When I think about a subject, there are three steps to my mind's retrieval of information about said subject. First is the high-level archival search that spreads through my mind and locates all relevant pieces of information. I choose one of those pieces, and it enters step two: visualization. I imagine a landscape that in some way represents the thought or piece of information and everything related to it. If it is something to do with koalas, for example, I see a koala on a tree in my mind. I then focus in onto one of the elements of the visualization and my mind generates a "notes" list about that element. For example, I'll focus here on the tree the koala is hanging on. Did you know that there are hundreds of species of eucalyptus, but the koala only eats about thirty of them? Did you know that eucalyptus is poisonous to other animals? Et cetera et cetera.
Then my mind opens hyperlinks to other things that are related to the information I just retrieved.
I have two ways of internalizing a subject. First is the deep connection method. If I learn something new about a subject that fits into my model of the world, it sticks like flies to fly paper. My second way of internalizing a subject is the "cud" model of assimilation. When I discover a new thought or a piece of information that will require effort to retain, I spin it through my mind's focus engine for a couple of rotations. After I chew the intellectual cud enough, it becomes part of my association network.
I feel as if my mind is a complex, rotating object that spits information out and reprocesses it. At the same time, it is an empty ocean filled with small points of entry that will let loose a large amount of material.
How does your mind work? Do you even see inside your own head the way I do?
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