Here is a theory that may help you with character development.
The theory of mental self-government holds that styles of thinking can be understood in terms of constructs from our notions of government.
On this view, the kinds of governments we have in the world are not merely coincidental, but rather are external reflections or mirrors of ways in which we can organize or govern ourselves.
According to this theory, people can be understood in terms of the functions, forms, levels, scope, and leanings of government.
People do not exhibit just one style or another, but they do have preferences across various kinds of tasks and situations.
Functions
There are 3 functions of government in this theory:
Legislative. The legislatively oriented student has a predilection for tasks, projects, and situations that require creation, formulation, planning of ideas, strategies, products, and the like. This kind of individual likes to decide what to do and how to do it, rather than to be told.
Executive. The executively oriented individual has a predilection for tasks, projects, and situations that provide structure, procedures, or rules to work with, and that, although modifiable, can serve as guidelines to measure progress. Whereas the legislatively oriented individual likes to decide what to and how to do it, the executively oriented student will often prefer to be told what to do, and will then give it his or her best shot at doing it well.
Judicial. The judicially oriented individual has a predilection for tasks, projects, and situations that require evaluation, analysis, comparison–contrast, and judgment of existing ideas, strategies, projects, and the like. This individual tends to be evaluative of others, sometimes on the basis of minimal information.
Forms
There are 4 different forms of mental self-government in this theory:
Monarchic. The monarchic individual has a predilection for tasks, projects, and situations that allow complete focus on one thing or aspect at a time until it is complete. A monarchically oriented individual is single-minded and often driven, and likes to finish one thing before moving on to the next.
Hierarchic. The hierarchic individual has a predilection for tasks, projects, and situations that allow creation of a hierarchy of goals to fulfill. This individual likes to do multiple things in a given time frame, but assigns differential priorities for getting them done. Hierarchic people tend to be adaptive in many settings where it is necessary to set priorities for getting certain things done before others, or where it is necessary to decide that some things are more worthy of attention than are others.
Oligarchic. The oligarchic individual has a predilection for tasks, projects, and situations that allow working with competing approaches, with multiple aspects or goals that are equally important. This individual, like the hierarchically oriented one, likes to do multiple things within a given time frame, but has trouble setting priorities for which to get done when. The oligarchically oriented individual thus adapts well if the competing demands are of roughly equal priority, but has more trouble if the things are of different priorities.
Anarchic. The anarchic individual has a predilection for tasks, projects, and situations that lend themselves to great flexibility of approaches, and to trying anything when, where, and how he or she pleases. This individual tends to be asystematic or even antisystematic. The individual tends to take a random approach to problems, and is sometimes difficult for other people to understand.
Levels
There are 2 levels of mental self-government:
Local. The local individual has a predilection for tasks, projects, and situations that require engagement with specific, concrete details. This individual likes to work with the nitty-gritty, but may lose the forest for the trees. Individuals displaying this style tend to enjoy tasks that require them to keep track of details and focus on concrete specifics of a situation.
Global. The global individual has a predilection for tasks, projects, and situations that require engagement with large, global, abstract ideas. This individual likes to deal with big ideas, but sometimes can lose touch with the details—the individual may see the forest but lose track of the trees. People employing this style enjoy tasks that encourage them to think about major ideas and not have to worry about details.
Scope
There are 2 scopes of mental self-government:
Internal. The internal individual has a predilection for tasks, projects, and situations that require activities that allow one to work independently of others. This individual prefers to work alone, is typically introverted, and is often uncomfortable in groups.
External. The external individual has a predilection for tasks, projects, and situations that allow working with others in a group or interacting with others at different stages of progress. This individual prefers to work with others, is typically extraverted, and is very comfortable in group settings.
Leanings
There are 2 leanings of mental self-government:
Liberal. The liberal individual has a predilection for tasks, projects, and situations that involve unfamiliarity, going beyond existing rules or procedures, and maximization of change. Sometimes the individual may prefer change simply for the sake of change, even when it is not ideal. People displaying a liberal style like new challenges and thrive on ambiguity.
