Communicating detailed thoughts?

Post Reply New Topic

I have this problem too.

I think it’s related to how my brain works as an indexing system. Often when I feel like I come to grasp some complex set of ideas in my head I only really only work out all the details once. After the thinking is finished what continues to exist in my conscious memory is a bunch pictures or short phrases that come to symbolize the original thought process. They’re like little markers that indicate the thoughts / ideas that I’ve previously worked out even though most of the details are lost. This sometimes gives me the illusion that my ideas are simpler than they really are.

When I try to communicate the ideas I’m forced to quickly revisit all the details that the indices in my head serve as reminders for but don't necessarily describe in their entirety. It can be a slow process trying to reconstruct the thought and put it into words. There's also the problem that this reconstruction process doesn't necessarily occur in the logical order needed for written or spoken language. Often the various parts of the original idea come back into consciousness out of order. For instance I often remember the conclusions of my reasoning before I can recall the premises.