Do you have an inner monologue? What is it like?

[Totenkindly]

Mine always talks.
Sometimes I have trouble sleeping at night because it doesn't stop.

It's a calm androgynous voice that is always evaluating everything going on around me, giving me information constantly -- like a perpetual "trivia bubble" that shows up sometimes in movies or music videos. Everything that happens, the voice is commenting on it. it will give me directives to, based on those flashes on insight ("Here's what's going on, here's the best response, quickly now... before the moment passes!")

It also acts as my conscience. When I have an immediate response to something, or an emotion pushes me to respond a certain way, the voice is very quick to evaluate what I am doing or want to do and tell me whether I'm being silly or smart, selfish or kind, prudent or irresponsible.

There is no condemnation in the voice now, although when I was a teenager it would say nasty horrible things to me ("You're a bad / lousy / terrible human being for feeling that way or doing that or saying that!"). Nowadays, the voice is much kinder, understanding, and patient; it seems to have developed perspective.

 

[Polaris]

I have an inner monologue, yes. It--or rather I, since it's my own ego talking--speaks in a voice that sounds more or less like my real voice, and it addresses itself to an imaginary audience that is usually based on real people. The people it addresses can range from a loose amalgam of family members, made up of a misty mindstuff on the verge of nonexistence, to a sense of my self separated from the self doing the speaking, as when you "talk to yourself." In all cases, this voice is the part of me that makes sense of the otherwise irrational things that go on inside of me; it is an island of sense in a sea of insanity.

 

[luminous beam]

my inner monologue is just like my double talking to me. at times it'll joke around, make fun of ppl, make fun of me, say mean or negative things to me, etc. but i think it started to get a better sense of humor, we amuse ourselves a lot now and have a more positive outlook in life. i've taught it to be nice to me and be my friend. like if it says something mean to me i'll immediately counteract with something positive and reason it out. we're better off that way

 

[Mole]

The Inner Monologue and the Larynx

The inner monologue is also called sub-vocalizing.

And sub-vocalizing can be measured by measuring the larynx.

And it turns out that when we are sub-vocalising, or engaging in an inner monologue or self-talk, our larynx moves almost imperceptibly.

So the inner monologue is not so inner after all.

When we speak out loud, the larynx moves perceptibly, but when we speak to ourselves, our larynx moves imperceptibly, but measurably.

So when we speak to ourselves it is as though we are whispering to ourselves - sotto voce.

But because we are unaware we are doing something physical, we think we are hearing an inner voice.

 

[Snoopy22]

Sam Kinison

 

[Halla74]

Mine is ever present, and sings the following song 24/7/365 to people who try to figure out my brainwaves:

"I hear you knockin' but you can't come in, I hear you knocking but you can't come in. I hear ya' knockin' but you can't come in, I hear you knocking but you can't come in!"

 

[Little_Sticks]

<Knocks on Halla's head>

Hi, it's sticks. Can I come in? Please? If not, your garden gnomes are threatening me. Could you at least call them off? Thanks, Mr. Halla sir. Oh, and here I'll leave this flaming bag of dog poop here as a gift on your doorstep for not letting me in. See ya.

 

[Willywallywoo]

Occasionally I have arguments inside my head. Like the voice inside my head argues with me. Usually, when those arguments get too confusing, i just say to myself "Think about sex, that usually calms you down"

 

[eagleseven]

Type: INTJ
Inner Monologue: Yes
Frequency: Constant
Details: It doesn't have any sound, tone, or timbre, but yet it is constantly there. I actively direct it, as I take in information, but oftentimes it does not speak in a perceptible language. Rather, it simply conceptualizes an idea, process, or plan faster than I could develop the words to describe it, and thus I intuitively know I grasp a concept.

I'll stare at a logic-puzzle, for instance, and the inner monologue will process all the potential solutions without words. I'll then stand up and write down the solution, without even taking the time to vocalize my reasoning.

