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I think visually whenever I see a pretty girl! Or is our thinking limited with our vocabulary? Or does predominant use of words in our thinking limit our thinking?Can one think visually and without using language and words? Well obviously, I'm seriously worrying about you if you can't I thought everyone thought without words - the words and language are put on top of the thoughts in order to communicate with others. I've heard some bilingual people say that they think in their native tongue because it comes more naturally to them - but I think original thought must be without language - otherwise how can a baby or an animal think? Thinking visually without using language and words = spatial visualization ability (used by architects, builders, sculptors, etc.) Thoughts are without symbols, conventions, language as we call it. The language comes to play when you need to communicate it to another person. For example, if you didn't have words, you couldn't have posted here the way you did. Say you posted some set of images that came to your mind here, one way i think, of representation would be a blank screen, followed by a "cartoon glowy bulb of idea" followed by blank blank. but if we all were not conversant with the "idea bulb" it wouldn't make sense For most of us, words are necessary associations for nearly anything. Removing words from the equation is artificial, because we are bound to consider words to explain our environment. Its like saying, would it be useful to be uneducated? Maybe to somebody. But certainly symbolic thought is still possible. It's a form of proto-linguistics. Yes, I do it. Although it might be called spatial thinking, it could also be called intuition. It might be that this is the best kind of guidance for all types of "automatic thinking"---the confusion comes in where language and words define metaphysical or global concepts, which are systematic and therefore define the boundary of ideas in general--- coherentlyHowever, in the time it took for me to tell myself to throw the ball to 1st, I had already visualized it happening before the words appeared. And it repeated itself again as I said it. So therefore would the "spatial intelligence" be more efficient then talking to myself? Yes, it is called "Spatial Intelligence". A more interesting aspect to be delved into, is whether or not thinking with language (symbolism) is easier and/or more efficient than not doing so. Think that you're going to throw a ball to 1st Base. Now, think about it again instead by visualizing yourself releasing the ball from your hand, having it go through the air, and landing in your team-mate's glove. Much more complicated/complex and time-consuming. We often think without using words, and make our decisions based on our gut feelings. [1] The "higher thought" may not really refer to thoughts, but to intuition. with meditation one of the goals is often to reach a state of "no thought".. and yet the higher goal is enlightenment.. which means to me, wisdom.. or higher understanding ..so how does this work? this state of "no thought" somehow brings me to a state of "higher thought"..seems a little strange to me, but I guess I could compare it to the rest/exercise cycle that makes me physically stronger. Reminds me of the experience of Helen Keller. After she learned communicating, she wrote that while being blind, mute, and deaf, she was feeling an immense frustration because of the inability to define things in her head. [2][3] interesting question.. most of the time our thoughts seem like conversations in our heads.. but what about a person who is deaf and mute and blind? obviously thoughts are there but it is difficult to imagine and describe them without language.