Comments on: How do you think? Confessions of a Nonverbal Thinker http://www.imamuseum.org/blog/2008/09/18/how-do-you-think-confessions-of-a-nonverbal-thinker/ The IMA blog is a space to discuss everything related to the Indianapolis Museum of Art. Thu, 08 Jan 2009 11:37:29 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 hourly 1 By: Linda Duke http://www.imamuseum.org/blog/2008/09/18/how-do-you-think-confessions-of-a-nonverbal-thinker/comment-page-1/#comment-9556 Linda Duke Sun, 12 Oct 2008 17:52:04 +0000 http://www.imamuseum.org/blog/?p=958#comment-9556 Your reflections are truly fascinating to me, Elaine. I do not have any formal education in music, but my informal musical experiences may be the factor that allows me to empathize very much with you description. My father was a tenor and had a fairly serious avocation as a soloist at weddings, funerals and in musical programs performed at churches all over the Chicago area. I grew up to the background sound of his bedroom practices; he sang along to a tape-recorded accompaniment for hours each night and on weekends. That sonic backdrop to my childhood, perhaps more than the performances I attended, left a strange affinity for music in my brain! Unhappily, without the education to sort it out, I am usually tongue-tied when called upon to discuss music. How interesting that you felt attracted to a particular note! It almost seems as though it served as a kind of home-base for you, musically. I'd be very interested to know if that attraction has continued to play a role in your adult life as a musician. Your reflections are truly fascinating to me, Elaine. I do not have any formal education in music, but my informal musical experiences may be the factor that allows me to empathize very much with you description. My father was a tenor and had a fairly serious avocation as a soloist at weddings, funerals and in musical programs performed at churches all over the Chicago area. I grew up to the background sound of his bedroom practices; he sang along to a tape-recorded accompaniment for hours each night and on weekends. That sonic backdrop to my childhood, perhaps more than the performances I attended, left a strange affinity for music in my brain! Unhappily, without the education to sort it out, I am usually tongue-tied when called upon to discuss music.

How interesting that you felt attracted to a particular note! It almost seems as though it served as a kind of home-base for you, musically. I’d be very interested to know if that attraction has continued to play a role in your adult life as a musician.

]]> By: Elaine Peters http://www.imamuseum.org/blog/2008/09/18/how-do-you-think-confessions-of-a-nonverbal-thinker/comment-page-1/#comment-9089 Elaine Peters Tue, 07 Oct 2008 19:13:35 +0000 http://www.imamuseum.org/blog/?p=958#comment-9089 For as long as I can remember, I have thought in terms of music. I have a sound track in my head running almost continually, with either the last song I have heard, or some accompaniment running beneath a group of images. It started to make more sense to me when my mother described how she put me to bed as a little kid....my crib was across the room from the piano. We would play a couple of tunes on the keyboard, then she would lay me down. The fresh songs were still running through my mind as I started to get more and more sleepy. And as I slept the music fragments became the background of my dreams. Now, many years later, a musician, I can read music and practice simpler pieces in my mind without my fingers ever hitting the keys. Some music comes to comfort me when I have troubles. Music has formed a bond with my thinking to such a degree that I memorize lyrics to ballads with an ease that surpasses my ability to memorize straight poetry unaccompanied by music. Once I learn a piece, it doesn't leave. And I have been able to play the piano by ear since the age of two, and to put a name with a sound (a skill called perfect pitch) since my earliest days. Much like your fascination with numbers, I was a child who had a favorite note, and would seek it out to hear it much as you assigned personalities to numbers. For as long as I can remember, I have thought in terms of music. I have a sound track in my head running almost continually, with either the last song I have heard, or some accompaniment running beneath a group of images. It started to make more sense to me when my mother described how she put me to bed as a little kid….my crib was across the room from the piano. We would play a couple of tunes on the keyboard, then she would lay me down. The fresh songs were still running through my mind as I started to get more and more sleepy. And as I slept the music fragments became the background of my dreams.
Now, many years later, a musician, I can read music and practice simpler pieces in my mind without my fingers ever hitting the keys. Some music comes to comfort me when I have troubles. Music has formed a bond with my thinking to such a degree that I memorize lyrics to ballads with an ease that surpasses my ability to memorize straight poetry unaccompanied by music. Once I learn a piece, it doesn’t leave. And I have been able to play the piano by ear since the age of two, and to put a name with a sound (a skill called perfect pitch) since my earliest days. Much like your fascination with numbers, I was a child who had a favorite note, and would seek it out to hear it much as you assigned personalities to numbers.

