Do You Have an Internal Monologue?

[Population: 1]

It was a cold January morning, the kind of morning where your lungs recoiled in shock from the brutal intrusion of arctic air. The city was a giant dirty grey icebox, and I felt like a forgotten pork chop tucked away behind the ice cube trays. I walked quickly up the stairs to my second floor office. I made sure to avoid the seventh step as it was loose. I cursed the lazy super as I unlocked the door to the front waiting area. I guess he never grew tired of hearing my voice on his voicemail. Jane, my secretary, was late as usual. The gal was nice enough, but she had all the memory of a Commodore 64 with a cassette drive. I got the coffee machine to brewing and opened the door to my office.

There she was just sitting behind my desk like she owned the place. This beautiful stranger stared up at me with turquoise eyes glittering under a head of thick honey colored hair. Her pale face had a half smile upon it, her expression somewhere between amused and impatient. How long had she been sitting there? I guess I needed to talk to the super about the locks in this joint the next time I complained about the seventh step. It was then that I could hear my coffee machine begin to percolate.

“Coffee?” I offered while lighting a cigarette.

Yep, It’s a dime store detective novel up in here.

 

[Peter Deadpan]

I'm one of those people who doesn't have an internal monologue. Part of it is because I don't think in words and only translate my thoughts to words, when I have to communicate.

How do you read? I read in my own voice.

 

[The Cat]

How do you read? I read in my own voice.

When I read, I tend to hear Kieth David.

 

[Peter Deadpan]

I'm glad you made this thread... I was going to myself.

There was another article I read that suggested that only 25% of people actually think in concrete words, which seems weird to me. It is definitely something I want to read about and observe in myself more.

But, as I'm typing this, I am most definitely reading it, in real time, as I go, and in my own voice. My sister's husband, on the other hand, cannot see things in his mind's eye. Although I have a relatively weak ability to picture things vividly on command for extended periods of time, I do still possess visual abilities, and quite a bit of abstract association, which I guess is like an instant association sort of thing that doesn't so much involve words? A lot of my internal world actually seems like pseudo-sensing, as in somehow feeling what things would feel like. I am very good at imagining what it might actually feel like to be an ESTP 8, or what it feels like to embrace someone, or go downhill skiing even though I've never been.

I actually have historically had a very difficult time tracking my internal activity, and I suspect it has something to do with ADHD (however you interpret that). Sometimes I cannot answer the question "what are you thinking?" I don't know... I've snapped out of whatever it was now that you asked me and I cannot remember. I also cannot really remember my dreams well.

All of this though is something I've been consciously putting more effort into observing and noting.

 

[FemMecha]

When I read I hear screaming and so have to get a little drunk to get the voices to calm down.

yes I exaggerate unless it's for school.

 

[rav3n]

How do you read? I read in my own voice.

Depends. When reading slowly, same. When scanning (it's a weird way of scanning since I look at paragraphs and my mind automatically extracts key words to get the gist), there's no voice. This weird method feels like it's my unconscious mind working since I'm not putting any conscious effort into it. It 'occurs'.

 

[Virtual ghost]

Yes, it can even be a dialogue if something requires multiple perspectives to clear out. Although my thoughts don't really have actual voices.

 

[Maou]

I do, and I do not at the same time.

I hear my own voice, but I do not "talk to myself" internally. If I am, it is to give myself a new perspective. I have asked myself questions, to see how I would reply for example. Otherwise, I just "Know" what I am thinking, without words. I do not narrate everything that I do. I do not say in words, what I am going to do. My decisions and thinking is instantaneous. This is also probably why I have difficulty putting things into words, since its more like brief nebulous universes flashing before my eyes in a milisecond. This is interesting, because I had speech development issues. My ability to process language is different than most people. On top of poor hearing.

 

[Yuurei]

I have an internal monologue/‘hear’ myself. I’m not surprised others might not experience that. Brains are weird.

I wonder if it’s got anything to do with learning styles. I recall taking a test on that & scoring strongly in the verbal/linguistic as well as auditory/musical learning styles, and quite a bit lower on things like visual and kinesthetic. Perhaps there’s a correlation between the inner voice processing & how we learn in general...

I don’t think so. I’ve taken similar tests and scored very high on kinesthetic and fairly low on everything else yet my ‘internal monologue’ talks far more than I do.

 

[Saturnal Snowqueen]

I do. I hear my own voice when I read, though it's faint. Sometimes I just read it with no voice, but that's more little things like looking at the time. As I type this sentence, I hear my voice, but it might be because I'm more focused on it.. When I scroll through the forum too everyone has their own voice. It's hard to put into words, but some have more deep and blunt voices, some have more confident voices, and some of them melodic voices. It's hard to imagine someone not having an internal monologue considering how loud my mind-the mix of mine and other people's voices plus I get music stuck in my head a lot. Do people without internal monologues get catchy tunes in their head?

 

[rav3n]

I have an internal monologue/‘hear’ myself. I’m not surprised others might not experience that. Brains are weird.

I wonder if it’s got anything to do with learning styles. I recall taking a test on that & scoring strongly in the verbal/linguistic as well as auditory/musical learning styles, and quite a bit lower on things like visual and kinesthetic. Perhaps there’s a correlation between the inner voice processing & how we learn in general...

Visual or more specifically, visuo-spatial tops my list. Kinesthetic is on the bottom. Auditory follows visual but I zone out with slow and tautological speakers. Music is a big part of my life where it's usually playing in the background and music tests, relative to parsing out tones, beats and musical recall, places me in the high 90th percentiles.

Do people without internal monologues get catchy tunes in their head?

I do. Can't speak for others.

