> > I don't think this has been addressed in the thread, so I'll mention it here. I heard once that some people have no trouble at all visualizing a room or other general location from a much different angle than they would normally see it (such as from a bird's-eye-view or looking up from the floor), whereas others couldn't do it if their life depended on it (please ignore the fact that that expression makes no sense at all). I've always been able to visualize things from absurd angles. Right now I just visualized this room, which I've lived in for maybe a week and a half, from the ceiling, and I'm pretty certain I did it quite accurately.
> >
> > Are any of you in the other group, the people who couldn't do this at all? I'm curious as to whether it might have something to do with what sort of person you are. Not necessarily what type of learner you are, but what type of thinker. I tend to perceive things visually, like Brunnen-G, except that I can handle a change in the environment I'm trying to navigate, and usually I can find my way in any direction rather than just one.
> >
> > -Eric Sleator
> > Tue 9 Apr A.D. 2002
>
> I just tried this, and found that I could do it.
>
> Don Monkey

I can do that too, and I started thinking about why I could. I think it might be a combination of the visual vs. directional ways of orienting yourself type thing. As in, you need the directional senses to properly position your 'eye' in the new place in your surroundings and to re-orient your view accordingly - but you need the visual senses to build the actual mental image.

At least, that's how I pictured it. First I 'oriented myself' in a different part of the room (floating in the corner, actually - I pictured another me in that place and forced my sense of direction to orient itself relative to the position of the second 'me'). That got the new locations of the walls and ceiling relative to my imagined position properly fixed, as well as a general hazy view of where the furniture was. Then I built up the actual visuals on the directional framework I'd just established.

I can easily imagine someone being able to do just the directional but not being able to produce an actual mental image. I'm not sure how it would work the other way, though.

In any case, analyzing how and why you think something is surprisingly cool.

Sosi"hoping at least something in this post makes sense"qui