Unfamiliar numbers

The texture of his mind was unlike anything Anakin had ever touched before. It was neat and well ordered, the patterns of thought flowing smoothly and precisely in ways not unlike those of scientists or mathematicians. But the content of that flow, and the muted emo­tions accompanying it, were completely opaque. It was like a neat and precise array of unfamiliar numbers.

~

“There’s a certain air about such things, an overall feeling that forms in my mind.”

“Nothing you can codify for us?”

Thrawn turned to him, and through his faceplate Ba’kif saw the other’s wry smile. “Really, General,” he said. “If I could write all this down, I certainly would.”

“I know,” Ba’kif said. “It would be a lot easier for all of us if you could.”

~

Setting aside the datapad, he gazed again at the pattern of numbers flowing across his display. For most people, he knew, numbers were next to meaningless. For Eli, by life and by training a supply specialist, they were like music. Whether they formed themselves into inventory lists, targeting calculations, or hyperspace course and position data, numbers were at the heart of everything that made the universe function. They spoke to a grand symphony of people; [] of the lifeblood of good and evil alike.

Perhaps that was why he and Thrawn had worked so well together. Eli had his numbers, Thrawn had his art, and neither skill could be fully understood by anyone else.

~

According to Dr. Grandin, people with autism and Asperger's are specialist thinkers.

Specifically, pattern thinking is an abstract form of visual thinking. Daniel Tammet describes it as the ability to experience patterns and numbers in an exceptionally vivid way, being able to see and feel them. "The numbers are moving in my mind. That emotion, that motion, that texture will be highly memorable for me." In most people's brains, the recognition of colors, the ability to manipulate numbers, or language capacity all work separately and differently. But in pattern thinkers, the brain communicates between the regions, in a cognitive process that is not linear (so, in general, difficult to verbalize to other people).

Thrawn and Eli.

The pattern thinker and the pattern reader.