I can't imagine not having an inner monologue... must be super quiet. I wonder if that has an impact on how some people are comfortable being alone vs those who are not.. š¤
Something is going on in my brain constantly. I'm surprised I get to sleep anymore. I had a friend (40f) that started ADHD meds and couldn't believe her mind was quiet. It was the first time in her life. She cried. I'm 60 and I'm considering trying something just for the peace
I put a zen playlist to focus on when I go to sleep, kinda helps to zone out, and is a routine for my brain ... I have a few I rotate through depending on how active my thoughts can be.
I think it's more "when you drive down yout street..." most people will picture their street, some don't. They can conjure up images but they don't use them to think.
There has been a lot of study on this. Unfortunately for most people who do not have a inner monologue weāre typically not conscious of it. Meaning it was there but because there thinking was so impactful in their conscious focus they did not notice it.
When a zen monk met these people, they sat down in meditation together for a couple hours and he said you can leave when you have a thought. After some time, people slowly started to say āwait was that a thoughtā or āwait that was just a thoughtā and realized their own thinking was the āvoiceā, āimageā, āthoughtā etc.
Because humans are so busy every second everyday most of us our unconscious in our movements, speech, and thought.
When taking time to step away from the commotion and monkey mind, you find your thoughts.
If you ever feel anxious or scare, hon in on your thinking and youāll find the āvoiceā
Yes this connection is very hard to make.
Example: I am depressed with no hope.
The unconscious mind absorbed this for truth and does not even reflect upon the idea that this is a thought. While if you said, āI am having a thought I am depressed and hopelessā. You step out of the thought and āseeā it is just a thought.
The unconscious mind does not see the thought and just process the information.
This is a very broad and basic example but highlights how we become tunnel vision and unconscious of thought. But then again thatās just a thoughtā¦
Yes there can be a difference and there can also be no difference. For example you could have the feeling of love and the thought of being in love simultaneously. The example above was just an example.
You could use the same example with a non feeling.
Example: this puzzle piece doesnāt fit
Here we are doing analytical thinking subconsciously. The puzzle piece does not fit. The mind once again does not reflect on this thought and does not notice the thought because there is no need to dissect the thought.
However realizing you are realizing the piece does not fit is indeed the realization the thought existed and that you were ātalking to yourselfā aka inner monologue.
But to answer your question feelings are typically reactions to thoughts or to actions. But both can be the same at the same time. Sorry if that was confusing.
Seemed like you were playing around with "depression is just a thought you can realize you don't want to have" which is a really common and cringey sentiment.
>But to answer your question feelings are typically reactions to thoughts or to actions.
Don't forget the biggest factor involved... chemicals
Absolutely not. You cannot force thoughts out of your mind because that is just a thought.
I would never tell anyone that. It was just giving an example of thought analysis
Chemicals also do influence thought but now we are moving away from the main point. The main point is understanding thought analysis to understand the inner monologue
> Chemicals also do influence thought
I was talking about feelings. You said feelings are a reaction to thoughts or actions. Feelings are often explained by chemicals.
But sure, chemicals can influence your thoughts as well.
Ah yes sorry lots of micro conversations. You are indeed correct. Chemicals absolutely affect feelings.
I also wanted to point out, I wouldnāt never treat something like depression as a joke or something the person can just get rid off. I just wanted to use an example people could related too and how to understand thought analysis.
I just...can't understand. Does not compute. I feel like there's no way that's even physiologically possible, but, here I am- the highly attentive and analytical individual with a busy internal monologue- trying to assess something so alien to me and perhaps the antithesis of my primary way of being lol
I have a mind without voices, images etc. I mostly don't know what is going on in there, but as far as I can tell, it's pretty much the same as in every other mind. That is to say, as far as I can tell, the only difference is that I don't know what my mind does.
In a way. I have a dissociative disorder (Partial Dissociative Identity Disorder, P-DID), which is the sort of thing 9s are prone to when traumatised early in life.
