolling black and white text. Which makes it very easy for me to translate my words into writing. You;d think I'd have an easier type converting what I think into speech, though...


----------



## thunder (Jun 15, 2011)

It depends on what I am thinking about and how defined that subject is. 

In general, I think with a gut feeling, some images, and in wordless words. They stream out in words the moment I start typing or writing them down. Sometimes until I start physically translating my thoughts, it's not evident in my mind that there are words to express my thoughts. Once I am aware though, then the walls of words appear and I sift through them for the most accurate words.

If it's a specific idea/situation in which I know enough of the facts, I think in linear observation: "The point of this is X. You want Y. But really Z is more important. ABC are the reasons why Z is more important. If you want to get from X to Z, QRST should be done."

If it's more abstract, often there are fewer images and more gut feelings to which I consider and pin point words to express those thoughts.

If it's a memory, it's more of a gut feeling and images (a sort of Ni-ish recollection of an Se experience, I think). 

I'll echo @_Ellis Bell_ in that it's harder to convert thought to speech.


EDIT: I think a better way of summing it up is this: *I think with questions*. If it's a specific idea, I ask myself "Is there something I want to or need to say?" If it's an abstract idea, as I sift through the gut feelings I think "What is going on here? What am I not understanding?" If it's a memory I think "How the heck do I describe something that person X didn't experience? What are the things that happened?" And the oft-repeated ISTP questions: "So? And? Now what? What's the point?"

Also, I think your question about "How do you think?" in contrast to your description of images and feelings isn't entirely about "thinking" -- the images and feelings are more perceptions, whether external or internal perceptions. _Would you say that "thinking" in the sense that you are describing is more directed toward the translation between perception and judgment (in reference to the CFs), and also the translation between judgment and expression?_


----------



## Glenda Gnome Starr (May 12, 2011)

I think in words sometimes but it tends to be a random stream of consciousness. If I were to verbalize it, it would make no sense. Then I think in touch sensations and smells and music... four part harmony, occasionally... sometimes i think of floating numbers, too hard to catch... too hard to add up.... 
if i could only write down that random stream of consciousness... but it's too fleeting...


----------



## Ixtli (Sep 3, 2010)

I tend to clasify whiskey in these kind of terms.
For example - scotch is black and sharp
Irish is yellow/red and sharp but not as sharp as scotch (only an isfp will understand this one).
Bourbon is plain yellow, like snow (esp yellow snow), good for simple play but bad for something more demanding


----------



## Mammon (Jul 12, 2012)

Ixtli said:


> I tend to clasify whiskey in these kind of terms.
> For example - scotch is black and sharp
> Irish is yellow/red and sharp but not as sharp as scotch (only an isfp will understand this one).
> Bourbon is plain yellow, like snow (esp yellow snow), good for simple play but bad for something more demanding


Synaesthesia.


----------



## Traum (Jan 3, 2012)

_Definitely _sounds like synaesthesia. I do all that too. The OP really sounded like I do; especially the memory part. I have synaesthesia. Do you see letters as colors?


----------



## rabbitofkaz (Sep 19, 2012)

I definitely think in abstract concepts that are not necessarily visual, auditory, or tactile. Before I express anything, I have to decide the most appropriate way to do so. Most of the time that decision process is done subconsciously, but if I'm tired or stressed the subconscious doesn't always work like it should. I have some ability in 4+ languages (only fluent in English though) and at work I sometimes have to use 2 or more. It has happened before that I will open my mouth to speak and realize that what was just running through my mind to say is a jumble of 3 or more languages that no one will understand, even though the vocabulary is all appropriate to what I was trying to say.


----------



## llawless (Mar 4, 2013)

Well, I feel like the odd one out here - I think in words. Spoken words. Subvocalized if you wish. I am from the Netherlands, so my native language is Dutch. The only anomaly in my thinking is that I oftentimes think in English because it feels like a much easier language to express my thoughts in. I also google everything in English. I prefer reading English fantasy books and I watch mostly English spoken TV shows. 

I rarely ever see images of things in my head. I try very hard sometimes because I want to be more creative, but it rarely happens or I am just not able to distinctly notice it happening.


----------



## stoicBrit (Jun 10, 2012)

MandiKind said:


> I tend to think visually, so I have to first picture my thoughts (I see pictures in my mind). After that I have to do the best I can to put these images into logical and orderly verbal language. Because of this I often don't make a lot of eye contact when I'm telling a story or talking about an event. This is probably caused by my focus on these mental images.


That is exactly how it is for me too.


----------



## soppixo (Jun 29, 2011)

I either think (Ti) visually/physically (Se) or verbally/textually (Fe). Depends on which function is relevant to the thingy at hand.

