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Mental pictures of abstract things

Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2013 11:15 pm
by Negamuse
Ever since I was a kid, when I think about the year I think of it as an oval racetrack shape, with December in the middle of one bend, June in the middle of the other bend, and all the other months spaced out in between, progressing clockwise. I never picture the track from eye level, I'm always looking at it from above, but the orientation changes throughout the year; Right now, the track is horizontal with December on the left, and we're making our way across the top edge. It sort of flips over about May time.

I don't need to think about right and left when I'm doing things, I just KNOW which is which, (you'd hope at 37) but if I sit here now and think about the abstract concept of right and left I remember the exact moment I learnt right from left: walking to the park with my mum when I was about... I dunno. 3, 4 or something, and there is a post box on the right hand side of the road. In fact, why don't I show you. It's a different post box now, it used to be one of the big fat red British post boxes, but there's still one there, on the right. (However WRONG that one on the post looks to my mind's eye).

So: does anyone else have these mental images after all these years for things like time, date, directions and so on, or is it just me?

Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2013 11:34 pm
by saturdayindex
I swear there was a post very similar to this made a couple of years ago. Anyone else remember that?

I myself don't really have geometrical representations of abstract things in my head. Everything in my head is semantic and metaphorical. Instead of an oval racetrack, I see the months as certain people, seasons, roman gods, etc...

Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2013 4:48 pm
by zeitgeist
I think the "Twoism artist" Kinesthetiac, known as Synesthesia on here, experiences something like this, but I can't find the thread right now. Here are some others that are interesting reads. It seems like that ability could be useful in some ways, and completely distracting in others.

Synesthesia and BOC
Synesthesia.
Something Strange has been Happening to me
Albums Creating Actual Places in your mind

Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2013 6:14 pm
by Guido

Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2013 6:39 pm
by Negamuse
Man, I even replied in that thread as well. I have the worst memory. :lol:

Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2013 9:29 pm
by saturdayindex
That's the one! Thanks Guido.

Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2013 12:03 pm
by hexagonLife
When I close my eyes I see lots of moneys.

Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2013 1:37 pm
by Synthestesia
When I play songs on my violin I sometimes do this weird ass thing where I subconsciously and rapidly map out the music in the physical world around me. I don't know how else to describe it. It's like different parts and notes of the music are all around me and I am conscious of every single one and their order. When I play them it's like the move towards me and enter my violin.

Also, listening to live music has some different qualities like that for me. For instance, yesterday I listened to a peer play their flute in class, everything else was completely silent, and I saw cascading ribbons of dark reds and greens spinning around me and by the end of the song they had physically lifted me up out of my chair like they were a tornado.

One more: In choir sometimes when I sing, usually in concerts, I feel the words forming in my lungs and rising up my throat. I can feel the individual vertexes of the letters and it's strange as fuck. Also singing makes everything around me appear darker and then I have a lightly colored glow in the center of my vision that changes color depending on the note I'm singing.

A lot of these visuals have died down since about 7th grade though I still hear sound when subjected to certain motion. For instance I always hear sound when I look at gifs. It usually doesn't make sense but the sounds sync up with the movement of the gif.
EX: http://24.media.tumblr.com/52e744931d97 ... o1_500.gif
When I look at that I hear what sounds like glitchy static, and someone saying "wit-chee-chaw" ran through a noise vocoder. The "wit-chee" is the first two rapid movements and the "chaw" is when it stands still for a moment.

Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2013 6:34 pm
by youregonnaloveit!
I see the year as a circle, december being on the left side of the circle and starting over. Thats how i always imagine it when i want to recall something