I have had huge issues with detailed sensory information. My image memory retention and observation skills are quite low. For example being a landscape artist is something that I can not even dream about. It sucks. In cognitive tests I scored very low in this area.
I first hit a ceiling in math because it details but later with some diligence I developed a skill that surpasses large majority of people. Conceptually higher level abstract math comes easily but details take a lot of sweating.
When I was in an oral exam university electronics (no more that, thank god) the questioner said that I didn't understand it at all even when I managed to develop a very good circuit. Electronics design itself is very bottom up thingy so I'm very proud of that I passed the test. It was hellish, though.
Having this extreme top down thinking makes it hard to socialize with people. When people think their experiences I have conceptually drawn in my head sketch of an idea. People usually roll their eyes of amazement, when I paint my views in their minds. The funny thing is I have never approached things through bottom up perspective so they think I have figured every details... which is not true. It is just very high level abstraction. Things like programming through details is very hard. I like to code my own thing than follow manuals or methods.
In this sense chemistry was an easy subject to major in: lo in details, full with abstracted models. However routine labwork is something where I fail miserably since you are supposed to follow a manual with zero improvisation.
16 Oct 2016, 5:15 am
