Person Thinks Internal Monologue Is A Made-Up Concept, Is In “Shock” After Learning Most People Have It
If you’ve ever had an internal monologue, you know how bizarrely normal and even comforting it feels to talk to yourself. Whether you play out a conversation or prepare for tomorrow’s speech, or even make an internal to-do list, it’s something that’s become deeply embedded in our inner world since we were children.
But it turns out, the same rules don’t apply to everyone. Imagine the utter shock when the Reddit user u/Vadermaulkylo realized inner monologues are real and not “a fictional concept that ‘Dexter’ made up,” as he sincerely thought. The reality hit when u/Vadermaulkylo told his mom about not having one, and she stared at him like there was something wrong with her kid. So let’s see u/Vadermalkylo’s post on the subreddit r/NoStupidQuestions, which caused quite a stir in the community.
It turns out, people are torn between camps where on one side, you have devoted inner talkers who think it’s a given, and those who seriously think it’s some kind of bogus charlatan nonsense.
A similar case happened to Ryan Langdon, who was convinced everyone had an in-born ability to talk to themselves. Ryan set out on an investigation of how come some people don’t have inner monologues that you can read more about in our previous article.
This Reddit user shared an incident about how he told his mom that he had no internal monologue
Image credits: Vadermaulkylo
And it left people scratching their heads
It turns out, most adults who share the ability to run an internal monologue in their mind with themselves develop it during childhood.
According to Kristeen Cherney, a mental disabilities scholar, “As children acquire language skills, they also concurrently learn how to engage in internal commentary as they’re working independently or taking turns during an activity.” Childhood inner voices can come in many forms, and the most common is having an imaginary friend.
After we grow up, our ability to engage in inner speech supports our working memory and other cognitive processes. “It’s thought that internal monologue helps you complete everyday tasks, such as your job,” Kristeen explains.
However, that doesn’t mean that everyone has an inner voice. Or, in particular, not everyone is able to hear their own voice expressing their thoughts, no matter what their thoughts may be.
The inner thoughts that are common in most people are not exactly the same as the inner voice, or monologue. “It’s also possible to have both an inner voice and inner thoughts, where you experience them at intervals,” Kristeen adds.
It turned out, he was not the only one without an inner voice
So if I'm understanding this correct there are people (happy people!) which never had the problem of having stuck at "baby shark doo doo doo doo doo doo..." song in their head for days and days and days for all eternity?!
I think you can still get earworms without having a proper internal monologue.
Load More Replies...My problem is that my inner monologue won't shut up. I'm also an introvert. However, my extrovert mom also has it, and my friend who thinks in words, not in pictures (I don't know the word for that) also has this damn monologue. I've never met anyone who claimed to not have it! What a lucky person 🤔
A lot of times, I have to apologize to people for coming out with some weird remark about the topic we're discussing. Since I've already been through the why's and wherefores of the conversation, my talking part of it usually starts in the middle, not the beginning.
Load More Replies...I'm not talkactive person so....I could'nt live without my Internal Monologue.
I'm sitting here trying to imagine life without it while my internal monologue goes on and on about how that's impossible...
Load More Replies...Anyone else have like full on movies in their head? Like lucid daydreaming kinda stuff?
I sometimes dream full movies - one even had credits and a theme tune...
Load More Replies...3 voices: Shouty head, Prosecutor and the Defence. Shouty head is the one that goes on all the time (top of my head), Prosecutor (left side of my head) which always belittles, Defence (right side of my head) which always stands by my side. Prosecutor never wins and even if it thinks it could shouty head pulls rank and overrules. My life is a delicate balance.
As an aside, how do I manage this? Self-medicating for 35 years, taking more appropriate medication for 20 of those.
Load More Replies...I have found my people! I am so glad to read that this is, shall we say "normalish". My inner dialog speaks, argues, offers different opinions. I realize it's actually all me but I still love my Sybils.
