Some time ago, I saw a Facebook post that asked about the difference between deductive (top-down) and inductive (bottom-up) thinking. Being the curious person that I am, I Googled it – and my mind was blown. Inductive thinking described all the quirks of my learning and creative process, all the ways in which I felt different without being able to explain why. It turns out that neurodivergent people are naturally bottom-up processors, while neurotypicals are top-down thinkers. OMG, where has this information been all my life?
The difference between top-down and bottom-up thinkers
Top-down processing is having an idea about the big picture first and filling in the details later. Bottom-up processing is having the details first and forming an idea about the big picture from them.
Top-down processors have a linear thought process and assess concepts before details, while bottom-up processors have an associative thought process and use details to build concepts.
Bottom-up thinking
Picture working on a puzzle where every piece is blank—you can only focus on the shapes and how they fit together. Only once the puzzle is complete does the full image finally appear. This is a great way to understand bottom-up thinking, where details come first, and the bigger picture emerges later. This approach is common among neurodivergent people and often leads to out-of-the-box ideas and creative problem-solving.
Temple Grandin says about bottom-up thinking: “I’m good at trawling through the Internet through vast amounts of journal articles and then picking out what are the really important things. I then synthesize all of this resource down into one short paragraph . . . That’s something that I’m good at doing . . . I’m a bottom-up thinker—I take the details and put them together.” I write my articles in the exact same way.
I have always been able to form conclusions and understand things only after I have seen many examples and data from which I could draw said conclusions. A simple explanation doesn’t help me much – I need to see the details. I need to see the answers in order to know how to ask the question. I need to see the whole thing before I can sum it up, realize how it works, describe it.
Summary first? How?
This article by Erika Sanborne gives a brilliant example. In school, the author had to pick a topic and outline an article that she would later have to write. But this is completely unnatural to bottom-up thinkers. In order to summarize what is in the article, we need to actually write the article first. Duh. Because how can we just pull information from thin air? How can we sum up an article that hasn’t been written yet? The ability of neurotypical people to do so completely baffles me.
“I’m telling you, it’s been a while, and even as I write this article in 2023, I still couldn’t outline a paper about dolphins before I learn today’s science about dolphins. What kind of psychic trickery are these allistic students employing?” – Erika Sanborne, The Autistic PhD
The author also emphasizes that our education process is built for the allistic people, who are generally top-down thinkers. Our inductive thought process means we typically need to do much more work than the neurotypical students. Whenever we are tasked with creating an outline or summary – things that our educational system loves – we have to basically create the whole thing first. When we want to understand something, we need to read extensively, detail after detail, example after example, for our brain to be able to generalize things.
Top-down and bottom-up scientists
There is an interesting difference between how top-down and bottom-up processing scientists work best. This is interesting for me because I studied botany and was immersed in the scientific process. Basically, top-down processors observe a phenomenon, form a hypothesis based on it, and then test it. Bottom-up processors, on the other hand, collect data first and then make conclusions based on it.
Conceptual framework based on Erika Sanborne (AutisticPhD.com)
So, what to do to make things work for you if you are a bottom-up thinker?
- If someone expects you to jump straight to conclusions, let them know you process from the details up, so you might need a bit more time to form a full picture. Ask for specific examples.
- Use mind maps or concept maps. Start with details and gradually group them into patterns, larger themes, or categories.
- Break projects into small tasks. Work on details first, then step back and see how they fit together.
- If someone is explaining in broad terms, ask them for specifics or concrete steps to help you grasp the idea.
- If possible, request written or visual materials that let you process at your own pace rather than relying only on verbal instructions.
- Since bottom-up thinking means absorbing a lot of details, it can sometimes lead to information overload. Set boundaries for how much data you collect before you move forward and practice summarizing what you’ve learned periodically to avoid getting lost in details.
- When presenting ideas, summarize your findings into key takeaways to make it easier for top-down thinkers to understand.
- Jobs that value thorough research, problem-solving, or pattern recognition may be a great fit for bottom-up thinkers.
Are you a bottom-up thinker too? What ways do you use to make things easier for your brain? Let me know in the comments!
Do you feel like time is constantly slipping through your fingers?
Are you always late—even when you try your hardest not to be?
Do you miss deadlines, forget appointments, or feel like the day is just gone without anything to show for it?
Are you always wondering, “Where did the time go?”
If this sounds like you, you’re not alone—and you’re not broken. You probably have time blindness, like many of us with ADHD or autism. But there are ways to work with your brain instead of against it.
In Lost in Time: Strategies for Managing Time Blindness, you’ll get:
- Real-life strategies to actually perceive time
- Tricks for arriving on time—without last-minute chaos
- Focus tools to get things done, even when your brain resists
- Dopamine hacks to motivate yourself without shame
- Tips tailored specifically for autistic and ADHD brains
Hello Helen,
I have come across this idea in creative writing circles, where there are two types of writers recognised – I think they are called outliners and pantsers. I have just realised that the type of thinking a person is prone to applies to all areas of their life, not just writing, and it kind of blew my mind. It explains so much… So thank you!