Describe Your Thought Process

[Costrin]

So I was doing some introspecting and this thread idea came to me. I searched, and there's some threads similiar, but not what I'm looking for.

Basically, describe how you think. Interpret this how you want.

For me:
So my Ti tries to figure things out. I can't really consciously see the inner workings of the process, but it's basically like solving a jigsaw puzzle.
You have a jigsaw puzzle, and you know the size of it, but you don't know what it's going to look like when it's finished. You have some pieces already in place, but there's a lot of holes everywhere. So I have a "sense" of what the final outcome is, but I don't know specifically what it is. I then ask myself questions that narrow down what I'm looking for. Equivalent to zooming in on a specific piece of the puzzle. I keep asking questions until I've zoomed down to the level of a single piece. So now I know the shape of the piece, my Ne/Si/whatever goes and finds the piece. If I'm lucky, the piece is connected to some others too. Then I move on to another area of the puzzle. Eventually enough pieces are filled in that you pretty much know what the picture is, although you can never find all the pieces. The puzzle is too big, and the pieces too well hidden.

SO YEAH N STUFF.

 

[Cenomite]

This was a really hard question to answer. I never really realized how automatic my thought process was until I tried to describe it.

The most I can come up with is that I allocate a "section" of my head to looking at a situation/problem from each angle I can think of at (what seems like) the same time. After each angle has played itself out a bit, they either intertwine and give me a solid thread to follow, or one angle stands out more than the other and aspects from other angles are used to follow that one.

I have no idea if that made sense.

 

[Costrin]

This was a really hard question to answer. I never really realized how automatic my thought process was until I tried to describe it.

Indeed.

The most I can come up with is that I allocate a "section" of my head to looking at a situation/problem from each angle I can think of at (what seems like) the same time. After each angle has played itself out a bit, they either intertwine and give me a solid thread to follow, or one angle stands out more than the other and aspects from other angles are used to follow that one.

I have no idea if that made sense.

I think I get it.

 

[Kasper]

I can't describe it, I can only show it;

Normal thoughts, Ne gone mad;

When stressed, Ti overload;

 

[Costrin]

I can't describe it, I can only show it;

Cheater! You just copied from that one thread.

 

[Kasper]

Cheater! You just copied from that one thread.

Sure, but it was my post

PS I cheated in that thread too cause that’s not even the first time I’ve posted them! Whatcha got to say about that buster?! *fronts*

 

[nightning]

My mind likes to make connections (Ni). It tries to shove everything together and insists they're all related in some obscure way... you just need to look to find that hidden pattern.

If my mind's allowed to wander, it runs on to everything. Pretty much like a kid finger painting. Dabs their hands into everything and smear it all around. (And then poke a dot some where as the eye and call it a doggie. )

Usually though my mind is on problem solving mode. Which means it works towards an objective. First thing I think about is defining the problem. Typically at this stage my mind comes up with a lot of mental models, analogies and imagery. Then it hunt through all the different related pathways in order to find solutions to the problem... then to analyze the different pathways to figure out which is the best option.

 

[wolfy]

Usually my thought process is the same thought process used while playing pong. Exactly like that.

 

[bluebell]

Copied and pasted from elsewhere:

Most of my thinking is visual. A lot of things are mapped onto a mental model of the planet which I can zoom in and out of. The underlying connections/interactions are part of this mental world. Everything is multi-layered and I'm always spinning through what's already there to find new connections between concepts. The 'eureka' moments are quite addictive - there's often a euphoric rush when a new insight becomes apparent.

 

[Fluffywolf]

Hmm, this is near impossible to describe. But to the best of my ability.

My thoughts are like soap bubbles floating around in my head. All these soap bubbles have recognitions, when I grab on to one bubble and pop it. I can spot all other similar/related bubbles and pop them at the same time. I then fix them up together and put the newly formed group of thoughts into one bubble. Eureka moment - getting all wet and soaky as a soap bubble explodes in my face.

In more realistic terms, I gather scattered thoughts on a subject, and then form them into a new or an existing idea. Eureka moment - recognicing the familiarity of a certain thought that holds great potential in strengthening the idea that is being formed.

And to use a real life metaphor. I'll break up small lego cars and create one big ass truck with the pieces. Eureka moment - Finding that one illusive special car that makes the truck that much more badass.

That sorta makes sense to me, but in all honesty. It's mostly mystery to me too.

 

[laintpe]

EDIT: DISCLAIMER: TIME OF POST. whatever, hopefully i'll laugh at this in the morning.


It comes down to-

Counting, establishing a pattern, sometimes this requires repeating a thought several times to make sure it fits... i realize this could be interpreted several different ways... oh well. So, at first it doesn't matter what the content of the thought is as long as it satisfies the pattern.. noise, visual, numerical.. first. A beat. Comment: I love speaking about stupid, inconsequential things that are of no interest to the rest of the world.

