Idea Powers No. 6 of 28
They call it: Head in the clouds We call it
Also known as imagination and image thinking.
The short version You think in pictures. Stories, plans and ideas play in your head like a movie.
Collected. 0 of 28.
You think in scenes, not lists. Ask for a plan and you see the room. Ask why a rule exists and you replay the day it went wrong. Researchers call it image thinking.
Adults with ADHD rate themselves higher on this. In a study of 400 adults, the 200 with ADHD were more likely to call themselves imaginative and to say they think in pictures.Source 1 In a survey of 206 adults with ADHD, 28 named imagination and 15 named image thinking among the good parts.Source 2
Both studies asked people about themselves, so take it as a strong hint rather than a rule. If it’s true for you, it’s a real way of thinking, and a useful one.
Studied
One study of 400 adults and one survey of 206. Adults with ADHD rated themselves higher, and the gaps were small.
The film in your head runs when you need to be listening, and it can make the real thing feel pale next to it.
Describe tomorrow out loud as a scene, with the room, the people and what you say.
You have a cinema inside your head. When someone tells a story, the pictures start. You can see it before it happens.
Creator of Captain Underpants and Dog Man
…attention deficit hyperactivity delightfulness, is how I prefer it
Said in: Pilkey on CBS, 2017
That’s what Dav Pilkey calls ADHD. As a kid he couldn’t stay in his seat and was always daydreaming. His second-grade teacher tore up his drawings. He now writes books for kids like him.