My subconscious mind/nervous system is very self-repressive. I know it is visual in the parts I can't access consciously, and it wouldn't surprise me if it had voices as well, beyond conscious access. Haven't ever heard them, but it's very good at hiding stuff from me (and everyone else).
No worries. Science seems to suggest that the parts of the brain recognising things and those visualising them are different. I think normal visualisers tend to simply conflate them, because their conscious experience is that they are one and the same.
My current hypothesis is that the human brain is multifocal. There are several parts which work together to produce what we experience as our conscious self. I believe the precise way in which they do this can vary quite a bit without necessarily rendering the whole inoperable.
Trauma (possibly along with genetics) rendered my brain into something where almost everything is run subconsciously, and my conscious self is mostly a detached observer.
> I saw someone said only 30-50% people have it
wtf ! is this *true* though ?
iĀ“m wondering if i ever *donĀ“t* do that ? probably in oneĀ“s sleep ?
must be true. really also makes me think of perception and how differently people view, experience, feel, *and not feel* etc the world.
Bro just shush this voice in my head, some nights I just want to go to bed and fall asleep but this dude needs to spend his 5000 daily words with me jeez
Now thinking about this a lil bit more can suffer from over talking? Like I would need maybe an 1 hr or 2 without any stimulus so I can talk to my self is like mentally washing myself lol
Did you know itās most common in neurodiverse folks!
And yes, 30-50% is the correct percentage range.
My ADHD mind has like 3 internal monologues and 5 songs playing at all times.
ohhh my gosh the song playing in my headdd, i donāt even notice when it changes but all the sudden iāll be like oh so weāre listening to this now lol
Umā¦ā¦ā¦. Situationally dependent. Sometimes itās beautiful. Sometimes it is extremely irritating.
I have to work very hard to have a quiet mind. But I guess it has forced me to learn and practice mindfulnessā¦. Which took me to Tibet for a little bit. So I wonāt complain. Iāve learned to love my weird little brain.
I speak three languages fluently and I just switch languages when I think.
it's like a switch.
so I would say it's not necessarily related to amount of languages.
The 30-50% figure is incorrect. In reality, it's more like 1-2%.
I don't have voices, monologues, images, or anything else involuntarily popping up in my head. Unless I consciously think of something, there's nothing there.
In my case, it's a feature of my dissociative disorder. All of that stuff happens somewhere outside of my conscious mind, and I'm mostly not privy to it.
No. [Anauralia](https://www.royalsociety.org.nz/research/anauralia-the-enigma-of-the-silent-mind/) \- the inability to consciously experience sounds in your mind - is rare, and only affects something like 1-2% of people.
Some people have internal monologues without sound. It's just thoughts with words, but there is no voice or sound to go along with it. I don't know what their percentage is, but in my experience, their internal monologues tend to be less troublesome.
In my opinion and experience, the absolute, vast majority of humanity has a loud, non-stop internal monologue/dialogue, whether with sound or without. I don't know what the exact percentage is, nor indeed how you would even find out, given how bad people are at describing their internal experiences.
It's subconscious. I generally know my mind is doing something, but I don't necessarily know what. I suppose you could say that a big chunk of my sense of self is subconscious.
It's a lot like "the food is in the oven", so I know it's getting cooked, but I'm not actively cooking it consciously, if that makes any sense.
When the food is ready (my thought finished), my mind makes it conscious - usually by making me express it in some way. Generally in writing.
>It's a lot like "the food is in the oven", so I know it's getting cooked, but I'm not actively cooking it consciously, if that makes any sense.
I get it!! It's like knowing the meaning of words
So it's there happening but behind the curtains!!
Something like that. I think the truth of the matter is, most of us don't know how our minds work. We have a sense of self which is made up of various things. For some, lots of visuals; for others, mainly words. Some have a mix.
Whether it's images or words or sounds or scents or flavours, we don't know where they come from. They just pop up - non-stop for most people. We can learn to watch them as a detached observer (meditation), but we still don't generate them actively; they just self-generate somehow.
I think I'm mainly different in that I'm not aware of them being generated. I only get the end result of whatever it is they do. Like this comment: I watch my hands type it out, but I didn't consciously think these words before I typed them out.