I've no internal monologue and never had, as far as I remember. Yet sometimes, if I'm really stressed or generally under strong emotions, my "3rd-person-narrative" mode turns on. It's sorta funny because then for some time my thoughts are going like: *"I don't know what I should do now," she realized. She had the impression that no matter what decision she made, it would end badly. Her friend didn't look too happy either.* And so on. I believe it's some kind of defensive mechanism.
How did you know what to type without thinking it in your head first? I’m sorry but I just can’t comprehend it!
Load More Replies...I never feel lonely. The voices in my head keep me company! :P Also, isn't it weird that the voice in our heads is silent? Like, would we even recognize it if we heard it outside our heads??
For many people, the voice inside their head isn't silent. They can make it sound like anyone they want. If they wanted to read this post in Morgan Freeman's "voice" they could. They typically read texts from close friends/family in that person's "voice" by default without even trying. I'm like you, my inner voice has no "sound" component... but I can't visualize either, the only thing "in my head" is my silent internal monologue.
Load More Replies...How would someone even function without an internal monologue? How would they know what to write or speak? How would they absorb knowledge or form opinions? I simply don’t get it at all.
I've tried thinking in images. It just doesn't work for me. I must have been able to as a baby, since I didn't know words. So is internal monologue learned? But how? I think words all day long. I will compose letters, compose stories, imagine conversations, yell at myself, encourage myself, list tasks, and so much more. I long for a quiet mind. Meditation and yoga are such a struggle. "Emptying my mind" feels impossible. The best I can do is create the image of a void and force my brain to focus on the void. But words and images and thoughts wander in the second I don't hold focus on the void.
I think in pictures, colors, and half-formed sentences, usually many at once. I have associative synesthesia too so whenever I hear a song or read something or picture words in my head, I get colors. I don’t really know how else to describe it other than getting colors. I could say flashes or fireworks, but that’s not exactly it, either. It’s kinda difficult for me to describe. Every song, word, letter, number, sound, texture, smell, everything has colors for me. I don’t physically see them, even though some people on the internet say they can see them. I would say a very well done character with synesthesia is Whiteout from Wings of Fire. She speaks weirdly, but most people with synesthesia don’t. I used to describe things using colors and images when I was very little but I didn’t know it wasn’t normal so everyone thought I was just crazy, besides my dad who has it too.
I grew up with different languages, and my internal voice and even internal personality is different, depending on which language I'm thinking in. When I learned Swedish well enough to sometimes have an internal monologue in it, it was delightful getting to know the internal voice that goes with it. It was like meeting a whole new person, in my head!
I have inner monologues but also music is ALWAYS playing in my head. It's an issue. There isn't a period in my day when I don't have music in my head. I can skip forward and go back and stuff too. It sounds fun but after a while it can get redundant.
I personally have never had any sort of internal monologue. I do not hear mine or others voices in my head while thinking, and I do not have constant conversations goin on in my head, at least not that I can consciously place. I think more in pictures, and it’s like a movie playing in my mind. When writing I don’t consciously think “oh, it would sound better like this,” I more so picture those words taking their place, and feel ‘yes, that’s right’ in other words, I don’t verbalize thoughts, rather feel them and see them play out. I credit my lack of internal monologues to my lack of verbal consciousness, seeing as I think solely in pictures. This is one thing I am only now understanding to be unusual, an I’m happy to answer any questions to make more sense of it all to those who fail to relate.
The voice/s in my head like to do accents. If I'm around or hear an accent a lot (ie if I binge Geordie Shore or a some early Bond Movies). Also many of the funny scenarios that pop up in my head in response so something someone says look like Simpson's animations. It's a weird and crazy place in there and I love it.
