Brain Without Walls

“I rarely think in words at all. A thought comes, and I may try to express it in words afterwards.” – Albert Einstein, 1916

Your brain thinks in pictures. Close your eyes and think of a horse. Now, stop and really do this. Notice you thought of a picture of a horse. You didn’t see the letters “h-o-r-s-e” floating no where in space.

You saw a picture of a horse. Your brain thinks in pictures, not words. Case in point you never walk up to someone and say, “You know, I remember your name, but your face escapes me!”

Your brain creates pictures in your occipital lobe or “mind’s eye”. These pictures get stored in your brain. These pictures matter. They matter a lot. Here’s why.

Learning is connecting new information to what you already know. Your brain is always taking information in as it engages with the environment. You hear, see, touch, feel, smell, and intuit.

When your brain picks up this information it connects it to what is already stored in your brain… the pictures. Your version of reality is then created.

We check our Facebook pictures, the family album, flip through magazine pictures. When was the last time you mindfully went through the pictures stored in your brain? And challenged them? Your pictures create cognitive biases. To a large extent you become your pictures.

Remember: What you think, what you say, what you do is always based upon what you know… and what you know might be wrong. In order for your brain to create a lasting change, the picture needs to change. This will take some mindful effort on your part.

Congratulations on learning something about your brain today. The Brain Bulletin is committed to help to do just that.

Always remember: “You are a genius!”

Enjoy your brain.

Terry Small is a brain expert who resides in Canada and believes that anyone can learn how to learn easier, better, faster, and that learning to learn is the most important skill a person can acquire. To interact with Small, email mystarjob@leaderonomics.com . Click here for more brain bulletins.