out of curiosity

[jaaron]

I work with lots of math on the daily, remember things by their number versus the actual word or phrase.

I think I'm a combination though,but weighs heavily on the math side of life. I understand angles when it comes to gemstones and diamonds and understand what they mean, but have a harder time putting them into words.

So in a long document, you would remember something by thinking 'point 5' and it would come back to you? That's fascinating to me.

Definitely math and science but I am very visual too. I love reading and I love talking and writing but I am stronger in math and science.

Do you find that you tend to be more visual in one area than the other?

I did an IQ test once which said I was a “visual mathematician”. No idea what that means!

I think it's about being able to see patterns. A few years ago, I was recovering from minor surgery and had to spend a few days in bed, not allowed up at all and was bored out of my mind, so at one point decided to do an online IQ test -- it was almost all those kind of mathematical pattern questions. My result was basically 'people with this IQ can sometimes eventually learn to tie their own shoes'.

Maths all the way, with the exception that I can’t do mental maths for toffee. I think it’s a short term memory issue with holding numbers in my head: I know what parts I want to break a bigger sum into, but by the time I’ve done the second sub-component I can feel the first numbers slipping through my brain. With paper to write parts down I’m fine, just mental maths. I really missed doing maths when I stopped doing it at uni - it makes you think in a different way and, sad as it is to say this out loud, I found working through proofs etc almost therapeutic in the logical process you needed to go through.

If you saw me parking a car you’d question my spatial ability (!), but I can ‘see’ the mechanics of problems and things like architectural plans in 3D in my head fairly well. And I have no artistic or musical ability whatsoever!

Lol. You're replying to someone who has managed to back a Tesla into a pole, which is basically impossible.

I’m all about the Math and numbers. Short on words....

Sentences no one has ever said about me.

I think I’m a 50/50 Math and Words person. I have always excelled at math and other STEM subjects that required math, at the same time, learning languages come easily to me, and if online gaming “Words with Friend” is any indication, I’m pretty strong in that aspect too!

Actually, I think mathematical ability and facility with learning languages are more closely correlated than verbal ability and facility at languages. Or that's my excuse for how bad my French is after having taken it for years, anyway.

Ugh I cannot math my way out of a checkbook register. Grammar and spelling are my jam.

We have something in common, Red! Going to try to find that fainting emoji...

While I can entirely visualize a floor-plan by hearing a description I can not visualize where I am on a map and am dependent on my car maps feature for direction. I can visualize design concepts like what colors will work together in a room and what a house will look like after a remodel. I see movies in my head when reading a book - becoming so engrossed that I block out other sounds and have to "come back" by being tapped on. I can compose and hear music as I fall asleep - I really enjoy that - doesn't always happen but it is fun when it does because I can separate or combine the strings, flutes etc. I would not be able to write down the notes though - it's been a long time since I played an instrument. I do not enjoy math, it was boring to me and a real struggle to keep focused but ended up in banking as my career lol - but that was really a customer service job more than math. I love science and history. Foreign language was the bane of my existence - I took "four years" but really more because I had to repeat Spanish and only know some basic words and numbers for all my effort and tears. I have no problem writing - it comes easily to me - like talking. I won numerous awards when I was in school all the way thru college for writing. I can not draw or paint to save my soul. But I have a deep appreciation for art and aesthetic. I made great grades in school in all subjects and graduated from college but my brain feels like mush nowadays. I have no idea what kind of thinker this mash up makes me

I think it makes you sound pretty much like a normal person. Funnily enough, I worked in finance (VC) very briefly. Even though it was more the legal end of things, close proximity to those kind of numbers made me want to hyperventilate on a daily basis.

I think I'm stronger with language, but no slouch when it comes to math and science. I love logic puzzles but find LSAT problem boring. As with crosswords, which just involve trivia that I'm not interested in.

If I want to remember something, I say it out loud to myself (always in Chinese for the succinctness), and remember the sound way longer than I would if I pictured it visually. I will recognize an attractive voice more easily than recognizing an attractive face, because I think attractive voices to be more distinctive than attractive faces.

But what does it mean to be visual, really? I think that, unless you're disabled, humans do rely on visual signals for A LOT, so unless the person is vision impaired, I don't think you can say anyone is NOT visual.