]]> By: Linda Duke http://www.imamuseum.org/blog/2008/09/18/how-do-you-think-confessions-of-a-nonverbal-thinker/comment-page-1/#comment-8322 Linda Duke Sat, 27 Sep 2008 22:59:43 +0000 http://www.imamuseum.org/blog/?p=958#comment-8322 Chuck, how great that you encourage your students to explore ways of considering the marks on paper that comprise alphabetic and numeric systems! I do think that the human mind constantly “calculates” the meanings of sensory experiences. Images on paper are just the start! What is the “sum” of red, sunset sky plus a rising coolness from the earth plus the smell of smoke in the air? In my view, the “sum” or outcome of those kinds of experiences can be an aesthetic meaning, not a logical deduction – a whole-person way of knowing, rather than a systemized one. I say “can be” because I think our culture teaches us not to give value to (or even note) such meanings because they are not logical. Perhaps this is one reason our culture has had so much trouble sustaining several kinds of holistic systems: health and environmental spring to mind. Thanks so much for sharing your perspective as a teacher! Linda Chuck, how great that you encourage your students to explore ways of considering the marks on paper that comprise alphabetic and numeric systems! I do think that the human mind constantly “calculates” the meanings of sensory experiences. Images on paper are just the start! What is the “sum” of red, sunset sky plus a rising coolness from the earth plus the smell of smoke in the air? In my view, the “sum” or outcome of those kinds of experiences can be an aesthetic meaning, not a logical deduction – a whole-person way of knowing, rather than a systemized one. I say “can be” because I think our culture teaches us not to give value to (or even note) such meanings because they are not logical. Perhaps this is one reason our culture has had so much trouble sustaining several kinds of holistic systems: health and environmental spring to mind.

Thanks so much for sharing your perspective as a teacher!
Linda

]]> By: Chuck Lawrence http://www.imamuseum.org/blog/2008/09/18/how-do-you-think-confessions-of-a-nonverbal-thinker/comment-page-1/#comment-8311 Chuck Lawrence Sat, 27 Sep 2008 20:14:40 +0000 http://www.imamuseum.org/blog/?p=958#comment-8311 I must agree, I have always associated characteristics and personalities with written numbers, and later to letters of the alphabet. I remember when first seeing the Hindi alphabet, thinking such letters were filled with ancient power and wisdom, the curvacious Arabic script seemed fluid and easy going, and the points of Hebrew letters seemed alive and all powerful with flame. I alwys have thought, however, that all individuals do indeed create such associations, and thankfully having never been reproached for such experimentation, encourage it within my own third grade students. It is amazing the stimulating writing a student can generate when directed to explain the interaction when for example, "R first met E"! I must agree, I have always associated characteristics and personalities with written numbers, and later to letters of the alphabet. I remember when first seeing the Hindi alphabet, thinking such letters were filled with ancient power and wisdom, the curvacious Arabic script seemed fluid and easy going, and the points of Hebrew letters seemed alive and all powerful with flame. I alwys have thought, however, that all individuals do indeed create such associations, and thankfully having never been reproached for such experimentation, encourage it within my own third grade students. It is amazing the stimulating writing a student can generate when directed to explain the interaction when for example, “R first met E”!

]]> By: IMA Conservator talks about technology and art | Indianapolis Museum of Art Blog http://www.imamuseum.org/blog/2008/09/18/how-do-you-think-confessions-of-a-nonverbal-thinker/comment-page-1/#comment-8248 IMA Conservator talks about technology and art | Indianapolis Museum of Art Blog Fri, 26 Sep 2008 13:23:33 +0000 http://www.imamuseum.org/blog/?p=958#comment-8248 [...] Linda’s post last week and then Damon Darlin’s article, Technology Doesn’t Dumb Us Down. It Frees Our Minds in the [...] [...] Linda’s post last week and then Damon Darlin’s article, Technology Doesn’t Dumb Us Down. It Frees Our Minds in the [...]

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