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I learned this week that not everyone has an internal monologue. Mind blown.

Jetsfan80

By Jetsfan80
in The Jets Lounge

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Do you have an inner monologue (I.E. conversations with yourself in your head?)  

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  1. 1. Do you have an inner monologue (I.E. conversations with yourself in your head?)

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Jetsfan80

Jetsfan80

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Apparently not everyone talks to themselves all day long in conversation form.  As if your brain is the last kid at a sleepover/camping trip to fall asleep, and just won't shut up.

And those of you who do not have one of these (somewhere from 25-50 % of you, including pretty much everyone who as Autism/Aspergers) have no idea what I'm talking about, nor can I fully understand how YOUR brain operates.  

 

https://mymodernmet.com/inner-monologue/

 

People Are Shocked to Discover That Not Everyone Has an Inner Monologue

By Jessica Stewart on February 4, 2020
 
 

ave you ever had a conversation with yourself, one that took place inside your head? If so, you are one of many that have an inner monologue—or inner voice—that narrates your thoughts throughout the day. But did you know that many people have no such inner dialogue? While that might seem strange to some, it’s equally odd for someone who doesn’t have an inner monologue to imagine how that manifests itself.

 

The topic of inner speech has caused a stir on Twitter after the user KylePlantEmoji  put out his own observation on the matter. “Fun fact: some people have an internal narrative and some don’t,” he tweeted. “As in, some people’s thoughts are like sentences they ‘hear’, and some people just have abstract non-verbal thoughts, and have to consciously verbalize them And most people aren’t aware of the other type of person.”

This caused strong reactions online, as people on both sides of the coin imagined what life would be like with or without their inner monologue. The phenomenon itself has been debated for years by scientists. Psychologists began looking into the function of inner speech in the 1930s. It was the Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky who suggested that external conversation can become internalized. He even proposed that this inner speech was highly abbreviated and included a lot of omissions. The idea of external speech becoming internalized is also supported by evidence that it’s the same part of the brain—Broca’s area—that deals with both.

So if you have no inner monologue, should you be worried? Not really. Studies show that some individuals never experience it at all, while others only experience it occasionally. “I’m confident that inner speech is a robust phenomenon; if you use a proper method, there’s little doubt about whether or not inner speech is occurring at any given moment,” writes Russell T. Hurlburt, professor of psychology at the University of Nevada. “And I’m confident about the individual differences—some people talk to themselves a lot, some never, some occasionally.”

Interestingly, researchers at Harvard University have found that visual and verbal thinking are highly linked. While people often think of themselves as being either more verbal or visual, this isn’t necessarily the case. In fact, people with a clear inner monologue typically have stronger mental visuals to accompany their verbal thoughts.

Whether you have a constant narration present in your head or hear nothing at all, the debate raises interesting questions about how we think and process information. Certainly, the next time you see someone lost in thought, you might just wonder what the conversation is inside their head.

 

KylePlantEmoji created a stir on Twitter with his information about inner monologues.

 

Fun fact: some people have an internal narrative and some don't

As in, some people's thoughts are like sentences they "hear", and some people just have abstract non-verbal thoughts, and have to consciously verbalize them

And most people aren't aware of the other type of person

 
 
 
 

The reaction was firmly divided between those we can’t imagine life without their inner voice…

0DvHkpfQ_bigger.jpg

Wait so some people don't have to suffer through the voice in their head going on a constant monologue?? Is that what it means to achieve inner peace??

 

Telling my inner voice to shut up is NOT possible. It’s like “ok gotta be quiet. Don’t think about anything. Think nothing... not a thing.. not... knot... garlic knot... bread.. I’m hungry. Is chipotle is open this late? I could always go to Target-“

 
 
 
 
O6XqENhh_bigger.jpg

I have whole-ass fake conversations with myself. Part of it is social anxiety, but it's still funny to me that some people don't mentally script their every conversation.

 

I do this too. I'm pretty sure I go through about 5 versions of how a conversation will go before I actually have it.

I've also gotten myself upset over a theoretical conversation and had to remind myself that, well, it hadn't even happened yet.

 
 
 
 
lb7y1p-b_bigger.jpg

I've always thought this was so interesting. I think in sentences and though I know not everybody does, I find it impossible to imagine how non-verbal thought works.

 

I genuinely have full conversations with myself in my head. I’d get so bored if I didn’t have an internal monologue.

 
 
 
 

And those who can’t believe that some people have an inner narrative all day long.

qyNBwwDa_bigger.jpg

You telling me thinking isn't always just a silent conversation with yourself? Like when someone thinks out loud on TV some people just take that as a metaphor?

 

I absolutely used to presume that someone thinking out loud on tv, or passages of thought in books, were a metaphor, or artistic license. It still amazes me that many people think like that & not in concepts like me. Thoughts are thoughts for me, separate from words or images.

 
 
 
 

 

Learn more about why some people have an internal monologue in this video.

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Jetsfan80

Jetsfan80

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1 hour ago, munchmemory said:

My problem is that I can't turn off intrusive thoughts/scenarios related to my OCD.  Becomes exhausting.

Over most of my life though, I've had very positive "conversations" working through many aspects of my life.  Seems strange to me that not everyone has this capacity.

 

No one has voted otherwise, so maybe its only a small segment of the population.