Totally agree about the trivia heavy crosswords.

I don't know. I think some people are relatively non-visual-- can't see what something will look like in a room, don't really mind if what they wear is flattering or wrinkled, don't mind if their surroundings are cluttered or overly sterile, don't notice that lighting is harsh, etc.

Don't get old. I used to be good with words. Now I cannot visualize words to see their spelling in my head, something I used to do automatically. I also cannot remember words. I would get depressed about it, but by the time I remember I was supposed to be upset about something, I have forgotten what it is.

You still strike me as being pretty capable with words, AGBF. Any changes might be perceptible to you but I can assure you they're not coming across to the outside world. I haven't started to have problems with that yet, but I do find myself constantly having gone upstairs or into another room to get something and then standing there trying to remember what. It usually comes to me right after I've gone downstairs again.

I am visually oriented. Show me a picture or diagram.
If I see your name written down, I will never forget it.
I love to read, and remember things much better if I take notes.
Art is my thing, and I love to create and work with my hands. I can draw and paint, and realism is my style.

Math has always been my downfall.
In high school, I was doing badly in Algebra II.
So a nice teacher hooked me up with a boy who would help me during study hall. It turns out that this was the boy who I had a massive crush on for years.
I told myself, that I had better get this math stuff, or look like a fool in front of this boy I was in love with.
Naturally, I still couldn't get it, and that's when I realized that there was no hope for me!

Well, I think inquiring minds want to know what happened with the boy?

Probably 60% math 40% words? My spatial concept is excellent and I visualize things in 3d, but it's useless unless you can articulate what you want to do with that info. Honestly it didn't even occur to me that people were assuming a flat diagram is how a stone will visually look in person. Boggles the mind that they didn't understand that facet sizes aren't identical. Even when I make my cutout diamonds to visualize size, I curve the crown down and stick it on top of an existing ring so I see the proper depth. Dude, I wasted way too much time in that thread LOL

I think that bolded bit is the key. As a math-challenged person, so much of the frustration is that I've often come across people who are good at math, and see things from that perspective, but can't articulate enough about it. They see something I can't or don't, but somewhere along the line there's a communication failure.

Totally visual. If math dyslexia is a thing, I have it. It might as well be Chinese symbols.

Apparently it is a thing! Sure wish I had known that a long time ago.

I was an English major in university and worked in banking for 20 years and now love designing, decorating and organizing houses for my friends. Not sure what I would fall under.

I think it makes you a polymath

 

[MeowMeow]

@jaaron For her own sake I hope so. Her being able to do math is important. I don't want her to suffer with whatever issue it is I have. But I don't hold high hopes. My mother also had issues doing math and I expect those to come into play for her also but if they don't i will be thrilled for her and make sure she is encouraged in it.

 

[missy]

Do you find that you tend to be more visual in one area than the other?

@jaaron sorry for the long post to come. But to try answering your question to the best of my ability here goes.

I lack spatial abilities. I cannot read maps. And I get lost easily. However I have good route memory and when I put my mind to it I can learn the route but I have to work at it. I also have a problem with facial recognition until I get to really know someone if I see that person out of context I may not recognize them. It sounds funny I know but it's true for me.

My DH jokes I am on the spectrum but seriously he might be right. Not only am I lacking in the above two areas but I am very particular and like things just so. I crave routine. I am very sensitive to smell and touch and taste and sight and hearing. Exquisitely so. And I have intense emotions and feel things too strongly and I also feel others pain. I mean I physically feel the pain others are going through which makes life challenging. I am careful about what I ask and what I learn about others because it is a hardship feeling things like that. It is one of the reasons I did not want children.

Sometimes I see things before they happen. I am always right. I have shared this with a few friends and they have been able to see it in action. Fortunately I never see "bad" things but only good. And I hope that continues because I never want to see bad things before they happen. That would be too much weight on my shoulders. When I see good things happening before they happen I share it with the person to give them relief. I am always right.

If I am on the spectrum no one realized it back in the 70s and 80s. I could have gotten a full scholarship to Barnard and my graduate school if I had the autism label back in the 1980s. Of course I cannot say for sure and it is only recently that a lightbulb went off in our (Greg's first) head.