I can use an inner voice and imagery, but it takes intention and effort, I don't have them naturally. In my head it's quiet, I feel like I'm enjoying quiet existence while looking out at the world. My natural thoughts are formless, just feelings . I intentionally try to think with words because I find it gives more shape and specificity. For example, vaguely feeling I like cats to saying "I like cats". Any image I try too form is blurry and vague, but they do play like movies. I use them to fall asleep at night, I've been doing that since I was a toddler, so at this point it's preconditioned. One person in this thread said that they think people's strengths come from how their brains work and I totally agree. I struggle to form images of peoples faces, If I really try I can say imagine my mom's forehead, or separately her nose, I can't imagine someone's face in it entirety in my head. I also, in real life struggle to remember who is who from all the people I meet at my job.
I couldn't image living without the voice in my head...
Actually same! I don’t have a voice, my thoughts play out, like OP said, like scenes in movies, normally. I can still talk to myself mentally, but only when I choose to. I do still get earworms though.
Teach me your ways senpai. I would love to get my brain on silent once in a while. I m exhausted. I never think. Anything positive. It always goes on about how useless I m and how none of my dreams will ever come true
Look up ‘mindful mediation’ or ‘mindfulness‘ and practice the techniques. It can help to quiet a busy mind and help you control warped thoughts like those. You are not useless.
Load More Replies...I've said this before, usually if, say, I'm thinking about A book. Ok, in my head I'm telling someone about it. (Usually my cousin Gina who I never talk to, oddly enough). So my thoughts are in conversation form. Normal, i think. If I zone out I'm deep in conversation in my head.But I don't think the voice is mine, even right now I can't tell, like that one person above said, just a beings voice I think..could be mine.
It is staggering to me that people don't have an inner monologue... and beyond that, I can never say, in my head, "On the Road... with Charles Kuralt" without hearing Charles Keralt's voice. Just saying.
Every week, I go for a walk with a friend, lasts about 1 1/2 hours. We got on the topic of insomnia, which I have a really bad case of. She says she takes 3 deep breaths, then she's asleep. I asked her about thoughts and conversations happening while she was trying to get to sleep. She said she didn't have them (she's brilliant BTW). I was so gobsmacked. Part of my insomnia is not being able to quiet the "should I have said this, what did so and so mean, was that shirt too expensive, wish I'd eaten a better dinner" etc. etc. etc talk/thinking. I couldn't imagine what it was like not having that internal monologue going ALL THE TIME!
Abstract thought for me. No internal monologue. I can talk in my head, but it's cumbersome and I get side tracked into abstract again. LOL When 'm really angry, I might spit out some words in my head, but even that fades quickly. I can "see" images in my head when problem solving things I know how to do well. For instance, when trying to work out how something is sewn together, or made on a laser etc, I can turn it around and look at it. I can do this with computer troubleshooting too, as I work through variables and track paths. I've always been like this.
Interesting. William Burroughs said “language is a virus,” interesting for a writer. My “formal education” is in art and art history, but I have spent most of my life teaching, so talking about it rather than drawing or painting. I used to think I was a horrible sick creature before I realized that the other kids must be thinking all the time as well. Is this why some people hate private-eye type narration in movies, like BLADE RUNNER? I generally enjoy that, but a lot if people just want to see the story. My dad taught me to read while he was going to school on the G.I. Bill when I was very young, so I don’t remember ever not being able to read. What mustbit have been like back in the fifteenth century, when most people were illiterate?
I'm guessing that many more people have the internal dialogue than don't. It's just a different way of the brain working I suppose. To those of us with the internal voice it seems weird, it must be so quiet. I could do with days of having no dialogue!
An internal monologue is often where many writers, game designers, artists, screenwriters, etc. get their ideas. They hear or see or think their storylines in their minds and then make them come true for others to enjoy. Me, I often have competing conversations going on and the only way to get rid of the buggers is to write them away.
I have an internal monologue, but like the guy in the end, I don't have actual images in my head. At least I don't think I do... He described it nicely, but I usually say it's like "at the edge of my mind, just out of reach". I do, however, close my eyes to imagine stuff (particularly to remember). Probably it's because I cut off the outside things like that.