I've noticed this tends to unsettle/shock those who do not naturally do this.

 

[eagleseven]

i think i've decided that i'm completely disturbed by the idea of people having voices or personalities in there that are different than the one displayed outwardly...what does that say? it says something and it is way weird i think. i wanna hear some examples.

Reading your post, my inner monologue was "saying":

*its the girl with the weird tongue avatar again*
*she doesn't get the inner voice. Is she an E?*
*oh, look, she's an E. I called that one*
*has anybody responded to her post?*
*no, perhaps I should*
*she's kinda cute, so I don't want to sound weird*
*what example...I'll type what I thought when I saw her post*
*g*ddamn, formulating words is slow*
*wouldn't it be nice if we had a direct neural connection?*
*why did I quit biomedical engineering again? because the math wasn't fun*
*just because I can't develop MMI, doesn't mean I can't buy one!*
*ooh, next song on my playlist. reminds me of my childhood. maybe I should play some more nostalgic songs?*
*i was typing a reply, that's right!*
*how should I do this? asteriks work!*
*time to freak her out, and make her afraid of 25% of the population*
*what was the first thing that I noticed? Her funny avatar!*
*and then I immediately checked her MBTI type...that's so me*
*TYPO!*

---

This continues on, indefinitely, until I either go to sleep (though it runs full-blast until I fall asleep), intoxicate myself, or overwhelm myself with sensory input (loud music, fast-paced graphics, delicious food, sex).

---

Also, note, it took me far longer to formulate those words I typed above, than it did to think that monologue. All that was thought and processed less than 10 seconds.

 

[StoryToTell]

I have no proper inner monologue. I mostly think in images (or video simulation). Basically imagination. However, I do speak to myself many times. I would say the inner monologue only comes up when I converse with people.

This. I must say, I'm rather puzzled by the enthusiasm people are agreeing to having inner monologues. Maybe I'm unaware that I do it but I do think my thought processes are more image based than language.


Just read back to Halla's comment and this is the only example I'm aware of doing: "I see you reading my mind. Yeah, thought I wouldn't know, huh? You can't control me!"

 

[Invisiblemonkey]

Inner Monologue... Sort of. Basically, a set of thoughts that will at any turn of events, produce the most evil concievable thing for me to do (In an immediate, realistic sense), as well as spawn thoughts that are the opposite of my set of beliefs. Annoying on bad days, but good willpower exercise. From a strictly intellectual viewpoint, it's somewhat fascinating. On the other hand, I do have a tendancy to talk to myself, it's easier to backtrack through your thoughts that way.

 

[crazychick]

So I realize I'm way late on posting to this thread... it's apparently been since 2010 since anyone has posted, and I'm sure no one looks on here anymore.

I feel compelled to post anyway because I was shocked to hear that some people don't have an inner monologue. It is something that is so ingrained into my being that I just assumed everybody had it. It sounds like my own voice, and it is constantly, constantly going. Sometimes it is conscious thought, but sometimes it is just stuff that pops into my head without me really realizing it. Sometimes it is even disturbing... for example I'm driving and think if I accidentally cross over the line and kill myself and the newspaper headlines and my parents and friends greiving at my funeral... it all happens in 2.2 seconds and I immediately think how weird it is and "change the subject" in my head.

I will also rehearse conversations I've had recently over and over again, which gets annoying.

My constant inner dialogue would not allow me to sleep when I was a kid, it was a big problem. I couldn't stop thinking. I solved it by falling asleep to TV... listening to it allowed me to "zone out" and was a blessing, I still to this day can not fall asleep without it.

I think this is why I have so many alcoholics in my family, does the same zone out affect.

Last thing... I am fascinated by the few on here who say they do not have an inner dialogue, just images. I don't "see" images at all ever, unless I really focus. Just my constant nagging voice in my head. Ugh!

 

[ReflecTcelfeR]

Mine only makes sense if I speak it, otherwise it's a jumble of.... Sounds.