Conservative. The conservative individual has a predilection for tasks, projects, and situations that require adherence to existing rules and procedures. This individual likes to minimize change and avoid ambiguity.
Misconceptions: Creativity and Imagination in Autism
Navigating the Spectrum: A Journey into Autistic Creativity
Challenging the Narrative
In the realm of autism, a common misconception prevails—autistics are often perceived as lacking creativity and imagination. This notion, dating back to the ’90s, has permeated research, influencing diagnostic criteria and societal perceptions. In this exploration, we debunk these misconceptions, shedding…
What Makes Some People Creative Thinkers and Others Analytical
A new brain-imaging study reveals that the different "cognitive styles" of creative and analytical thinkers are due to fundamental differences in their brain activity that can be observed even when people are not working on a problem.
These findings suggest new directions for the development of neuroscience-based methods for intellectual, educational and vocational assessment and counselling.
The research is in Neuropsychologia. (full access paywall)
Five Thinking Styles to Help You Communicate with Others More Effectively
I’m coming back on May 1 with quite a few queued posts and possibly some real-time posts on that particular day. I’ll respond to some of the reblogs but I don’t want to stay for long, if any of you don’t mind. Anyway, I wanted to come on here for one particular post after I got interested in what a website called learning-minds.com had to say about thinking styles.
Some of these will sound just like some MBTI types, so be willing to share what your type is and which thinking style you identify with the most, the least, and the second most. I will not be responding to anyone until May 1, but I decided to write this post for today just to share it with you guys.
Synthesist Thinkers
· Curious and creative
· Tend not to think in logical, linear ways
o Sees connections between things
· Delight in finding relationships in things which, to others, have no apparent connection
· Tangents and “what if” questions
· Seen as argumentative
o Are actually looking at and analyzing a range of different views and ideas
· Thought patterns seem somewhat disjointed
· If you are a synthesist:
o Acknowledge the value of others’ ideas before discussing alternatives
· If you work with a synthesist:
o Understand they’re not trying to be argumentative but simply can’t help looking at problems from different angles
Idealist Thinkers
· High standards and big goals
· May be seen as perfectionists but are trying to achieve the highest quality they can in everything they do
· Broad, holistic view of things; future-oriented
· Value cooperation and teamwork
o Will work hard to bring a team together and help everyone achieve their best
· If you are an idealist:
o Understand that everyone doesn’t have such high standards as you
o Try not to get upset when people fail to achieve your (sometimes unrealistic) expectations
· If you work for an idealist:
o It can help you strive to be the very best you can
o Also means your opinions will be listened to and valued
o Can also rely on them to be honest and to live up to high moral standards
§ You can trust them and always know they will be honest with you
Pragmatic Thinkers
· Focused on action
· Like to tackle problems logically, one step at a time; prefer to make progress on one task at a time
· Like to get things done and their approach is often flexible and adaptable
· Not interested in why things happen or big picture problems as their idealist colleagues
· Short-term perspective
· If you are a pragmatist:
o Occasionally view things from a wider viewpoint and take in the bigger picture
§ Help you understand where your actions are leading and ensure you are headed in the right direction
· If you work with a pragmatist:
o Try to keep to the subject at hand
§ Wandering off into big ideas and long-term planning may overwhelm them and they could give up altogether
Analyst Thinker
· Like to work with measurable facts in a methodical way
· Love facts and data, measuring and categorizing
· Pay attention to detail and are thorough and accurate
· Prefer predictability and rationality
o Will look for a method, a formula, or procedure to solve a particular problem
· If you are an analyst thinker:
o You will do everything thoroughly and accurately
o You may dismiss others whose attention to detail is not so good
o People’s ideas are valuable even if their work is not quite as accurate as yours
· If you work with an analyst:
· Double check anything you show them for accuracy otherwise you risk losing their respect
· Try to be logical and always present a plan for new ideas as they can grasp the concept better than if you just give them ideas
Realist Thinkers
· Make great problems solvers
· Think through problems quickly and act on the results to fix whatever is wrong
· Become easily bored
o Don’t find themselves challenged by run-of-the-mill issues, preferring to get their teeth into bigger problems
· May appear too results-oriented
· If you are a realist:
o Pause every now and then
o The first solution is not always the best and sometimes you need to take in a bit more information before assessing the situation and coming up with a plan
· If you work with a realist:
o Learn to get to the point quickly
§ Summarize the problem; don’t overload them with details
Putting the thinking styles to good use
For most people, one or two of these thinking styles dominate. However, fifteen percent of the population use all five thinking styles at some point. (OP here: I use four with my top two being Synthesist and, possibly, Pragmatist; if not, then Synthesist and Analyst. I identify the least with Idealist.)