When my son was little he was diagnosed with Auditory Dyslexia. He's fine now, thanks to a lot of specialized help. Anyway, one of the problems was if you said something like, "red car," to him, he pictured nothing. Total blank. If you said the same thing to me, I'd be deciding what make, year, exact color of red, etc. I found this whole topic so interesting. Additionally, besides all these monologues in my head, I'll have more than one going at the same time. Doesn't bother me at all. I was told a long time ago that if you have a song going on and on in your head, to sing it. Seems to work pretty well...for me.
If "inner monologue" is restricted to literally thinking in words, I used to have very little of that. I started to develop it when i was around 16. I still don't actually think in words, though. What the said about "translating" is actually specifically how I've explained it. I always feel like I'm "translating" when putting my thoughts into words. And like that same commenter, it is why I also prefer written communication.
The only time I think in words is when I'm preparing to explain something to someone, sometimes when I'm writing, or when making a list.
Load More Replies...My head never shuts up. But it's me talking up there . I create and edit my poetry in my head before writing it down .
I would be really interested in knowing if this having/not having internal monologue correlates in any way to right/left handedness.
And then there's me, wishing I could stop having over 10 constant (and constantly changing) inner monologue's at once. ADHD is nuts...
Personally, I don't usually have an internal monologue. I usually think in "concepts"- an average of all my memories and experiences with a thing, or whatever I associate with a topic. I think in concepts in conjunction with emotions. For example, if I was worried about my mom bugging me about homework, I would think of my concept of the homework I needed to do in conjunction with my concept of my mom/ my mom talking to me and it would be coupled with a feeling of anxiety. HOWEVER, I am able to think with an internal monologue. I can think words with a voice in my head, but I have to think about it to do it and it takes effort for me. It's much slower than my natural non-internal monologue "concept thinking" though, so it is similar to a second language that you aren't quite fluent in. It is worth mentioning though that this method of thinking leads to me forgetting words often and sometimes having a hard time communicating my thoughts the way I mean them.
I should mention that I DO talk to myself (actually quite a bit), but I usually speak out loud when doing so since speaking words in my head feels so slow.
Load More Replies...As much as people without the monologue wish they had it, I kinda wish I didn't. On one hand, it's kinda cool to have something that is and isn't me in my head, but on the other hand, sometimes it just won't shut up, especially when I want it to. Believe me, it isn't all it's cracked up to be. Or maybe it's schizophrenia, I don't know.
I only found out last year, that people really do have an internal monologue like the one in Ulysses (James Joyce, no I haven't read the whole book) and I'm almost 50! The thought still blows my mind. I do 'rehearse' or replay coversations or speeches, but that's it. I kind of pity the peeps that do, it sounds exhausting.
So I can't figure out if the the "non-internal monologue" folks are pod people or if I'm just lacking the right sunglasses to see how the world truly functions (They Live).
I'm not really sure if I have one or not, which makes me think that I probably don't
Load More Replies...So if I'm understanding this correct there are people (happy people!) which never had the problem of having stuck at "baby shark doo doo doo doo doo doo..." song in their head for days and days and days for all eternity?!
I think you can still get earworms without having a proper internal monologue.
Load More Replies...My problem is that my inner monologue won't shut up. I'm also an introvert. However, my extrovert mom also has it, and my friend who thinks in words, not in pictures (I don't know the word for that) also has this damn monologue. I've never met anyone who claimed to not have it! What a lucky person 🤔
A lot of times, I have to apologize to people for coming out with some weird remark about the topic we're discussing. Since I've already been through the why's and wherefores of the conversation, my talking part of it usually starts in the middle, not the beginning.
Load More Replies...I'm not talkactive person so....I could'nt live without my Internal Monologue.