In a boundary-less moment, a picture of the thoughts would resemble one of those see-through paths/sections(?) on a vacuum- essentially, a bunch of shit zipping about in no predictable or logical path.

From there, I'll throw a line and hook on to one of the fragments, see if it is worth keeping, probably snag a few lines and become momentarily frustrated with the current speed of the passing thoughts and my inability to focus on obtaining one. A good moment will involve hooking a fragment that isn't another piece of vacuum shit... something that actually puts up a fight, causing me to follow it for awhile and forget about the surrounding whirlwind. Unfortunately, those moments internalize my thinking so strongly that I drown my perception of the external... and surface only to realize that I do not recognize how much time has passed or what landmarks... classrooms... I am located in. Comment: Vegan who uses fishing metaphors.

From the calamity comes the search for detail. I consider this part insatiable.. endless, infinite, and blahhhhfnkjlrrestartbutton... i often burn out before this step can be completed... despise asymptotes. In an unhealthy state, I refuse to think at the thought of this inevitable step to avoid the anxiety it guarantees to release. I need to make this sound perilous and dreadful because that is how I perceive it and that makes it real (for now). It gets to a point where the axis is no longer visible... and for that matter, neither is the asymptote... the vacuum that sucked the dirt from the floor becomes.. a vacuum (yes?)... leaving me with no perception of what is up, down, left, right, bending time.. perhaps. In the vacuum (which we have redefined, again, because gravity no longer exists, because at this point all previously accepted rules have been abandoned), there is no telling if the fragment is following me, or I, the fragment, or if neither is moving or if everything around the fragment and me is moving. To control this paragraph, I will abide by the rules in order to communicate effectively: it means, logic is skewed into something that is not accepted as logic... by everyone else. Or so I perceive.

At this point: restart button.

Followed by: Conclusion: I cannot trust my perceptions.

Where to go from there? Apparently I do not know or am caught in some sort of inconsistency/realized hypocrisy because it makes me incredibly anxious.. for no discernible, consistent reason besides-- "I don't know."

 

[Udog]

On any topic or problem, I must first build a foundation. If I am ever forced to fly off the cuff, without a solid foundation, I can make some very stupid decisions. I have learned to be slow and slightly deliberate in new areas where I have not grasped the fundamentals yet.

What's the foundation? Say I take in a new piece of information. My mind pictures where it belongs in the scheme of things - almost as if what level of a pyramid it belongs to. If it's fairly high level, the information lacks a stable foundation and I don't entirely trust it. I then need to go a bit deeper and build a foundation from the bottom up.

(An example is how some chord progressions sound good to the ear. I can take that as principle, but it's uncomfortable to me to simply memorize it. I needed to find out that Bach pretty much created the language of music as we know it, and the composers of Western music have used the language for so long that we have become trained to accept certain things as sounding right. There is also a fact of how notes in a chord decay into other chords, but I haven't gotten that deep yet.)

Once I understand the underlying principles, then I can be free to integrate the information with confidence... or toss it out because it doesn't properly fit. The foundation is also what allows me to go in interesting and unexpected directions and come up with some neat ideas.

If you want a much longer and more emotionally based 'woo-woo-fuzzy-airy-fairy-what-the-hell-is-he-talking-about' type of explanation, go here:
http://www.typologycentral.com/forums/498330-post41.html

 

[Polaris]

My thought process is kind of . . . I'm not even sure I would call it a process. It's a vague, ethereal kind of thing. My sense of my inner world is that it's like a square window through which I view ghostly and yet vibrant images. Like a television screen, really, where the screen is the frame, the perspective, and the images are these chaotic specters that run here and there behind it. My thought process in that environment can work in two different ways. The one way is to focus on the perspective, the frame that acts as a lens onto all of those fleeting images. This is a much more logical, orderly process, where I'm deciding where I, other people, and other things stand and whether it all adds up coherently. Then there are other times when I peer through that lens, and it's like following fragments of dreams and seeing where they lead me, and trying to marshal them into some kind of order, an order that they want to attain but they haven't yet learned how.

 

[sculpting]

My thoughts are like flying way up above a huge messy landscape. I can see all the blobs below but cant make out all of the details. However there are big spiderwebs/tree branches/strings that connect it all in a big messy way. I swing along these and pluck pieces from one another and twist them around each other and then move to the next thread. Later I will revisit the twisted pieces and tie them to other pieces or sometimes cut them if they are totally crazy. I also will retrace the strings and see if it still makes sense that they are connected. Often I can see big connections among things or pick up flaws in all the tangled mess-even more so than an entp can. I can't exactly explain the flaw but I can point to where it is and that it isnt quite right, and then zero in on the flaw. It's like it glows or something.

