Fluid Reasoning
Apr. 8th, 2008 06:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wispfoxSo, was having a conversation with my mom last night, and among other things she commented that one of my real strengths is fluid reasoning (I apparently had a _lot_ of tests as a kid, because I was just so... weird). I asked her to define it, because I could guess, but my guess felt not quite accurate to how I work.
This caused a pause, because the typical definiton directly references things I am in fact really _not_ good at.
But... with more words, and examples, I think I get it. And I think I know why the typical definition won't work for me.
And I wonder if there are ways I can makes use of this, now that I am aware of it consciously, to make some of the things I have a really hard time with a bit less... brute force.
First, though, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluid_and_crystallized_intelligence - wikipedia is as good a start as any. (if any of you lot start thinking that by talking about this I believe myself to be an expert, I will laugh at you. Just saying)
"Fluid intelligence is the ability to find meaning in confusion and solve new problems. It is the ability to draw inferences and understand the relationships of various concepts, independent of acquired knowledge (Cavanaugh & Blanchard-Fields, 2006). Crystallized intelligence is the ability to use skills, knowledge, and experience (Cavanaugh & Blanchard-Fields, 2006)"
Ok. Finding meaning in confusion. Seems likely, as if I could not, I'd not be functional. Pure and simple, I would not be able to function. I am not kidding when I mention that my most common state is one of confusion. And often about things that most people think are obvious, basic things. I do not have common sense. I do not _have_ a basic level of 'this is how things work', unless I painstakingly figured it out (seriously, this is a very high effort process for me), or (far more often) I got it from an external source. But things that I know because someone told me/I read it are not really things I _understand_, and so will generally not occurr to me when they might otherwise be useful (this piece looks a bit like crystalized intelligence, as defined above).
You know how you're not supposed to do things like put metal in the mircowave? I think I did this _three times_ before it finally stuck (I have a very vivid memory of a metal pot on fire. I suspect that is when it finally stuck). And by no means do I understand why (which is why it wouldn't stick). Most practical physics? I don't get it. Not at an intuitive level. Not at a level that I can make _use_ of it.
But some other examples of ways I think use this: writing things down when I'm trying to figure them out, or for later reference. This helps makes things more clear in my head, as well as helping them be easily referenced. Ever being able to guess what people mean when they use idioms, are not absurdly precise in what they say, or are referencing things with which I have no experience.
Solve new problems. Yes. And no.
If I were not being really careful in my interpretation, I would think that would include such things as being able to deal with new situations. Which was why my mom paused for so long. Because I am _not_ good at that kind of thing. However... I think I may have a concept of why that is a different idea altogether. What I can do is based on things I _understand_, at a deep level. Things I could write down with a bit of time and effort (because I may need to translate it into words, first. Probably, actually). Things I could teach, most likely. Things which are intuitive. Indeed, I suspect that what I mean by intuition _is_ really rapid fluid reasoning.
I do not have - and doubt I could ever have - that deep an understanding of navigating the world, because there are too many variables. (and I also suspect tha crystalized intelligence would be needed for this, and mine is broken)
There is interpersonal interaction, with the body language skills needed for that, which are not good enough for me to ever be able to relax into completely trusting them. Not even with people I know really, really well and am utterly comfortable with (if nothing else, body language/facial expression interpretation are one of the first things to turn off if my enegry is low...). This is why knowing that people will _tell me_ if something is up is so important to me. Indeed, I suspect strongly that the only reason I have even as good body language reading as I do is _because_ of fluid reasoning. I was able to take the basic pieces of body language given to me by a friend in high school (first time I understood them), and build them enough that it's not _completely_ conscious.
There is navigation of my surroundings, with my deficient mapping/visual memory/visualization skills, direction sense. I do not have maps in my head, I have step-by-step directions, and sometimes I can join pieces together with a lot of difficulty (and not reliably; I will often flip a direction). And even creating those is significant effort, because beyond three steps (sometimes two), I lose track. So they have to be written until I've done it enough to know it (at least I _can_ know it...).
There are many, many distractions. And those same distractions are what make going places and doing things interesting. But easily overwhelming.