I'm sitting here trying to imagine life without it while my internal monologue goes on and on about how that's impossible...
Load More Replies...Anyone else have like full on movies in their head? Like lucid daydreaming kinda stuff?
I sometimes dream full movies - one even had credits and a theme tune...
Load More Replies...3 voices: Shouty head, Prosecutor and the Defence. Shouty head is the one that goes on all the time (top of my head), Prosecutor (left side of my head) which always belittles, Defence (right side of my head) which always stands by my side. Prosecutor never wins and even if it thinks it could shouty head pulls rank and overrules. My life is a delicate balance.
As an aside, how do I manage this? Self-medicating for 35 years, taking more appropriate medication for 20 of those.
Load More Replies...I have found my people! I am so glad to read that this is, shall we say "normalish". My inner dialog speaks, argues, offers different opinions. I realize it's actually all me but I still love my Sybils.
I've no internal monologue and never had, as far as I remember. Yet sometimes, if I'm really stressed or generally under strong emotions, my "3rd-person-narrative" mode turns on. It's sorta funny because then for some time my thoughts are going like: *"I don't know what I should do now," she realized. She had the impression that no matter what decision she made, it would end badly. Her friend didn't look too happy either.* And so on. I believe it's some kind of defensive mechanism.
How did you know what to type without thinking it in your head first? I’m sorry but I just can’t comprehend it!
Load More Replies...I never feel lonely. The voices in my head keep me company! :P Also, isn't it weird that the voice in our heads is silent? Like, would we even recognize it if we heard it outside our heads??
For many people, the voice inside their head isn't silent. They can make it sound like anyone they want. If they wanted to read this post in Morgan Freeman's "voice" they could. They typically read texts from close friends/family in that person's "voice" by default without even trying. I'm like you, my inner voice has no "sound" component... but I can't visualize either, the only thing "in my head" is my silent internal monologue.
Load More Replies...How would someone even function without an internal monologue? How would they know what to write or speak? How would they absorb knowledge or form opinions? I simply don’t get it at all.
I've tried thinking in images. It just doesn't work for me. I must have been able to as a baby, since I didn't know words. So is internal monologue learned? But how? I think words all day long. I will compose letters, compose stories, imagine conversations, yell at myself, encourage myself, list tasks, and so much more. I long for a quiet mind. Meditation and yoga are such a struggle. "Emptying my mind" feels impossible. The best I can do is create the image of a void and force my brain to focus on the void. But words and images and thoughts wander in the second I don't hold focus on the void.
I think in pictures, colors, and half-formed sentences, usually many at once. I have associative synesthesia too so whenever I hear a song or read something or picture words in my head, I get colors. I don’t really know how else to describe it other than getting colors. I could say flashes or fireworks, but that’s not exactly it, either. It’s kinda difficult for me to describe. Every song, word, letter, number, sound, texture, smell, everything has colors for me. I don’t physically see them, even though some people on the internet say they can see them. I would say a very well done character with synesthesia is Whiteout from Wings of Fire. She speaks weirdly, but most people with synesthesia don’t. I used to describe things using colors and images when I was very little but I didn’t know it wasn’t normal so everyone thought I was just crazy, besides my dad who has it too.
I grew up with different languages, and my internal voice and even internal personality is different, depending on which language I'm thinking in. When I learned Swedish well enough to sometimes have an internal monologue in it, it was delightful getting to know the internal voice that goes with it. It was like meeting a whole new person, in my head!
I have inner monologues but also music is ALWAYS playing in my head. It's an issue. There isn't a period in my day when I don't have music in my head. I can skip forward and go back and stuff too. It sounds fun but after a while it can get redundant.