I think these threads being all tangled is why enfps can be so random sometimes. We entangle the wrong threads but it can be really funny.

If Te is playing, then the threads have to be thicker and be more linear. This is hard on my brain.

 

[Tiltyred]

I don't know if you could call it a thought process, but it goes

Information streaming in
Information streaming in
Information streaming in
HO, wait
what's that
huh
(files away)
Information streaming in
Information streaming in
HA! wot's this? goes with that other!
(files away)
Information streaming in
Occasionally stop incoming to review what's been received
Finds a tidbit that goes with the other stuff
That links to another tidbit stored but not examined at the time
Starts to see a picture emerge, like puzzle pieces
Works the puzzle pieces around to see what comes out
If all goes well, gets the big picture
If not, feels vaguely dissatisfied and keeps on watch for the rest of the pieces

or
Information
Information
Information
HA! This looks like that thing it took me forever to figure out last time!
HA! There's another signal that it is that thing
I'm gonna say it's that thing and act accordingly
(Turns out it is that thing)

 

[Polaris]

My thought process is kind of . . . I'm not even sure I would call it a process. It's a vague, ethereal kind of thing. My sense of my inner world is that it's like a square window through which I view ghostly and yet vibrant images. Like a television screen, really, where the screen is the frame, the perspective, and the images are these chaotic specters that run here and there behind it. My thought process in that environment can work in two different ways. The one way is to focus on the perspective, the frame that acts as a lens onto all of those fleeting images. This is a much more logical, orderly process, where I'm deciding where I, other people, and other things stand and whether it all adds up coherently. Then there are other times when I peer through that lens, and it's like following fragments of dreams and seeing where they lead me, and trying to marshal them into some kind of order, an order that they want to attain but they haven't yet learned how.

I would also liken a lot of my thought processes to having an internal treasure detector. I’ll be walking along, thinking of something, and a certain thought will set off the alarm. It’s as if that thought is a plot of land, and under that land is an important insight. And so I usually dig into the ground and discover what is hiding there. In many cases the treasure points to the location of a new one, and the new one to another new one, and so forth. It’s like following a series of clues, and building an idea out of them as I go.

Another metaphor that describes my thought is that it’s like having an internal set of scales. All of the information running through my head, all of the ideas and impressions: I pluck them up and set them down on those scales, weighing them for value, meaning, consistency, and congruence. As I finish weighing each thought, I either set it down beside the scales to be used or developed, or I store it away in an invisible filing cabinet that is probably my subconscious.

 

[AOA]

Hmm, let's see - focussed, emotionally straight, action-oriented, motivated to... fairness, productivity and elaboration.

... Guess that's close.

 

[Azseroffs]

Mine is kind of lot like you said.

Usually when I'm thinking about anything it's like looking at a picture with missing parts. Then I zoom in on one of the holes and fit in a piece that fits the best, and then I keep moving from hole to hole until I complete the picture.

It's actually more like looking at a puzzle that is unfinished on the outer edges. I fit in a piece, but often as I fit on more and more pieces the original pieces are found to be wrong so I take them off and try to fit a new one. If I am so fortunate to reach the outer edge of a puzzle it is one of the most satisfying moments.

 

[Jeremy]

My thought process is usually somewhere off in the clouds; I don't usually consciously try to jump into a topic; it just appears there. I'll ponder it for awhile, or, in the case of one of my daydreams, just sort of float around in there until I'm done. When I'm making a decision.. I usually just know what I need to do. My Fi and Ne are usually entirely subconscious - if it's something I know, I know it immediately. If it's not, then I'll begin using my Si and Te to figure out what comes next. They're usually not nearly as good as if I had known the answer to start with, though.

For example, and I know this is a horrid example, but I can look at a test question, and without even consciously READING the whole thing, I can know the answer. It's there. If I don't know it, I'm usually fucked, but I might be able to figure it out if I compare it to the data I do know, or if I'm able to deduct logically what the answer is. Unfortunately, my parental Ne often makes me second guess myself; I've learned to ignore that feeling except when I am above and beyond 99% sure that it is the correct answer. Si has saved me a few points before.

Edit: Unfortunately, knowing what needs to be done and acting on it are two different things.. I guess this is a problem for a lot of us INXPs.

 

[TaylorS]

Ideas seem to come come as revelation-like flashes of inspiration out of unconscious processing of incoming information through my factual knowledge and memories (Ni). The ideas are then tried and/or tested in some fashion in the real world (Te) while at the same time are vetted for gut-level ethical acceptability (Fi).