Places & people with which I am familiar & comfortable will reduce the variables, certainly, and curiosity will drive me to do things that are really hard for me (my curiosity is _absolutely_ part of why I'm functional) in order to see/experience new things. And I _have_ more than no skill in it - many people on the spectrum are _entirely_ unable to make the leap from 'this thing that has happened relates to this thing which will happen' - but it's _really_ hard/taxing for me. I suspect sheer stubbornness on my own and my parents part explain this one.
But. Solving new problems. I can remember developing my ability to read body language/facial expressions. It was hard, but because a friend was able to explain really basic pieces in a way I could understand, I finally had somewhere to start. In `92. Or `93. I doubt it was even vaguely reliable (inasmuch as it _is_) before 1998-2000.
I can also remember realizing that I needed to have a memory that I could access intentionally (for things like experiences; my memory before that was associative, emotive, things I had brute force memorized and then used a lot, plus things I just _understood_, and were thus not based on a conscious retrieval system), when I first went to school (4th grade. I would have been... 8 years old). And I can remember building it. Slowly. It was not even close to reliable until... mid-high school? College? (So, '92? '95?) Now, as one might suspect, my memory of this is itself suspect, and is mostly emotional impressions. But... it was like building a puzzle. And sometime things fit better than others, so I had to be taking bits off, and adding bits on, and making it mostly unconscious. Else, how useful would it really be? And it's still pretty easy to force offline; just overwhelm me enough.
So clearly I _can_ use this to work around deficiencies, and it's certainly a very strong skill. But I don't know that I can do it consciously, or as a short-term fix. At least, if I can, I don't know _how_. And there are certainly things for which my brute force workarounds are just... tiring. And frustrating.
Memorizing things that I don't understand? Brute force methods like flash cards. Repetition.
Organizing the things in my brain (this post in an example of that, as are trying to plan my schedule and making sure that I _do_ regular everyday survival things, if my hard-won habits fail me for whatever reason). Brute force. Much effort. Much staring at calendars and whimpering.
I want to figure out how to make additional use of this ability, now that I am aware of it, but have a suspicion that the tool and the activities are too far apart in scope, and that if I were going to figure something out, I _would have_ by now. Life-long problems, and all.
Hmm. I'm done, whether or not I'm done. Hungry, tired, and dear god putting this into even as much sense as this was a lot of work. And I won't be on this computer again until Friday, by which point I will likely have forgotten anything I've not yet said, anyway.
This caused a pause, because the typical definiton directly references things I am in fact really _not_ good at.
But... with more words, and examples, I think I get it. And I think I know why the typical definition won't work for me.
And I wonder if there are ways I can makes use of this, now that I am aware of it consciously, to make some of the things I have a really hard time with a bit less... brute force.
First, though, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluid_and_crystallized_intelligence - wikipedia is as good a start as any. (if any of you lot start thinking that by talking about this I believe myself to be an expert, I will laugh at you. Just saying)
"Fluid intelligence is the ability to find meaning in confusion and solve new problems. It is the ability to draw inferences and understand the relationships of various concepts, independent of acquired knowledge (Cavanaugh & Blanchard-Fields, 2006). Crystallized intelligence is the ability to use skills, knowledge, and experience (Cavanaugh & Blanchard-Fields, 2006)"
Ok. Finding meaning in confusion. Seems likely, as if I could not, I'd not be functional. Pure and simple, I would not be able to function. I am not kidding when I mention that my most common state is one of confusion. And often about things that most people think are obvious, basic things. I do not have common sense. I do not _have_ a basic level of 'this is how things work', unless I painstakingly figured it out (seriously, this is a very high effort process for me), or (far more often) I got it from an external source. But things that I know because someone told me/I read it are not really things I _understand_, and so will generally not occurr to me when they might otherwise be useful (this piece looks a bit like crystalized intelligence, as defined above).
You know how you're not supposed to do things like put metal in the mircowave? I think I did this _three times_ before it finally stuck (I have a very vivid memory of a metal pot on fire. I suspect that is when it finally stuck). And by no means do I understand why (which is why it wouldn't stick). Most practical physics? I don't get it. Not at an intuitive level. Not at a level that I can make _use_ of it.
But some other examples of ways I think use this: writing things down when I'm trying to figure them out, or for later reference. This helps makes things more clear in my head, as well as helping them be easily referenced. Ever being able to guess what people mean when they use idioms, are not absurdly precise in what they say, or are referencing things with which I have no experience.