I personally have never had any sort of internal monologue. I do not hear mine or others voices in my head while thinking, and I do not have constant conversations goin on in my head, at least not that I can consciously place. I think more in pictures, and it’s like a movie playing in my mind. When writing I don’t consciously think “oh, it would sound better like this,” I more so picture those words taking their place, and feel ‘yes, that’s right’ in other words, I don’t verbalize thoughts, rather feel them and see them play out. I credit my lack of internal monologues to my lack of verbal consciousness, seeing as I think solely in pictures. This is one thing I am only now understanding to be unusual, an I’m happy to answer any questions to make more sense of it all to those who fail to relate.
The voice/s in my head like to do accents. If I'm around or hear an accent a lot (ie if I binge Geordie Shore or a some early Bond Movies). Also many of the funny scenarios that pop up in my head in response so something someone says look like Simpson's animations. It's a weird and crazy place in there and I love it.
I can use an inner voice and imagery, but it takes intention and effort, I don't have them naturally. In my head it's quiet, I feel like I'm enjoying quiet existence while looking out at the world. My natural thoughts are formless, just feelings . I intentionally try to think with words because I find it gives more shape and specificity. For example, vaguely feeling I like cats to saying "I like cats". Any image I try too form is blurry and vague, but they do play like movies. I use them to fall asleep at night, I've been doing that since I was a toddler, so at this point it's preconditioned. One person in this thread said that they think people's strengths come from how their brains work and I totally agree. I struggle to form images of peoples faces, If I really try I can say imagine my mom's forehead, or separately her nose, I can't imagine someone's face in it entirety in my head. I also, in real life struggle to remember who is who from all the people I meet at my job.
I couldn't image living without the voice in my head...
Actually same! I don’t have a voice, my thoughts play out, like OP said, like scenes in movies, normally. I can still talk to myself mentally, but only when I choose to. I do still get earworms though.
Teach me your ways senpai. I would love to get my brain on silent once in a while. I m exhausted. I never think. Anything positive. It always goes on about how useless I m and how none of my dreams will ever come true
Look up ‘mindful mediation’ or ‘mindfulness‘ and practice the techniques. It can help to quiet a busy mind and help you control warped thoughts like those. You are not useless.
Load More Replies...I've said this before, usually if, say, I'm thinking about A book. Ok, in my head I'm telling someone about it. (Usually my cousin Gina who I never talk to, oddly enough). So my thoughts are in conversation form. Normal, i think. If I zone out I'm deep in conversation in my head.But I don't think the voice is mine, even right now I can't tell, like that one person above said, just a beings voice I think..could be mine.
It is staggering to me that people don't have an inner monologue... and beyond that, I can never say, in my head, "On the Road... with Charles Kuralt" without hearing Charles Keralt's voice. Just saying.
Every week, I go for a walk with a friend, lasts about 1 1/2 hours. We got on the topic of insomnia, which I have a really bad case of. She says she takes 3 deep breaths, then she's asleep. I asked her about thoughts and conversations happening while she was trying to get to sleep. She said she didn't have them (she's brilliant BTW). I was so gobsmacked. Part of my insomnia is not being able to quiet the "should I have said this, what did so and so mean, was that shirt too expensive, wish I'd eaten a better dinner" etc. etc. etc talk/thinking. I couldn't imagine what it was like not having that internal monologue going ALL THE TIME!
Abstract thought for me. No internal monologue. I can talk in my head, but it's cumbersome and I get side tracked into abstract again. LOL When 'm really angry, I might spit out some words in my head, but even that fades quickly. I can "see" images in my head when problem solving things I know how to do well. For instance, when trying to work out how something is sewn together, or made on a laser etc, I can turn it around and look at it. I can do this with computer troubleshooting too, as I work through variables and track paths. I've always been like this.
Interesting. William Burroughs said “language is a virus,” interesting for a writer. My “formal education” is in art and art history, but I have spent most of my life teaching, so talking about it rather than drawing or painting. I used to think I was a horrible sick creature before I realized that the other kids must be thinking all the time as well. Is this why some people hate private-eye type narration in movies, like BLADE RUNNER? I generally enjoy that, but a lot if people just want to see the story. My dad taught me to read while he was going to school on the G.I. Bill when I was very young, so I don’t remember ever not being able to read. What mustbit have been like back in the fifteenth century, when most people were illiterate?