Otherwise I visualize everything in my head. Even when I am speaking I see the words in my head. Is that weird? Just asked Greg and he said he doesn't do that. I cannot speak or write without seeing the words in my head. I prefer both pictures and written words when I am putting something together. I like info presented to me in more than one form and it is easier to process it that way. I see it as a whole vs piecemeal.

I also pick up on visual cues (subconsciously) and I am intuitive. I can meet someone and just know what they are about. Generally I am very accurate. Scarily accurate. Sometimes I suppress that skill and I always regret that. If I follow my gut I am rarely disappointed. There have been times I surpressed it because I didn't like what it was telling me but I always regret not listening to my gut.

I picture my goals in my head and that's how I do it. I see something in my head and make it happen. I see pictures in my head and that is how I plan things. Not sure I am explaining it well and that goes to show I am more math/science than verbal lol. Though I did pretty well on the SATs on both verbal and math back in the 1980s. As I get older I am losing some skills however but it is what it is. I sure wouldn't mind losing being an empath but so far that is as strong as ever. One of the reasons I stopped watching the news. I cannot handle all the sadness and tragedy in the world.

 

[AprilBaby]

Hey! I take offense because you are making incorrect assumptions about Chinese.

There is no such thing as Chinese dyslexia. My dad who actually has dyslexia and hates reading English for that exact reason has zero problems reading in Chinese.

You misinterpreted my intention. My point: I can’t read Chinese , I can’t read numbers. Chinese writing is so different from English it takes special skill for an American to read. I need special math skill. In no way am I saying Chinese is dyslexic.

 

[jaaron]

@jaaron sorry for the long post to come. But to try answering your question to the best of my ability here goes.

I lack spatial abilities. I cannot read maps. And I get lost easily. However I have good route memory and when I put my mind to it I can learn the route but I have to work at it. I also have a problem with facial recognition until I get to really know someone if I see that person out of context I may not recognize them. It sounds funny I know but it's true for me.

My DH jokes I am on the spectrum but seriously he might be right. Not only am I lacking in the above two areas but I am very particular and like things just so. I crave routine. I am very sensitive to smell and touch and taste and sight and hearing. Exquisitely so. And I have intense emotions and feel things too strongly and I also feel others pain. I mean I physically feel the pain others are going through which makes life challenging. I am careful about what I ask and what I learn about others because it is a hardship feeling things like that. It is one of the reasons I did not want children.

Sometimes I see things before they happen. I am always right. I have shared this with a few friends and they have been able to see it in action. Fortunately I never see "bad" things but only good. And I hope that continues because I never want to see bad things before they happen. That would be too much weight on my shoulders. When I see good things happening before they happen I share it with the person to give them relief. I am always right.

If I am on the spectrum no one realized it back in the 70s and 80s. I could have gotten a full scholarship to Barnard and my graduate school if I had the autism label back in the 1980s. Of course I cannot say for sure and it is only recently that a lightbulb went off in our (Greg's first) head.


Otherwise I visualize everything in my head. Even when I am speaking I see the words in my head. Is that weird? Just asked Greg and he said he doesn't do that. I cannot speak or write without seeing the words in my head. I prefer both pictures and written words when I am putting something together. I like info presented to me in more than one form and it is easier to process it that way. I see it as a whole vs piecemeal.

I also pick up on visual cues (subconsciously) and I am intuitive. I can meet someone and just know what they are about. Generally I am very accurate. Scarily accurate. Sometimes I suppress that skill and I always regret that. If I follow my gut I am rarely disappointed. There have been times I surpressed it because I didn't like what it was telling me but I always regret not listening to my gut.

I picture my goals in my head and that's how I do it. I see something in my head and make it happen. I see pictures in my head and that is how I plan things. Not sure I am explaining it well and that goes to show I am more math/science than verbal lol. Though I did pretty well on the SATs on both verbal and math back in the 1980s. As I get older I am losing some skills however but it is what it is. I sure wouldn't mind losing being an empath but so far that is as strong as ever. One of the reasons I stopped watching the news. I cannot handle all the sadness and tragedy in the world.

Thanks for your reply, Missy. I can relate to so much of what you said.