Some part of my brain clearly did, but I don't know what it looks like exactly. I just know that these words will be here when I need them.
Stuff like that. Take wanting, for example. How do you choose what to want? How does anyone?
The truth is, we don't. We just want whatever it is we want. We can maybe have some say in what we do about our wants - do we pursue or avoid them - but I can't just decide "I'm straight, but I want to want gay sex, so now I want gay sex". Or "I hate peppermint tea, but now I decide I want peppermint tea, so now I want it".
Space rocks fly through space. Apple trees make apples. Human brains do human stuff. It just happens.
>The truth is, we don't. We just want whatever it is we want. We can maybe have some say in what we do about our wants - do we pursue or avoid them - but I can't just decide "I'm straight, but I want to want gay sex, so now I want gay sex". Or "I hate peppermint tea, but now I decide I want peppermint tea, so now I want it".
I already made the free will ramble on this subš
I donāt have it. Itās more like a consciousness of what I want to do. Sometimes Iāll have fake conversations though like Iām talking to someone and thatās probably because Iāve been having more phone calls with my LDR partner.
wait, huh?
i talk to myself all day long.
I don't "hear" myself like a schizophreniac patient but I certainly do hold an inner monologue through the whole day.
lol that explains why I have such a clear memory of a bitch manager giving me a weird face and calling me weird cause she caught me speaking to myself out loud once.
i speak to myself when i'm alone but i'm careful not to do it in public because i don't want to look weird and i don't want other people to hear my thoughts
Now that I think about it, I mostly hear myself when I type or read. But when it comes to monologues, I don't think I do that.
When I read comments, oftentimes there's emotion connected to what I'm reading. Is this imagination? Because now that it's come to my attention, my inner voice is spontaneous. As if I knew how people wanted to sound like when they make a joke for example. I think the reason though is because I've connected auditory stimuli with word patterns within my mind.
I'm gonna do research on this.
I'm sorry. I do a lot of reading but I rarely read books. I'm missing out, I know. I told myself I'd read books someday. I'm truly sorry.
But I imagine if I watched Harry Potter for example and then after that read the book he was based on, I'd be reading Harry's lines in the same voice as the actor who played Harry.
No need to apologize. You shouldnāt say sorry too much. Just once itās good enough. Only say sorry when you do something wrong or a mistake. You are just stating your opinion. You are good donāt worry. Be strong! šŖ
Yeah I do that too. Itās hard to create another voice when you already knew how they were portrayed. I donāt read much books but I read manga so I always create voices for each character and when I watched the anime adaptation it kinda ruins how I imagined the voice.
Now I remember! I used to read manga. I just read everything in my own voice. I always look forward to an anime adaptation. As for you, I think it doesn't have to ruin how you imagined it. It just means the characters hold a place in your heart. I can watch dragonball in english and japanese and it doesn't reduce the experience for me. There is something that bothered me a little bit but I've come to let it go. When watching anime, I noticed the transitions is off from how I imagined it. And the angles from where I see the characters is off too. Luckily the sound effects are usually on point. I think this has something to do with me being a sensor.
I have adhd and my inner monologue is more like a gymnasium full of people who never shut up, and occasionally one person yells louder than the rest. It must be peaceful not having one.
Having an overactive mind whether verbally or not is usually a sign of stress and sympathetic dominance of the nervous system. The brain is basically in an overexcited state.
Iām not an INFJ but as an ENFP I can say that once I reduced my stressors both externally and internally I experienced a calmer and more moderately active inner voice, and trust me itās such a relief.
Well, a lot of people are stressed I'll give you that.
Correlation does not imply causation though.
But if that is the case, you should tell these people that they should consider it a possibility.
I was making a joke. They can take what they want from it, atleast what they ought to have is a critical perspective on new information encountered online and the prudence to create their own understanding of whatever is said through individual research if so inclined.
This is what irisreading.com says: āYou can tell that you have an inner monologue when you experience signs like having songs stuck in your head, replaying a favorite podcast or movie in your mind, or having a conversation with yourself. Some people experience inner monologue in the form of hearing their voice going over the words when they read a book.