*Ti / Se*
When I'm interacting with an idea based on visual / physical communication, I think in scenes, colors, space and physicality. Sometimes I would actually imagine that I am physically interacting with a scenario or problem. Either by self-insertion into scenarios- real or fake, or by literally touching, dividing and moulding the idea with my hands. I also like to use "slideshows" to help develop imagery patterns. 

I also think with physical sensations, like the softness of a dog's fur, the sharp needle pain of a sting, the fuzzy low-key irritation of static or with other sensory means like music (I associate certain musical rhythms with certain ideas, I like to create elaborate fantasy worlds, and I use the beat/harmony/instrumental tone to help me remember plot and characters). When I shift between ideas/modes of thought, I'd often literally imagine myself shifting a gearstick around.

*Ti / Fe*
For interacting with people, communication of the verbal / textual variety, I think in words and like chrisu described, I'd bold, italicize or stress certain words to show emphasis and create a tangible "feeling" to the thought in my head. I like to also create short phrases that capture an idea in its entirety, or pick out main points and extrapolate from there. 

This part usually happens when I'm getting ready to communicate my ideas to the world outside, so I need to translate my visual/physical language into verbal/textual language. Sometimes my ideas don't translate well and I become confused and rambly, the struggle here for me is about treading the line between being so clear and precise that I lose all the details in the process or to elaborate till its too complex to be understood.


----------



## losersalwayzwin (Mar 14, 2013)

hmm....I feel like the way my mind works is like this:

There is a wall in my head. And the way I think is by throwing things at it.
The reaction I get determines the direction my thoughts go. And this moves me to respond or not respond depending on the reaction.

Basically, whatever comes into my mind I throw at this wall. It can bounce, it can echo, it can stick, etc. But there is always going to be some sort of reaction. 

Depending on the reaction, I will repeat this process until I arrive to a point where I either grow bored of the direction this reaction ( thought ) is taking me. Or I feel I have reached a point to end on; and feel satisfied in doing so.

I feel like echoes and bouncing things off this wall are my preferred methods. ( I mostly work with words and with the way they sound in my head. I replay them/revisit them. Reacting to what they drum up/stir up. ) 

The overall process is like throwing a tennis ball at the wall over and over again. Touching and moving with the ball. If thrown at different angles at the wall it makes me move in like response.

I repeat words/or say them out loud in my head. I think that my mind operates a lot like that of a resonator.

I want the words/thoughts to vibrate inside me as clearly and transparently as possible first before they erupt/escape into action. At least that's the goal.

It's like a game of sorts I play by myself; and when I open my mouth/act I'm looking to play it with others. 

I hope that translated well....thanks for the topic. I found it to be quite fun.


----------



## Brian1 (May 7, 2011)

I think in terms of run on sentences,and monologues, this comes across as accusatory to like the NF crowd,or at the very least, the NF crowd that I was hanging out with, that puts alienation, between me and them. Also,NF from my experience are not that very good with the SPs impulsiveness. I think a lot in impulsive ideas ideas and words.


----------



## Bob van Goog (Apr 12, 2013)

Vanderlyle said:


> I don't know about you, but I tend to think in a way that doesn't correspond to well to the spoken word. Textures, colours, feelings, etc are how I classify the world around me, which is why it's so difficult when I have to express my thoughts.


I have something like what you describe. Words, locations, music, numbers-- pretty much everything has a quality like a flavor, or texture, or motion attached to it. But the quality isn’t really like any of those things-- this isn‘t synaesthesia. Those comparisons are just the easiest ones to make.

I don’t find they make communication more difficult-- rather, they act as tags by which I can easily remember, recognize, and grasp concepts, and, if necessary, order my ideas into a structure other people can understand, often through indirect means like metaphors, or unexpected juxtapositions. But I have to do the ordering as I go, or I just get lost among tangents and get nowhere. If I’m not actually in a conversation with someone, I have to write everything down as I think of it.

It’s like walking around an intimately familiar place in the dark-- the place, in this case, being the architecture of my own mind. I have wondered whether this is an SE thing, and I’ve also wondered whether other people explore those places with the lights on, so to speak-- but what I do seems to work well enough.

I definitely think its related to my dislike of abstract language, which has weaker qualities than concrete language, and is that much more difficult to orient myself by. For instance, if I read that something had “an enormous impact on modernity”, it doesn‘t evoke anything definite, and so it‘s as good as meaningless to me, precisely because it might mean so many things. Unless an author is as aware of the ambiguity of language as I am, and clearly knows what he or she wants it to say, and is able to communicate it effectively, chances are my mind isn’t going to know quite what to do with it.


----------



## jdstankosky (May 1, 2013)

I have chromesthesia. I am also only able to think in visuals.


----------

