I think this skews towards linear, but I wanted to get a second opinion. Since it’s a WIP, I can shift my character more towards one way or the other if needed.
My MC has a problem with OCD so he thinks a lot about potential problems. Imagining chains of cause and effect then trying to stop them sounds linear, but observing small details then imagining potential disasters that could result (ex. touch something dirty, get a germ on hand, pass it on via handshake, other person gets fatal disease, dies and it’s all your fault for making their children sad orphans for not being careful enough) sounds like looking at the big picture-- thinking way too far ahead and saying “what if…?” a lot to imagine various outcomes. However, I suppose if my MC was truly looking at the big picture, he’d see that even if a feared scenario like a handshake leading to death wouldn’t necessarily be his fault as the germ could’ve come from somewhere else.
I can also see him thinking of balances (maybe. These might be two competing cause/effect chains). For example, if his friend the IC is the handshaker and a potential client the handshakee, MC would have a dilemma. He’d feel the urge to warn the client that IC had been working on some dirty object and not washed, which would help him avoid the fear of potentially being responsible for harm due to not saying something, but then he might think that saying something could make IC look careless and cause him to lose the business deal. He may weigh the risks of potential (if unlikely) death vs loss of income and think that death is a worse consequence therefore warning the client is more important. Then another “what if…?” chain starts of how IC losing the deal could lead to financial trouble, then maybe poverty, leading to avoiding the doctor if needed, ending with getting sick and maybe death. MC might then think about how “normal” people handle it and wonder whose approach is more correct. Maybe he’d, I don’t know, take the risk and say something (sounds linear), or maybe he could try spilling something on the potential client’s hands to force hand washing without making anyone look bad (holistic?).
Can going off on tangents, being reminded of other stuff and getting distracted by it have anything to do with Holistic thinking?