 

[cascadeco]

Yes, I think most of the time I think in words/ 'talk' to myself in my head. I also epically rant at people/tell people off in my head, that I never speak out loud. Though too, sometimes it's just feelings, impressions, things wafting around and not yet congealing. I would not describe that process as thinking in words, it's more thinking in impressions/clouds.

However, when observing people, when at work, making judgments, and so on...I'll be monologuing/commenting in my head.

 

[Peter Deadpan]

For anyone who doesn't have an internal voice: How in the fuck do you imagine arguments? Life would be so bland...

 

[Schrödinger's Name]

For anyone who doesn't have an internal voice: How in the fuck do you imagine arguments? Life would be so bland...

I think that's different. Having an internal voice is something that happens automatically, you don't have to think of it. If you imagine something, you're putting in 'more effort' so they would probably be able to imagine an argument and 'hear' the voices.
*Edit, nevermind. I thought this was another thread. I just read the OP now. Hmmn, it's hard to imagine that someone wouldn't be able to 'imagine' someone's voice AT ALL...

This makes me wonder if people who are born deaf can have an internal 'voice'. Someone said that they think in sign language, but an internal 'voice' in sign language sounds a bit harder...

What SJW wrote on the previous page made me think about something.

"I have asked myself questions, to see how I would reply for example."

Sometimes I ask myself questions too but not only that... I reply to my own 'internal voice' in my head. When I think "Wow, I hope that this will work out, maybe I should do X" par example. It's followed by me, my 'controlled stream of thoughts' replying with; "I hope so too!"
It's just something small and maybe not something to pay much attention to but... I sometimes just find it funny. Even in that very moment when I 'replied' to myself I was like... What the fuck dude, of course 'you hope so too', you just thought it! :') It just felt so weird, me replying to myself in my head.

I also learnt that people with ADHD/ASS sometimes don't have an internal monologue, or less than neurotypical people. Especially for people with ADHD when it comes to focussing on tasks.

 

[rav3n]

For anyone who doesn't have an internal voice: How in the fuck do you imagine arguments? Life would be so bland...

What's the purpose of imagining an argument?

 

[Schrödinger's Name]

This makes me wonder what Descartes would say... "I think, therefore I am."

Also, maybe I just don't understand it but... One of the reactions on the article made me think. Someone claims to 'think in words'. No offense, first of all it made me laugh because I wondered what they would do if they couldn't spell the word correctly but also... Someone said "Then you would have to read your thoughts before you can say them, doesn't that take a long time?"
It would also mean that as a kid, before they could write or read, they didn't have any thoughts at all? Since, they yeah... Couldn't read yet. That just seems impossible imo. Someone also mentioned that it could be possible that some people are just unaware of their internal monologue.

How do people who don't 'hear' anything (between quotation marks since it's not really 'hearing' to begin with) think of a song? Do they always have to sing it out loud? What if you don't know the lyrics, or if it's a piano piece? Especially the piano piece... The person who reads their thoughts would have to learn how to read musical notes! Wouldn't it also be dangerous in the car par example, when they have to think about what they should do but... they have to read their thoughts to be able to come to a conclusion. Isn't that distracting? I think that's dangerous and it could possibly lead to a car crash...

Okay, maybe I am just being mean...

 

[rav3n]

I think that's different. Having an internal voice is something that happens automatically, you don't have to think of it. If you imagine something, you're putting in 'more effort' so they would probably be able to imagine an argument and 'hear' the voices.
*Edit, nevermind. I thought this was another thread. I just read the OP now. Hmmn, it's hard to imagine that someone wouldn't be able to 'imagine' someone's voice AT ALL...

This makes me wonder if people who are born deaf can have an internal 'voice'. Someone said that they think in sign language, but an internal 'voice' in sign language sounds a bit harder...

What SJW wrote on the previous page made me think about something. Sometimes I ask myself questions too but not only that... I reply to my own 'internal voice' in my head. When I think "Wow, I hope that this will work out, maybe I should do X" par example. It's followed by me, my 'controlled stream of thoughts' replying with; "I hope so too!"
It's just something small and maybe not something to pay much attention to but... I sometimes just find it funny. Even in that very moment when I 'replied' to myself I was like... What the fuck dude, of course 'you hope so too', you just thought it! :') It just felt so weird, me replying to myself in my head.

I also learnt that people with ADHD/ASS sometimes don't have an internal monologue, or less than neurotypical people. Especially for people with ADHD when it comes to focussing on tasks.

Neurotypical here who doesn't have ADHD or any mental health issues. I was tested for ADHD as a kid but was told that it was only a curious mind. Btw, when it comes to mental health dxs, it's relative to daily functionality and coping.

 

[Peter Deadpan]

What's the purpose of imagining an argument?

For me personally - probably entertainment/heightened emotions. I imagine an awful lot of "odd" scenarios that most people probably don't (like violent accidents, getting cancer and dying, dramatically quitting my job, etc etc), although I think imagining arguments/conversations is probably a fairly common occurrence universally.

 

[rav3n]

For me personally - probably entertainment/heightened emotions. I imagine an awful lot of "odd" scenarios that most people probably don't (like violent accidents, getting cancer and dying, dramatically quitting my job, etc etc), although I think imagining arguments/conversations is probably a fairly common occurrence universally.

Thanks for sharing.

I don't personally bother with scenarios like this because they're not something that's within my control, whether fatal accidents, terminal illnesses or how the other person would behave in an argument. Relative to quitting a job that I'm not happy in, I create a plan and then, implement it.

 

[Indigo Rodent]

I'm one of those people who doesn't have an internal monologue. Part of it is because I don't think in words and only translate my thoughts to words, when I have to communicate.

Fascinating! Do you have any videos of yourself speaking on youtube/your photos uploaded here?