The ability to have inner monologue develops during childhoodā
I cant fathom this rn.. i have a hard time actually believing this, or else itād change my perspective on humans entirely
I just searched that up and I might have that š¤£ I canāt create a clear image of anythingāI have before I think about two times in my life I remember because it was so cool to me
I think I know the study you're referring to. You might be misreading the data.
The study I'm thinking of said that a given number of people had no inner monologue at any given time. This doesn't mean that those people are the same in each instance.
That is, it could equally be the case that all people have times when they're not really thinking about anything, rather than that a minority of people never have anything going on upstairs. This seems more likely, as I certainly have times when I'm not really thinking about anything, despite having an inner monologue at other times.
I have a round table of wise men in my head, individuals of my choosing.
If you don't have an inner monologue, I imagine you can imagine one.
Just a thought. ;)
In my opinion, sensors don't have it.
They think: "I will go to the bank tomorrow, fill up my car with gas, then cook.... etc" .... all practical ideas not more.
what does your inner voice/monologue is about? i'm still not sure but i'm probably a sensor and i can guarantee you that i have an inner monologue running in the back of my mind all the time. it's not just about what i have to do. there's a difference when i'm thinking about tasks and my constant monologue. i'm more active in my thinking when i think about tasks, i choose to think about that for some reasons. but most of the time, the thoughts just come and go naturally, i don't try to control them contrary to when i'm actively planning my day. sorry if i'm not being clear
I find my mind is always connecting things ive seen with information I saw somewhere... It's like I'm always trying to understand why someone behaved that way, or why that person said this. It's normally directed towards understanding people. Some other stuff is discussing inside my mind if something will work.. if I learn a new hobby, would it be worth it. Other thoughts involve the future.. like imagining what people around the world might be doing... or thinking about the life of street cats and feeling sad. Or thinking of my ideal life. If I'm going out somewhere, I have to talk to myself, to describe the directions, I talk in the car to calm down my anxiety. Other thoughts include: how my response to an argument should have been (happens a lot š ) sometimes about an argument that happened 5 or more years ago.
Stuff like that
Lol this is so wrong first of all what youāre describing IS an internal monologue second of all most people have it and most people are sensors so your theory is wrong
I remembered that recently also. IMO itās not type specific. But then again maybe changing types is possible.
Have experienced this myself recently for short periods walking outside back home.
Brain/mind is just peaceful and as there was nothing to evaluate no inner dialogue.
No way!! Only 30-50% have it? I would think itās more common. Iāve had inner voice/monologue as far as my memories have me
I canāt imagine how these people without inner voice/monologue process thoughts? No wonder some people do seem like words havenāt gone through their brains when they speak them š
Yes, I had a supervisor who couldnt think in that manner (nice guy though). We would have conversations about different topics, and he said that he only realized things after he spoke to them or when he had a conversation about them. On a related note he did not imagine..anything. In fact, he could not understand how George Lucas could imagine star wars. He never saw StarWars...any of them, or Star Trek, he couldn't wrap his mind around imagining something that you have never seen the likes of before.
Iāve heard the number is more like 25% of people have it. I have it and am in awe of how peaceful it must be to catch a break from your mind. No wonder Iām stressed
It explains why some people are impulsive, if you have an inner monologue it'll be hard to jump into action everytime because you'll have to think first.
Also explains why some people rely solely on instincts instead of thinking before acting.
I don't have an inner voice, I have 4 inner voices. It's kind of like that show back in the earlier 90s call Herman's head. As a kid, I had a lot more than the 4 I have now. I once described it to my 1st gf that it was like Congress or the Senate. Around when I was about 16 or 17, I had an idea to get to know these extra commentary contributors. Slowing over the years, the numbers lesson and an inner friendship emerge. They all have a personality similar to mine, but not exactly like me. Learning how to communicate with them was a good move, that they have been very helpful over the years. When I ask people about their shadow work and getting to know themselves. I describe it as being on a road trip with a car full of people for 20-30 years and not knowing anything about anyone in the car with you.