Solve new problems. Yes. And no.
If I were not being really careful in my interpretation, I would think that would include such things as being able to deal with new situations. Which was why my mom paused for so long. Because I am _not_ good at that kind of thing. However... I think I may have a concept of why that is a different idea altogether. What I can do is based on things I _understand_, at a deep level. Things I could write down with a bit of time and effort (because I may need to translate it into words, first. Probably, actually). Things I could teach, most likely. Things which are intuitive. Indeed, I suspect that what I mean by intuition _is_ really rapid fluid reasoning.
I do not have - and doubt I could ever have - that deep an understanding of navigating the world, because there are too many variables. (and I also suspect tha crystalized intelligence would be needed for this, and mine is broken)
There is interpersonal interaction, with the body language skills needed for that, which are not good enough for me to ever be able to relax into completely trusting them. Not even with people I know really, really well and am utterly comfortable with (if nothing else, body language/facial expression interpretation are one of the first things to turn off if my enegry is low...). This is why knowing that people will _tell me_ if something is up is so important to me. Indeed, I suspect strongly that the only reason I have even as good body language reading as I do is _because_ of fluid reasoning. I was able to take the basic pieces of body language given to me by a friend in high school (first time I understood them), and build them enough that it's not _completely_ conscious.
There is navigation of my surroundings, with my deficient mapping/visual memory/visualization skills, direction sense. I do not have maps in my head, I have step-by-step directions, and sometimes I can join pieces together with a lot of difficulty (and not reliably; I will often flip a direction). And even creating those is significant effort, because beyond three steps (sometimes two), I lose track. So they have to be written until I've done it enough to know it (at least I _can_ know it...).
There are many, many distractions. And those same distractions are what make going places and doing things interesting. But easily overwhelming.
Places & people with which I am familiar & comfortable will reduce the variables, certainly, and curiosity will drive me to do things that are really hard for me (my curiosity is _absolutely_ part of why I'm functional) in order to see/experience new things. And I _have_ more than no skill in it - many people on the spectrum are _entirely_ unable to make the leap from 'this thing that has happened relates to this thing which will happen' - but it's _really_ hard/taxing for me. I suspect sheer stubbornness on my own and my parents part explain this one.
But. Solving new problems. I can remember developing my ability to read body language/facial expressions. It was hard, but because a friend was able to explain really basic pieces in a way I could understand, I finally had somewhere to start. In `92. Or `93. I doubt it was even vaguely reliable (inasmuch as it _is_) before 1998-2000.
I can also remember realizing that I needed to have a memory that I could access intentionally (for things like experiences; my memory before that was associative, emotive, things I had brute force memorized and then used a lot, plus things I just _understood_, and were thus not based on a conscious retrieval system), when I first went to school (4th grade. I would have been... 8 years old). And I can remember building it. Slowly. It was not even close to reliable until... mid-high school? College? (So, '92? '95?) Now, as one might suspect, my memory of this is itself suspect, and is mostly emotional impressions. But... it was like building a puzzle. And sometime things fit better than others, so I had to be taking bits off, and adding bits on, and making it mostly unconscious. Else, how useful would it really be? And it's still pretty easy to force offline; just overwhelm me enough.
So clearly I _can_ use this to work around deficiencies, and it's certainly a very strong skill. But I don't know that I can do it consciously, or as a short-term fix. At least, if I can, I don't know _how_. And there are certainly things for which my brute force workarounds are just... tiring. And frustrating.
Memorizing things that I don't understand? Brute force methods like flash cards. Repetition.
Organizing the things in my brain (this post in an example of that, as are trying to plan my schedule and making sure that I _do_ regular everyday survival things, if my hard-won habits fail me for whatever reason). Brute force. Much effort. Much staring at calendars and whimpering.
I want to figure out how to make additional use of this ability, now that I am aware of it, but have a suspicion that the tool and the activities are too far apart in scope, and that if I were going to figure something out, I _would have_ by now. Life-long problems, and all.
Hmm. I'm done, whether or not I'm done. Hungry, tired, and dear god putting this into even as much sense as this was a lot of work. And I won't be on this computer again until Friday, by which point I will likely have forgotten anything I've not yet said, anyway.