Understanding your thinking style can help you broaden your horizons and be more receptive to the ideas of others. In addition, understanding how others think can help you tailor any information you have to share with them in such a way that they are the most likely to take it on board.
1/2 I have had an extremely difficult time writing for as long as I can remember. Not the physical act or grammar related stuff but more so I do not know how to think in that way? Writing in paragraphs doesn't make any sense to me in practice and I cannot write creatively at all or talk about how I feel about something in writing. When I was in school it was to the point where the best I could do at writing was just barely enough to get me to pass a class where most assignments were writing...
2/2 and I was very far behind the other students in that area? I was wondering if this could be autism related? I have suspected that I am somewhere on the spectrum for a while (not just for that reason) and I haven’t been able to find any other reason why I seem to be unable to write. I am also unsure of how I should address this if I go to college, it seems you are expected to be able to write at a pretty high level and I am nowhere near that. Any advice would be great. Thanks!
Developmental delays are common with autism, so this may be related to that. Being unable to discuss your feelings in writing could also be related to alexithymia.
How important writing will be in college is honestly going to depend a lot on what you study and what the gen ed requirements are at your school.
For example, my degree is in math. The writing in my math classes was almost exclusively writing proofs, which is a very different type of writing than essays. My school did require two “W” classes that focused on writing, as well as an introductory English class, but there was also a writing lab available on campus that was free for students to use and where you could go to get support with your writing if you were having difficulty. It may be worthwhile to look into what the requirements are and what supports are available at the schools you’re thinking of applying to.
When looking at gen ed courses, you can probably find a lot of information about how much writing a particular professor expects from talking to other students or using sites like ratemyprofessor.
Followers, any other advice?
-Liz
In addition to what Liz said, it also seems to be common to have a way of thinking that may not center around or consist of words or language. Many autistic people report feeling as though they have to “convert” or “translate” their thoughts before being able to express themselves using words / language, finding other means of expression to feel more natural (i.e. art, music, numbers, movement etc.).
Unveiling the Spectrum: Thinking Styles in Autistic Individuals
Exploring the Diverse Cognitive Patterns in Autism
Renowned author and autism advocate, Temple Grandin, identifies three distinct cognitive types within the autistic spectrum:
Visual Thinkers
Verbal/Logic Thinkers
Music and Math (‘Pattern’) Thinkers
Grandin emphasizes that individuals may exhibit a mix of these thinking styles, contributing to the unique cognitive landscape within the…
I've always known I have a tendency to think a lot; I think my way through problems, I think about all the possible outcomes of a situation I'm worried about, I think about all the things I want to do with my life and haven't, I think about all the mistakes I've made and how I could've done things differently, I think about why I am the way I am. Yes, it IS exhausting!!
Of course, it's one of those chicken-and-egg-scenarios as to which came first; did I become an anxious person because I analyse everything, or was I an anxious person who figured the best way to deal with things was by analysing everything to death?
And therein lies the main problem with being this way; I'm now analysing why I analyse!! By trying to work out how I became this way, I'm putting all those cogs in motion again, tying myself in knots; the difference now is that I ask myself, "What is the purpose of this? Do I have to gain anything by analysing it?". The answer is so often "No - it's pointless".
That's one of the greatest lessons I've learned; it's all very well being analytical, but I don't actually solve anything or feel any better by thinking it through.