I totally get the stuff about routes and facial recognition. I always have some underlying anxiety when following a route that I'm somehow not doing it right, and I remember being anxious in childhood that I somehow wasn't following classroom directions properly or understanding how an upcoming sequence of events was supposed to unfold. And same on being able to memorise a route but having to really concentrate. I also won't remember a face--unless, this is the crucial thing for me--I have a detail about the person. If I get that, no matter what it is, I'll somehow be able to place them again. In fact, I'll remember the detail but won't always remember their name.

I don't see the words I speak in my head, but I do sometimes when I'm reading (particularly if it's something that's not absorbing) realise that rather than taking it in as a whole, I'm seeing each word individually in my head. Kind of like puzzle pieces that aren't being put together. Maybe that doesn't make any sense either.

I'm also similar on routine, sensory issues and emotions. We joke that I'm the only person in the world who likes weekdays better than weekends and doesn't like vacations because I struggle with the lack of routine. I'm also very sensitive to smell, taste, touch, sight and hearing. I remember struggling with that kind of stuff as a kid, and even as and adult, I can't stand sheets that don't feel just right, socks that slide down, etc. Noisewise, there are certain sounds, particularly repetitive ones or people eating that I find unbearable. It's funny to me that I'm not hugely colour sensitive with diamonds because I'm super attuned to it in my environment and very affected by the spectrum of lighting in a house. If it's overly white or overly yellow, it drives me up the walls. Other than coriander, I don't have too many food things, but there are a few textures that make me want to gag and if there's even a speck of grit in a salad, I'm done.

And yes to the empath thing. I also physically feel others pain and am constantly bombarded by all the suffering and injustice in the world. I actually can no longer read sad or disturbing fiction or watch sad or disturbing movies/tv shows because I find myself too affected by them. Even when I'm furious at someone, I can usually end up talking myself around to seeing their side (except politically ). I agree that living with a very highly developed sense of empathy isn't necessarily an easy way to live, but still I think it's preferable to having none.

I don't see things before they happen, but I do get an intuitive sense of people/situations IRL that is almost always right. I have met people I didn't like at first who I've ended up being very close friends with, but I've never met anyone who set off that little spidey sense who didn't subsequently prove it right. I've never missed yet when meeting a new colleague (either mine or my husband's). And the times in my life I've made any kind of substantive mistake, it's always been because I blocked out that little tiny niggling voice.

I'd be pretty surprised if you were on the spectrum. OCD, maybe, but you don't sound like you have many autism spectrum characteristics.

 

[Matata]

It's interesting, because science and math are so closely linked, that you would like one and not the other. Were you more interested in the less math-y sciences? I liked biology and geology/earth science, but chemistry and physics... well, talk about hives

It wasn't a matter of like or interest but of ability. I was good at chemistry and I read physics books for fun (although my comprehension of material is probably no greater than 50%). Yet, when I took basic algebra, trig etc. my brain froze. I would catch on to the material after the exams which was a source of frustration for me and the teachers. If I can't relate an equation to something I can see/touch/hear/smell my brain rebels. Maybe that's why chem was easy for me. My strongest assets are that I am uber intuitive and empathic which, ironically, are also my biggest problems.

 

[MJ_Mac]

It wasn't a matter of like or interest but of ability. I was good at chemistry and I read physics books for fun (although my comprehension of material is probably no greater than 50%). Yet, when I took basic algebra, trig etc. my brain froze. I would catch on to the material after the exams which was a source of frustration for me and the teachers. If I can't relate an equation to something I can see/touch/hear/smell my brain rebels. Maybe that's why chem was easy for me. My strongest assets are that I am uber intuitive and empathic which, ironically, are also my biggest problems.

@Matata - It’s too bad we can’t put our brains together. I am brilliant at math but completely stupid when it comes to sciences. I used to do math equations and read mathematic books for fun. But I can’t apply those equations to real life situations.

 

[Gussie]

Did you always see it that way? Or did you like math in its own right?

I did like math in its own right but I also realize that math without application is...just math.

Our youngest daughter is an artsy type who hates math, really hates it. One night at dinner when she was about 8, my husband said, "why don't you like math?"

She replied, "math is dumb!"

Physicist husband, "math is life."

Daughter, "no it's not; it's dumb."

Me (also a physicist), "no arguments that math put the food on the table. Now, eat your food and then do you math!"