I'm guessing that many more people have the internal dialogue than don't. It's just a different way of the brain working I suppose. To those of us with the internal voice it seems weird, it must be so quiet. I could do with days of having no dialogue!
An internal monologue is often where many writers, game designers, artists, screenwriters, etc. get their ideas. They hear or see or think their storylines in their minds and then make them come true for others to enjoy. Me, I often have competing conversations going on and the only way to get rid of the buggers is to write them away.
I have an internal monologue, but like the guy in the end, I don't have actual images in my head. At least I don't think I do... He described it nicely, but I usually say it's like "at the edge of my mind, just out of reach". I do, however, close my eyes to imagine stuff (particularly to remember). Probably it's because I cut off the outside things like that.
When my son was little he was diagnosed with Auditory Dyslexia. He's fine now, thanks to a lot of specialized help. Anyway, one of the problems was if you said something like, "red car," to him, he pictured nothing. Total blank. If you said the same thing to me, I'd be deciding what make, year, exact color of red, etc. I found this whole topic so interesting. Additionally, besides all these monologues in my head, I'll have more than one going at the same time. Doesn't bother me at all. I was told a long time ago that if you have a song going on and on in your head, to sing it. Seems to work pretty well...for me.
If "inner monologue" is restricted to literally thinking in words, I used to have very little of that. I started to develop it when i was around 16. I still don't actually think in words, though. What the said about "translating" is actually specifically how I've explained it. I always feel like I'm "translating" when putting my thoughts into words. And like that same commenter, it is why I also prefer written communication.
The only time I think in words is when I'm preparing to explain something to someone, sometimes when I'm writing, or when making a list.
Load More Replies...My head never shuts up. But it's me talking up there . I create and edit my poetry in my head before writing it down .
I would be really interested in knowing if this having/not having internal monologue correlates in any way to right/left handedness.
And then there's me, wishing I could stop having over 10 constant (and constantly changing) inner monologue's at once. ADHD is nuts...
Personally, I don't usually have an internal monologue. I usually think in "concepts"- an average of all my memories and experiences with a thing, or whatever I associate with a topic. I think in concepts in conjunction with emotions. For example, if I was worried about my mom bugging me about homework, I would think of my concept of the homework I needed to do in conjunction with my concept of my mom/ my mom talking to me and it would be coupled with a feeling of anxiety. HOWEVER, I am able to think with an internal monologue. I can think words with a voice in my head, but I have to think about it to do it and it takes effort for me. It's much slower than my natural non-internal monologue "concept thinking" though, so it is similar to a second language that you aren't quite fluent in. It is worth mentioning though that this method of thinking leads to me forgetting words often and sometimes having a hard time communicating my thoughts the way I mean them.
I should mention that I DO talk to myself (actually quite a bit), but I usually speak out loud when doing so since speaking words in my head feels so slow.
Load More Replies...As much as people without the monologue wish they had it, I kinda wish I didn't. On one hand, it's kinda cool to have something that is and isn't me in my head, but on the other hand, sometimes it just won't shut up, especially when I want it to. Believe me, it isn't all it's cracked up to be. Or maybe it's schizophrenia, I don't know.
I only found out last year, that people really do have an internal monologue like the one in Ulysses (James Joyce, no I haven't read the whole book) and I'm almost 50! The thought still blows my mind. I do 'rehearse' or replay coversations or speeches, but that's it. I kind of pity the peeps that do, it sounds exhausting.
So I can't figure out if the the "non-internal monologue" folks are pod people or if I'm just lacking the right sunglasses to see how the world truly functions (They Live).
I'm not really sure if I have one or not, which makes me think that I probably don't
Load More Replies...
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