Our brains are simply amazing. They are made up of nerve cells, 100 billion more or less, and each cell looks like a tree with a central cell body and branches. Every thought makes up one of these nerve cells, with memories and other information growing off of it, these are the branches of the tree. Every one of these "thought trees" you have on the left side of your brain has a duplicate, mirror image on the right side.
The design of how we store information is so awe-inspiring. On the left side of our brains, we draw on details to form the big picture, while on the right side, we draw the big picture to form the details. So, the exact same information is processed in two different ways, on both sides of our brains.
This means for us to understand something and also to build a stable memory that complements our intelligence, the two mirror images of the same thought tree have to communicate with each other. The right side of the brain must communicate with the left side; both sides must work in harmony, or in synergy, with each other, which means you were designed with the idea of your having intellectual depth. The more branches you grow on these nerve cells and the more they communicate with each other, the more intelligent you become.
When you operate in your specific talent, these branches are able to form more easily, because your brain is working the way it was wired to support your gift. The way you process information, the way you problem solve, the way you provide unique insight--these are integral components to your talents and cannot be separated.
The seven pillars of thought in your brain all work together very intimately. They don't work separately, and they are all interconnected. Each of the seven pillars of thinking is responsible for primary functions and particular characteristics. These will be listed from the front of the brain to the back of the brain. So, by location, not by importance and definitely not by the sequence in which they work inside your brain. Each person has their own unique sequence in which their brain works to produce their talents. This is simply for helping you understand each of the pillars and what they provide to you.
The Intrapersonal Thinking Pillar
This is located in the front of the brain. All the nerve cells in this part of the brain are basically tuned to handle information that deals with deep thinking, decision-making, pulling things together, focus, analyzing and your free will. This pillar is at the heart of your ability to stand outside yourself and look inside to analyze your own thinking. This is where we analyze incoming and existing information, where we will make decisions about what we think, say and do. This is fundamental to our introspection, self-knowledge, feeling interpretation and intuitions. The ability to access these allows you to guide your behavior, understand your strengths and weaknesses, imagine concepts, plan activities and solve problems. This is also where your self-discipline forms.
The Interpersonal Thinking Pillar
The next pillar area is the interpersonal thinking pillar zone. These nerve cells are all there for communicating--not simply talking but communicating. Social interaction, listening, sharing, building relationships, giving and receiving love--these are all primary functions of this pillar. Interpersonal thinking gives us the ability to understand and work well with people. This area incorporates sensitivity to and empathy with others, especially with their moods, desires, motivations, feelings and experiences. This area allows us the ability to respond appropriately to others as well. This pillar involves the ability to "read" other people's moods and to put oneself in "another person's shoes". It enables us to pick up inconsistencies when listening to smooth talkers and make determinations on who to trust and not to trust. It also contains good managerial and mediation skills, and abilities to lead, guide and counsel others.
Linguistic Thinking Pillar
Our linguistic thinking pillars are universal by nature and are present in all of us in varying degrees as we all use it as a major means of communication. This linguistic pillar is close to the top of your list in your talent sequence, words are the important way in which we express our thoughts. This can be expressed in varying ways as being articulate or having the ability to think in words and use words effectively when you speak or write. A dominant linguistic pillar means you primarily build memory through words, spoken, written, expressed or read.
Logical/Mathematical Thinking Pillar
Our next thought pillar is logical/mathematical thinking, which deals with scientific reasoning, logic, and analysis. This type of thinking is involving your capacity to understand the underlying principles of a connecting system, recognize logical and numerical patterns, handle long chains of reasoning in a precise manner and manipulate numbers, quantities and operations. his pillar also includes the ability to mentally calculate and process logical problems and equations, much like the types of problems most often found in multiple-choice, standardized exams.
Kinesthetic Thinking Pillar
This thinking is the intelligence of movement, somatic sensation and moving around. This pillar helps you play soccer, run around, sit in a chair without falling out or navigate your way down an aisle. This thinking pillar includes integrating your sensations from inside your body as well. This is a very tactile, energetic, multi-sensory type of thinking that involves the control of body movements, the ability to coordinate yourself and the capacity to handle objects and things around you skillfully. These types of thinkers need to touch, feel and move things around. To understand and retain information, they have to maneuver or experience what they learn. These types of thinkers are undervalued in all learning environments. especially academic ones, which place a higher value on problem solving and linguistic skills. Sitting in a classroom where someone talks at them is not the ideal learning environment for them.
Musical Thinking Pillar
It's obvious that this thinking pillar is the ability to sing or play an instrument, but it's also the ability to read patterns, identify rhythm, deal with instincts, read between the lines, and having a feel for flow. It works very instinctively with the part of your brain called the insula, which is deep inside the musical intelligence and helps you to actually have instinct, allowing you to have insight and read between the lines, it allows you to sense meaning of things and verify it. An example of this is when you ask a friend "Are you okay?" and they say "Yes, I'm fine", this pillar allows you to hear that almost silent part of their voice which a musical thinker reads as "I'm not really fine". This is the ability to read people, through the tone of their voice and body language, rather than just listening to the language. It includes a sensitivity to pitch, melody, rhythm and tone in sounds and movement you hear and see around you, as well as the ability to produce rhythm, pitch and forms of musical expression.
Visual/Spatial Thinking Pillar
This is the pillar that gives the ability to see color, light, shape and depth. You are able to close your eyes and imagine seeing things that are not actually right in front of your eyes. Blind people actually have a very well developed visual/spatial intelligence, because they rely on what they see in their mind's eye. Visual/Spatial intelligence is the ability to be able to see without seeing; for example, you can imagine a loved one and call up a visual image from your non-conscious into consciousness. This is the ability to visualize in pictures and/or images, to "see" with the mind's eye, to make mental maps, to perceive the visual/spatial world accurately, and to act on initial perceptions. This thinking pillar is about internally representing the spatial world out there in your mind and being able to orientate yourself in three-dimensional space with ease. This type of thinking is not restricted to the arts through people like Leonardo Di Vinci but also in science through people like Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein. It also is not restricted to the physical sense of what something looks like. It can be very abstract also.
This post is only a primer to introduce you to these seven thought regions of your brain, it is definitely not exhaustive but outlines clues to you on why some of your intuitive strengths and weaknesses are what they are. Again, everyone has a unique sequence and depth of development of these seven in order of strength which fuels your day-to-day talents and skills.