[idiotsecant]

Not poster you replied to but it sounds like we might have a similar internal model.

I store numbers as pictures of numbers, or a geometric representation depending on how big or precise the number is.

Are you saying when you think of the concept of 'twelve plus twelve' you have the equivalent of someone in your head saying 'hmm, well twelve is 2 more than ten, so if I add up ten and ten and two and two I get twenty four?'

That's wild if so.

For your reference, I would follow the procedure above approximately, but visually with numbers that just do the thing that feels right. I think under the hood we're probably doing the same thing, just with a different interface layer

[jacomoRodriguez]

I can just speak for me, obviously, but yes, that is what's happening. But it's not someone, it is more like me explaining / telling it to myself. Depending on the complexity this can be more or less verbal - the more complex, the less verbal I would say.