Visual Thinking

Outline

Visual Thinking (2022) explores how some people think mainly in pictures and patterns rather than words, and why society often overlooks them. Temple Grandin distinguishes object visualisers, spatial visualisers, and verbal thinkers, and shows how schools, workplaces, and industries lose talent when they reward only one kind of mind. The book argues that bringing different ways of thinking together leads to better engineering, safer infrastructure, and more creative problem-solving.

• Some people think mainly in pictures and patterns rather than in words.
• Grandin separates three kinds of minds: object visualisers, spatial visualisers, and verbal thinkers.
• Society often overlooks visual thinkers, even though their way of thinking is valuable.
• Schools, workplaces, and industries lose talent when they reward only one kind of mind.
• Bringing different ways of thinking together leads to better engineering, safer infrastructure, and more creative problem-solving.

Temple Grandin is an American scientist, professor of animal science at Colorado State University, and one of the world’s best-known autism advocates. She transformed the livestock industry with humane handling systems she designed by thinking visually. Her books, including Thinking in Pictures and The Autistic Brain, have helped millions understand autism and the value of different minds.