JP BOOK CLUB 1: Visual Thinking

There’s more variety than you think to what’s inside our heads

Welcome to JP book club! A cosy alcove of the internet where there’s blankets, hot drinks, a stack of (mainly) non-fiction, and it’s halloween or christmas at all times.

First up is a book by Temple Grandin, renowned animal behaviourist and autistic spokesperson; called Visual Thinking. Strangely, although it’s a New York Times Bestseller, the booksellers were a bit perplexed and pointed me to the self-help section. Online, it’s categorised as pop-psychology, but hey, it may well help you understand yourself!

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OUTLINE

The main crux of the book is that beyond what you’ve heard on those that can visualise photo-realistic images (hyperphantasia) to those that have no internal imagery at all (aphantasia), there’s a lot more variation in our minds. Temple outlines that there are verbal and visual thinkers, with the visuals separated into two categories: object visualisers and visual-spatial thinkers. Personally, I find these terms a bit confusing. It might be easier to think of object visualisers as the visual thinkers, and the visual-spatial thinkers as pattern recognisers. We’re all a combination of the three, but may have a stronger leaning towards one style.

We learn;

1. What visual thinking is,

2. How it is being screened out in schools,

3. Why visual thinking is so important for engineering solutions,

4. How the different thinkers benefit each other when they work together,

5. That extreme visual thinkers, and/or those who are strong in multiple styles, are (likely) the geniuses throughout history as they can visualise new inventions and solutions to problems, and how it’s linked to neurodiversity,

6. How important visual thinkers are on disaster prevention teams as they can visualise future consequences mentally,

7. That animals are visual thinkers, and this perspective can help us understand and empathise with them.

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HIGHLIGHTS

The chapter that really stood out to me was the one on how Visual Thinking is being screened out in schools. The curriculum is narrowed down to topics that can be measured, which are mainly ‘verbal’ thinking subjects. A talented mechanic who works with their hands (a visual-spatial thinker) might not be recognised for their intelligence, as we don’t value these skills at school, even though they’re crucial for solving all sorts of problems in society.

Grandin also details how the insistence of algebra is preventing students who are good at other areas of maths to move forward¹, and how important school trips are for inspiration and learning. This chapter had a lot of “aha” moments, and I would say is useful for anyone at any age.

My favourite fact was…