 

[MJ_Mac]

I did like math in its own right but I also realize that math without application is...just math.

You got that right!! Being able to do equations is one thing but if you can’t apply it .... oh well. And I just never could. I like to think of equations as a jigsaw puzzle for my brain (lol).

 

[mommylawyer]

@missy and @jaaron do you ever get the opposite of deja vu with routes? I am a word person, but math is fine. I have some minor facial blindness but I have the weirdest thing with routes. I will be driving the exact same route that I drive everyday when all of sudden I will think, "I've never been here before; I'm lost." Then a few seconds later, I realize that I'm on the same highway that I drive everyday.

 

[Big Fat Facets]

@jaaron

when i think of math, im thinking arithmetic, algebra, pre-calculus, calculus

I wasn't thinking about geometry. BUT I was good in geometry. it was not challenging nor boring for me, unlike the other areas of mathematics. in fact, i found it very fun and interesting.

was anyone else that way??

 

[missy]

@missy and @jaaron do you ever get the opposite of deja vu with routes? I am a word person, but math is fine. I have some minor facial blindness but I have the weirdest thing with routes. I will be driving the exact same route that I drive everyday when all of sudden I will think, "I've never been here before; I'm lost." Then a few seconds later, I realize that I'm on the same highway that I drive everyday.

Yassss! And when Greg is in the car with me he reassures me that no, we have gone this way many times. In a few seconds yes I generally recognize it. It's weird. Very weird.

 

[missy]

@jaaron

when i think of math, im thinking arithmetic, algebra, pre-calculus, calculus

I wasn't thinking about geometry. BUT I was good in geometry. it was not challenging nor boring for me, unlike the other areas of mathematics. in fact, i found it very fun and interesting.

was anyone else that way??

I am the opposite. Loved all math but geometry I found more challenging. Much more challenging than Calculus or any other advanced mathematics. I think it is a spatial relationship issue.

 

[mommylawyer]

Yassss! And when Greg is in the car with me he reassures me that no, we have gone this way many times. In a few seconds yes I generally recognize it. It's weird. Very weird.

Yes, it's very weird. I feel like there should be a word for it, but I suppose there aren't enough people who experience it.

 

[Tartansparkles]

I mentioned that my daughter has problems with maths so we invested in a tutor. The noticeable thing about the tutor is the way she uses words to explain maths. By that I mean she speaks in clear, simple sentences. If it was me I'd be umhing, ahhing and ehring and I'd have two or three unfinished attempts to explain a concept but the tutor just explains the concepts so fluidly.

The thing I struggle with is directional signs. So an arrow pointing straight up (meaning forward or ahead) means to me, up in the sky. If the arrow is just next to the letter A (for example gate A in an airport) and letters B and C are below A but the arrow is not next to them, then I panic because I don't know where to go. I once spent an hour walking up and down the arrivals/check in area of Beijing airport (sweatin' buckets) because I couldn't figure out the signs. Thankfully I looked down at one point and there was an arrow on the floor and fortunately that made more sense. Talk about a quivering nervous wreck!

 

[OreoRosies86]

Math is a jumble to me. I’m definitely a “words” person. I was always in the AP English classes but struggled with math all through school. For some reason algebra always clicked with me, must have been the use of letters I got straight A’s in every algebra course. My teachers couldn’t figure me out.

 

[Snowdrop13]

"Visual mathematicians innately notice patterns in numbers and pictures and possess the ability to create detailed 3-D mental images that can be beneficial to solving complex issues through visualization."

That makes me sound a lot more clever than I actually am! I can definitely recognise patterns and problem solve but I’m no good at 3-D (always did terribly in technical drawing at school, which became compulsory for girls when the boys had to do domestic science, about 1981.....).

 

[jaaron]

@missy and @jaaron do you ever get the opposite of deja vu with routes? I am a word person, but math is fine. I have some minor facial blindness but I have the weirdest thing with routes. I will be driving the exact same route that I drive everyday when all of sudden I will think, "I've never been here before; I'm lost." Then a few seconds later, I realize that I'm on the same highway that I drive everyday.

No, I don't think I have that, although I do have a kid, who I swear, barely recognises the next street over from ours if coming from a different direction than usual.