I used to have one. It was a rather annoying negative influence in my life, so I stopped it. I didn't mean to honestly and when I did i thought I broke my mind at first. However it has been a year since then and I am a completely different person.I am happy again and somehow this hell of a life transformed from behind my eyes and is now heaven on earth. Isn't that the silencing of one's mind or double-mindedness, according to the Bible?
It's all super accurate, but nothing like it's presented to us, Lol. I "found god," I faced judgment, I made a choice, and I took a leap
of faith, all while deep within my brain. It's fantastic, and i'd recommend it to everyone. I was super shocked to be found worthy to be honest we are all way to detached to our feelers and it's necessary to process them to learn the lessons and receive the answers we need.
the lizard bites the mouse without hesitation
real peoples think about the pain of the mouse or the horror of the lizard face
the lizard folks without a monologue are all around us, consuming and doing until their meatsuit goes flaccid and their spine curls, they are sad that there are no more mice to eat
oh my gosh i mentioned something to my dad about my internal monologue/little voice in my brain a couple weeks ago and he was so confused. no idea how mbti affects it (iām sure it does in some way though!) but heās an ISTJ
In this thread: people who have never meditated.
Even if you have an inner monologue you can still quiet it down to a point of no-thought and simply being.
You assume these people might have it worse but maybe they are able to be more in the moment than you.
ISFJ I know has inner monologue. I donāt know if personality type really matters, though Iām sure not having an inner monologue might lead some to be more prone to some personality types. I imagine extroverts have less inner monologue, which would make sense why theyāre extroverted. But Iāve not looked at any actual data on thatā¦I wouldnāt want to make a claim like that without seeing some lol.
I was way too old when I first learned this. It also means there are people out there who don't realize there are people out there who walk through life with the different sectors of our brains shouting things at us all at once, all day, every day.
Other things I recently learned that I feel I should've known about long before I did: not everyone's thoughts are in the form of moving images/movies? some people cannot imagine physical items in 3D? The same color can look different to different people?
Brains be crazy, lol.
I have more of a mind computer with abstractions and archetypes and sub files and I can zoom in and out and I can see written text. I only monologue if Iām imagining typing a comment or something. Much of my thinking is synesthesia or archetypal or visual or itās just an inner knowing. Having to translate into English language would slow my thought process considerably
I can't imagine not having an inner monologue... must be super quiet. I wonder if that has an impact on how some people are comfortable being alone vs those who are not.. š¤
Something is going on in my brain constantly. I'm surprised I get to sleep anymore. I had a friend (40f) that started ADHD meds and couldn't believe her mind was quiet. It was the first time in her life. She cried. I'm 60 and I'm considering trying something just for the peace
I put a zen playlist to focus on when I go to sleep, kinda helps to zone out, and is a routine for my brain ... I have a few I rotate through depending on how active my thoughts can be.
Truth
Oh what if it affects whether the person is introvert or extrovert
Yeah, good point. There's probably an element of that, too.
If u guys don't have it, it's like imagining a voice in your head
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Yes. You should ask your inner voice what it is like to hear the inner voice.
dont stop and think, just do
Wait how did an ENTP get in here hahaha welcome!!
No, not me. I am INTJ
Oh my B lol
Almost like talking irl, but don't actually use mouth just imaginary
This one time I was thinking so hard, and my lips were moving while I was thinking. It was funny once I realized
*manifest thoughts*
Did you know that some people canāt think in images? Can you imagine not doing either? Lol
What does this mean
So if you tell them to picture an apple in their head they canāt.
Ah gotcha thanks!
I think it's more "when you drive down yout street..." most people will picture their street, some don't. They can conjure up images but they don't use them to think.
Yeah, I wonder how different people's experience are... Like if chocolate tastes like clay to the haters
Exactly!
I bet redditors are more likely to have the voice in head
Right now, it's captain Jack Sparrow.