OR the only people who would post here are madmen lunatics who talk to themselves all the time, lol.  

Sorry to hear about your OCD/Anxiety.  It's a real b*tch and people who don't deal with it can never understand.

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munchmemory

munchmemory

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16 minutes ago, Jetsfan80 said:

 

No one has voted otherwise, so maybe its only a small segment of the population.

OR the only people who would post here are madmen lunatics who talk to themselves all the time, lol.  

Sorry to hear about your OCD/Anxiety.  It's a real b*tch and people who don't deal with it can never understand.

Thanks, dude.  I was a guy who was always in perfect health and only went to doctors for check ups or bad sore throats.  Last few years, not so much.  Luckily, nothing too catastrophic.   OCD/anxiety stuff is genetic in my case.  My Mom had it, too. 

Wanted to give you both a "like" and "laugh" for your depiction of the folks on the site.  Sounds pretty accurate to me. lol  And I agree that non-self-talkers are a small percentage.  Think most of us are hard wired by nature to help us cope and deal with challenging situations.

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Jetsfan80

Jetsfan80

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8 minutes ago, munchmemory said:

Thanks, dude.  I was a guy who was always in perfect health and only went to doctors for check ups or bad sore throats.  Last few years, not so much.  Luckily, nothing too catastrophic.   OCD/anxiety stuff is genetic in my case.  My Mom had it, too. 

Wanted to give you both a "like" and "laugh" for your depiction of the folks on the site.  Sounds pretty accurate to me. lol  And I agree that non-self-talkers are a small percentage.  Think most of us are hard wired by nature to help us cope and deal with challenging situations.

 

Apparently people who don't talk to themselves all day are "conceptual" thinkers.  Imagine an icon popping up over their head whenever they have a thought.  Like a coffee cup, work desk, gym, plate of food, book, computer, etc every time they think of something they're about to do or are going to do later in the day.  

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munchmemory

munchmemory

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5 minutes ago, Jetsfan80 said:

 

Apparently people who don't talk to themselves all day are "conceptual" thinkers.  Imagine an icon popping up over their head whenever they have a thought.  Like a coffee cup, work desk, gym, plate of food, book, computer, etc every time they think of something they're about to do or are going to do later in the day.  

Wow, that's so interesting.  Would drive me up a wall.  

Great thread idea.  I had no idea about this subject.

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Jetsfan80

Jetsfan80

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30 minutes ago, munchmemory said:

Wow, that's so interesting.  Would drive me up a wall.  

Great thread idea.  I had no idea about this subject.

People like that are blissfully unaware there's another way that people operate, and can't understand how our brains work when it comes to that.  Just like we can't understand how theirs work.  And they think it would drive THEM up a wall if theirs operated like ours do.

When they watch movies where someone has an internal monologue that only the audience can hear, they just assume its a metaphor and not how brains actually work.  

Fascinating stuff.  

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greenwichjetfan

greenwichjetfan

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7 hours ago, Jetsfan80 said:

Who's your go-to celebrity narrator??  

To be fair I don’t listen to books or podcasts (love reading with music on in the background, and generally speaking, I don’t care for other people’s opinions on things which is primarily what podcasts are); so going simply off of visual arts: far and away David Attenborough.

I have people tell me all the time that there are some impressive audiobook narrators, so I’m sure I’m one of the least qualified to have a legit take on this.

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munchmemory

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1 hour ago, greenwichjetfan said:

To be fair I don’t listen to books or podcasts (love reading with music on in the background, and generally speaking, I don’t care for other people’s opinions on things which is primarily what podcasts are); so going simply off of visual arts: far and away David Attenborough.

I have people tell me all the time that there are some impressive audiobook narrators, so I’m sure I’m one of the least qualified to have a legit take on this.

I feel the same about podcasts.  Tried a few times, but just could not get into the medium.   The last thing I need is more personal opinions in my life.  

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Jetsfan80

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2 hours ago, greenwichjetfan said:

To be fair I don’t listen to books or podcasts (love reading with music on in the background, and generally speaking, I don’t care for other people’s opinions on things which is primarily what podcasts are); so going simply off of visual arts: far and away David Attenborough.

I have people tell me all the time that there are some impressive audiobook narrators, so I’m sure I’m one of the least qualified to have a legit take on this.

Sorry, I meant do you ever have a celebrity narrate your life in your head?

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greenwichjetfan

greenwichjetfan

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1 hour ago, Jetsfan80 said:

Sorry, I meant do you ever have a celebrity narrate your life in your head?

Aaah gotcha. Actually I never thought about voices, but now that I am, I think the only voice is my own whisper. I dont really have others. 
 

wait. Is your internal monologue/narration done by a celebrity? Like, are you hearing Morgan Freeman? Cuz that would be ******* dope.

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Jetsfan80

Jetsfan80

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32 minutes ago, greenwichjetfan said:

Aaah gotcha. Actually I never thought about voices, but now that I am, I think the only voice is my own whisper. I dont really have others. 
 

wait. Is your internal monologue/narration done by a celebrity? Like, are you hearing Morgan Freeman? Cuz that would be ******* dope.

lol no, but sometimes when I'm reading a book I'll try to use Morgan Freeman voice.  But then it just turns into my own impression of Morgan Freeman.  

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