I do sometimes, if I'm following a route for the second or even third time, panic that I won't be able to recreate it. When we first got our car and were waiting for our charger to be installed, we had to take it to a charging facility on like lower level 3 of a parking garage. Going in to the garage, there are all these different lanes that end you up in different places - some turn to bus only lanes, some take you to levels of the garage where you can't get to the lower levels, one puts you straight through and out on the other side of the mall and you have to drive all the way around to reenter.

Take the stress of trying to follow a route and add the stress of having to make quick decisions without being able to stop and reorient, and I swear, no matter how many times I did it, I was a ball of anxiety each time.

 

[jaaron]

@jaaron

when i think of math, im thinking arithmetic, algebra, pre-calculus, calculus

I wasn't thinking about geometry. BUT I was good in geometry. it was not challenging nor boring for me, unlike the other areas of mathematics. in fact, i found it very fun and interesting.

was anyone else that way??

I'm sure someone is, just not me.

 

[jaaron]

Yes, it's very weird. I feel like there should be a word for it, but I suppose there aren't enough people who experience it.

Maybe in German? They have the most amazing all-encompassing words.

 

[voce]

@missy and @jaaron do you ever get the opposite of deja vu with routes? I am a word person, but math is fine. I have some minor facial blindness but I have the weirdest thing with routes. I will be driving the exact same route that I drive everyday when all of sudden I will think, "I've never been here before; I'm lost." Then a few seconds later, I realize that I'm on the same highway that I drive everyday.

Funny you get that way with routes. I get this way with words, in ANY language, though probably only 0.01% of the time.

I'd be in the middle of writing something and all of a sudden I'll think: wait, is this really how the word is spelled/written? I know what it's supposed to mean, but have I seen this word before? Presumably, I just have to trust the spelling my hands are used to writing or typing.

The feeling passes after half a minute or so.

I never get this way with routes or anything else that I can think of.

 

[mommylawyer]

Funny you get that way with routes. I get this way with words, in ANY language, though probably only 0.01% of the time.

I'd be in the middle of writing something and all of a sudden I'll think: wait, is this really hope the word is spelled/written? I know what it's supposed to mean, but have I seen this word before? Presumably, I just have to trust the spelling my hands are used to writing or typing.

The feeling passes after half a minute or so.

I never get this way with routes or anything else that I can think of.

Now that you mention it, that happens to me with words too, but very infrequently as well.

 

[RunningwithScissors]

All things visual for me!

I've very sensitive to visual chaos. I can't cope with being in someone's house that is cluttered or disorganized, the excess stuff makes me feel extremely uneasy. Spending time at my MIL's house (she's a borderline hoarder) for me feels the same as it does for claustrophobic people going into an MRI tube. If I had to spend the night there, I would need to take a valium, no joke.

I'm good at math that is visual (geometry, calculus, topology= LOVE). I'm good at seeing 3-D blueprints in my head and can build and making things easily. Bad at math that is not visual (had to withdraw from university chemistry class, just couldn't do it.)

TERRIBLE at spelling. I see the word as a shape (the outline of the whole) and not its individual parts. This is made worse because I have fairly strong synesthesia. Synesthesia makes my mind's eye see color in objects that don't intrinsically have color (words, numbers, days of the week, etc) so my brain is bombarded with extra information when I look at words which further muddles my ability to accurately pick apart the individual letters. Words = colored shapes.

I can write to explain things. I have to work at it, but with effort, I can get articles to where they need to be for publication in trade magazines. I'll never write easily or poetically, but I get the job done. I'll never be Hemingway.

I have very poor auditory memory. If you tell me your name I'll never remember it. If I see your name in writing, 50/50 chance I'll remember it. If I see your face, I'll never ever forget it.

 

[qubitasaurus]

In the end I don't think it really matters. You can be as good as you like at something, but eventually you end up just giving others instructions for how to solve the problem -- invariably later on this escalates to just managing people full time. At this stage you can be as good at visualizing and solving the problems as you like, but the solutions you get back is only as good as your capability to communicate what has to get done and how. At this stage I no longer know how to disentangle the two -- to solve the problem is mostly about adequately communicating/restating it. At the moment I feel therefore would probably argue I am rubbish at both,