Through many of my posts I've mentioned self-acceptance, being kinder to yourself etc., but this is one area of my life that I've had to be hard on myself about. I've had to completely overhaul my cognitive style because it was an unhealthy way to live.
My mantra used to be along the lines of "I think, therefore, I am"; I knew I was a thinker, sometimes it even served a purpose (essay-writing springs to mind), but I saw it as something fundamental to my personality that was fixed, concrete, and immovable. To a degree I was even proud of it sometimes, because it gave me an air of the intellectual and I was glad to have that identity to cling to.
As I got older, I was sometimes aware of how anxious I got about things, but I convinced myself that it didn't matter how much stress it caused because it was the only motivator I had. At school, I found there was a correlation between how anxious I got about something and how well I did; it seemed to me that my anxiety made me care about doing my best.
The one term I stopped trying as hard my grades started to slip and it scared me so much I fell back on my anxiety to get me through. I had seen that other people appeared to do well without seeming to try very hard and I was getting tired of everyone's high expectations, so I thought it wouldn't do any harm to slack off a bit; I could at least stop getting worked up about it all the time, right?!
The problem with this was I never had any faith in my abilities or intelligence. Had I believed I was capable, I would have been able to give things my best shot without worrying about it, knowing that my best was good enough. But I never believed that, even when I would get high grades. By testing the water with trying less hard than usual, I proved to myself that I NEEDED the anxiety in order to do well. Had I not being such an over-analyser, I might not have come to that conclusion; but I always wanted to know WHY.
The quest for the "Why" in everything feels like a worthwhile goal. Intuitively it suggests that you have a curious nature and a keen intellect, because you want to understand. That can be true, if you don't let it rule your thinking.
In some ways, it can be a destructive force; wanting to pick everything apart and reduce it down to its smallest parts. Sometimes it can destroy any mystery or magic about the world, and that feels sad. The creative part of me tells me that there are things we aren't meant to understand, that there is beauty in looking at things as they appear rather than trying to discover why they are beautiful.
Take a rainbow, for instance; there's a scientific explanation for it, and whilst it's accurate and true, I would far rather marvel at the beauty of the colours and the transitory nature of the rainbow than dwell on refraction of light through water and the visible wavelengths of light the human eye can detect. I'm not trashing science, in fact, most of it I love and find fascinating, but not at the expense of enjoying a pure moment. Being able to truly enjoy what is around us is a big part of the human experience, and sometimes in order to appreciate things, we simply must STOP.
"What is this life if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare." - Leisure, by WH Davies, 1911.
I had a support worker for a while (a few years ago) who could see how much time I was spending worrying about things, analysing everything and living my life at double-speed. Even though I wasn't doing a lot with my time, my mind was constantly busy and I was mentally exhausted a lot of the time. I didn't know there was any other way to be; I couldn't see inside anyone else's mind and watch how their thought processes work.
This lady was very wise, very perceptive, and had brilliant ways to help you understand some fairly fundamental things about yourself. She told me I'd been living my life as if I was on a packed, rush-hour commuter train, hurrying everywhere & trying to get to places as quickly as possible. She said I needed to get myself on the equivalent of the German Bummelzug or Bummelbahn; the slow train that takes the long, scenic route to all the little regional stops and gives you a chance to sit back and take in your surroundings, enjoy the ride.
It was such a perfect analogy and it made so much sense. My support worker then got me to think about if there was any genuine joy in my life; did I do anything for pure enjoyment? I realised years of guilt and worry had stopped me from doing anything like that. We started to build more activities in that encouraged me to just "Be", to just experience some joy, to do things I could get lost in. That was when I started to see another way to live, beyond the constant anxiety and perceived weight of other people's expectations.
I'm not saying I don't experience anxiety anymore, I'm not saying I live without worry. I still have a tendency to think about things, to retreat into my thoughts and to try and solve things by analysing them. The difference now is, it's not a constant stream of thoughts. The medication I'm on calmed the physical feelings of dread and panic I was experiencing all the time, and made things feel much less overwhelming.
