Visual Thinking
The Hidden Gifts of People Who Think in Pictures, Patterns, and Abstractions
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3.9 • 21 Ratings
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- $14.99
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
WINNER OF THE NAUTILUS GOLD AWARD
“A powerful and provocative testament to the diverse coalition of minds we’ll need to face the mounting challenges of the twenty-first century.” —Steve Silberman
“An absolute eye-opener.” —Frans de Waal
A landmark book that reveals, celebrates, and advocates for the special minds and contributions of visual thinkers
A quarter of a century after her memoir, Thinking in Pictures, forever changed how the world understood autism, Temple Grandin— “an anthropologist on Mars,” as Oliver Sacks dubbed her—transforms our awareness of the different ways our brains are wired. Do you have a keen sense of direction, a love of puzzles, the ability to assemble furniture without crying? You are likely a visual thinker.
With her genius for demystifying science, Grandin draws on cutting-edge research to take us inside visual thinking. Visual thinkers constitute a far greater proportion of the population than previously believed, she reveals, and a more varied one, from the photo-realistic “object visualizers” like Grandin herself, with their intuitive knack for design and problem solving, to the abstract, mathematically inclined “visual spatial” thinkers who excel in pattern recognition and systemic thinking. She also makes us understand how a world increasingly geared to the verbal tends to sideline visual thinkers, screening them out at school and passing over them in the workplace. Rather than continuing to waste their singular gifts, driving a collective loss in productivity and innovation, Grandin proposes new approaches to educating, parenting, employing, and collaborating with visual thinkers. In a highly competitive world, this important book helps us see, we need every mind on board.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
There’s more than one way to be smart, and best-selling author and autism advocate Temple Grandin celebrates folks who think visually, not verbally. Grandin believes her mind’s emphasis on visual thinking has helped her career designing farm equipment, and she challenges myths about people on the spectrum, revealing how many movers and shakers in tech derive their unique abilities from visual thinking. Along the way, she explores flaws in modern education, the sad state of American infrastructure, theories about emotion and intelligence in animals, and the need for engineers with hands-on experience. Smart, passionate, and thought-provoking, this is a book that’ll make you think differently about people who think differently.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Animal behaviorist Grandin (Navigating Autism) advocates for visual thinkers in this illuminating survey. Drawing on scientific studies, news articles, and her own experiences, Grandin makes a case that those who think visually have underutilized talents. She begins by describing two types of visual thinkers: object visualizers like her, who "see the world in photo-realistic images" and easily grasp how mechanical devices work, and mathematical spatial visualizers, who see the world in patterns and abstractions. In a "one-size-fits-all" education system geared mainly toward verbal thinkers, the visualizers, Grandin argues, are being neglected and subsequently passed over in the workplace, resulting in a loss of skilled manufacturing workers— "tinkerers"— who don't have an engineering degree but can "build all the mechanically intricate specialized equipment." Grandin highlights how visual thinkers can "home in on design flaws and systems failures" as she analyses the failure at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan and the two Boeing 737 MAX airplane crashes, and shows how they might have been averted were more types of thinkers involved: "Verbal thinkers can overthink things," she writes, "to my mind, as a visual thinker and a designer, it's not that complicated." The result is a resonant testament to thinking one's own way.
Customer Reviews
Amazing Book!
Incredible insight from an incredible mind on the state of our educational system and the need for the inclusion of all types of thinkers… including visual thinkers, who are often much more likely to be neurodivergent and, consequently, pushed out of the educational system.
We need these brilliant minds now more than ever. An inspiring read for anyone who finds themselves on the other side of the neuro-divide.
Dimensional Shift
Who needs to travel in space to other worlds for alien encounters when we have such adventures right in front of us every day. This is nothing less than what Professor Grandin places before us with “Visual Thinking”. Expertly written, the book requires courage, humility, empathy and perseverance, but the effort is generously rewarded. It is nothing short of a dimensional shift in perception.
Read the sample first
Flawed logic and half the book is a self fulfilling prophecy.