This is pretty much precisely how I think. If I'm considering a complex issue, be it engineering or otherwise, I effectively stop seeing through my eyes and ins

This is pretty much precisely how I think. If I'm considering a complex issue, be it engineering or otherwise, I effectively stop seeing through my eyes and instead maintain a visual image, either literal or abstract, of that which I'm considering. It's very "intuitive", and can be applied to anything from relativity to simple mechanics to mathematics. Anything which can be boiled down to logical symbology, which is to say, practically anything. I can happily spend hours on end staring into the middle distance entirely engrossed in a labyrinth of thought - although this can get me odd looks on trains, as a frequent side effect is wild gesticulation, as though manipulating invisible objects. I've always thought in this fashion - it's not something "learned", rather more a byproduct of a hyperactive imagination, and probably has something to do with the fact that television, magazines, and anything visual were outright verboten in my childhood, the only entertainment available being books. You learn to visualise stories or described situations, and when reading, I don't see words on a page, rather an immersive cinematic view of the text at hand. All of that said, it landed me in hot water throughout my studies, as when you look at a physics or maths problem and write down the answer without any intermediate computation, one tends to be accused of cheating. On the note of memory - I have a poor episodic memory (struggle to recall what I did three days ago) but can recall abstract facts with facility, as its just a question of looking at the right mental image.