Over time, I then worked with my counsellor to manage the anxious thoughts better. She got me to regularly do a few new things to get me out of some bad habits. Before, I felt I couldn't do anything spontaneous because it hadn't been planned and all the outcomes analysed for possible danger (to my mental health). I would mentally prepare like that even if I was seeing someone I knew very well. My counsellor got me to explain what my thinking process was, asked me how it helped me cope, then suggested that next time I try not to prepare.
It took a while for the penny to drop, but I learned that all my preparation served no purpose, if anything, it gave me more to feel anxious about. Very often, the things I worried about never happened anyway. So we put up a marker; in the case of people I knew well, I didn't really need to prepare to see them, I should just go & enjoy myself. At first it was hard to break the habit of mental preparation for everything, but slowly it has become less of an effort to prevent it and now I hardly think about it.
Once that particular ball was in play, it helped other things to fall into place. Time after time I would outline my worries about an upcoming situation in therapy, then the following week we'd review how the event had actually turned out; each time my worries were unfounded. I started to join groups, clubs & do activities, take on new challenges, and each time I'd tell my counsellor how scared I was, she'd say "Just give it one session, and if you don't like it you don't have to go back", then the following week I'd report back that I'd enjoyed myself.
After a few months of this, she pointed out to me that I'd been quite brave, but also, she hadn't heard me say one negative thing about any new thing I'd tried out. She said "Every single new group or activity you've tried, the outcome has been so much more positive than you ever expected". My jaw hit the floor at this point, I hadn't realised; not only had all my worst fears never actually manifested at any point (which was always the best I ever expected), but I had actually really enjoyed it all - even being around other people. It was very clear to me then exactly how my anxiety and tendency to over-analyse had held me back in the past.
I haven't lost my insatiable desire to understand why things are the way they are, that's a big part of who I am. I see it differently now though. I try to use it in places where it has a purpose. I use it to write, to pass on the lessons I've learned about mental illness, mental health, cognitive styles, personality. I used it to get a degree in Psychology (the ultimate "Why" in the academic world). I use it in my counselling sessions to better understand myself and face some of the darkness from my past that I needed to forgive myself for. My mind is no longer my enemy, but it does need channelling effectively on a regular basis in order that I don't stray back into my old ways.
What does feel frustrating and unfair sometimes is when I think about the notion of ignorance as bliss. I feel as though people who don't over-analyse, who have less active minds, or perhaps even are less intelligent, have the deck stacked in their favour. Logically, it should be the case that the more intelligent you are, the more able you are to deal with the challenges life throws at you, but so often I've found that the opposite is true.
The even greater irony is that people I know who have never suffered from clinical anxiety will tell me it never occurs to them to worry about the things I've told them I worry about!! I was angry about this for a while, but these days I understand that you never know what challenges everyone faces, so it isn't fair to judge that someone "Has it easy" - there's often no such thing.
We are all just doing our best with the lot in life we've been given. There is no force that seeks to punish us, the universe isn't picking on us personally, there is often no rhyme or reason, so let go of these ideas. They may make intuitive sense, but I promise you being free of them will help you in the long run.
And don't spend so much time living in your head. There's so much world out there; so many experiences, so many people to meet and places to go. If you spend your time thinking and analysing it could all pass you by. Enjoyment comes from opening your eyes and looking around, taking chances and seizing random opportunities that present themselves (but you have to be able to notice when these occur).
Turn your analytical mind to your advantage to extract the lessons from your experiences, to notice the positive outcomes, to catch your mind's processes before they descend into anxious thought patterns.
Yes, my analytical mind has been fuel for the fire of anxiety in the past, but I choose to be different now. I choose to take control of it, re-direct my energies, and I choose to use it in a healthier way. Let go of the notion that because you are a certain way there is only one path to follow. Greater people than me have chosen to re-define what the world considers to be a defect in them, and turn it into their greatest asset.
Don't let the thoughts take hold of you and become a microscope on your life. Direct your analytical energies, don't let them direct you.