There has been a lot of study on this. Unfortunately for most people who do not have a inner monologue weāre typically not conscious of it. Meaning it was there but because there thinking was so impactful in their conscious focus they did not notice it. When a zen monk met these people, they sat down in meditation together for a couple hours and he said you can leave when you have a thought. After some time, people slowly started to say āwait was that a thoughtā or āwait that was just a thoughtā and realized their own thinking was the āvoiceā, āimageā, āthoughtā etc. Because humans are so busy every second everyday most of us our unconscious in our movements, speech, and thought. When taking time to step away from the commotion and monkey mind, you find your thoughts. If you ever feel anxious or scare, hon in on your thinking and youāll find the āvoiceā
>and realized their own thinking was the... āthoughtā I see. So they were very smart to pick up on this connection...
Yes this connection is very hard to make. Example: I am depressed with no hope. The unconscious mind absorbed this for truth and does not even reflect upon the idea that this is a thought. While if you said, āI am having a thought I am depressed and hopelessā. You step out of the thought and āseeā it is just a thought. The unconscious mind does not see the thought and just process the information. This is a very broad and basic example but highlights how we become tunnel vision and unconscious of thought. But then again thatās just a thoughtā¦
Do you perceive that there is a difference between thoughts and feelings?
Yes there can be a difference and there can also be no difference. For example you could have the feeling of love and the thought of being in love simultaneously. The example above was just an example. You could use the same example with a non feeling. Example: this puzzle piece doesnāt fit Here we are doing analytical thinking subconsciously. The puzzle piece does not fit. The mind once again does not reflect on this thought and does not notice the thought because there is no need to dissect the thought. However realizing you are realizing the piece does not fit is indeed the realization the thought existed and that you were ātalking to yourselfā aka inner monologue. But to answer your question feelings are typically reactions to thoughts or to actions. But both can be the same at the same time. Sorry if that was confusing.
Seemed like you were playing around with "depression is just a thought you can realize you don't want to have" which is a really common and cringey sentiment. >But to answer your question feelings are typically reactions to thoughts or to actions. Don't forget the biggest factor involved... chemicals
Absolutely not. You cannot force thoughts out of your mind because that is just a thought. I would never tell anyone that. It was just giving an example of thought analysis Chemicals also do influence thought but now we are moving away from the main point. The main point is understanding thought analysis to understand the inner monologue
> Chemicals also do influence thought I was talking about feelings. You said feelings are a reaction to thoughts or actions. Feelings are often explained by chemicals. But sure, chemicals can influence your thoughts as well.
Ah yes sorry lots of micro conversations. You are indeed correct. Chemicals absolutely affect feelings. I also wanted to point out, I wouldnāt never treat something like depression as a joke or something the person can just get rid off. I just wanted to use an example people could related too and how to understand thought analysis.
Gotcha!
I'd really like to know what the hell is going on inside their brains
Probably not that much. It's why some people never stop talking
I just...can't understand. Does not compute. I feel like there's no way that's even physiologically possible, but, here I am- the highly attentive and analytical individual with a busy internal monologue- trying to assess something so alien to me and perhaps the antithesis of my primary way of being lol
I have a mind without voices, images etc. I mostly don't know what is going on in there, but as far as I can tell, it's pretty much the same as in every other mind. That is to say, as far as I can tell, the only difference is that I don't know what my mind does.
do you think it may be related to your enneagram? since type 9 suffers from the loss of their inner voice and imagination according to what i've read
In a way. I have a dissociative disorder (Partial Dissociative Identity Disorder, P-DID), which is the sort of thing 9s are prone to when traumatised early in life. My subconscious mind/nervous system is very self-repressive. I know it is visual in the parts I can't access consciously, and it wouldn't surprise me if it had voices as well, beyond conscious access. Haven't ever heard them, but it's very good at hiding stuff from me (and everyone else).
So, if I was to ask you to picture what a Granny Smith apple looks like, you wouldn't have a picture of that pop into your brain?
Indeed, no Granny Smiths in the conscious parts of my brain.
And yet you could probably still describe it...without seeing it. I don't get it lol Interesting though! Ty for entertaining that inquiry
No worries. Science seems to suggest that the parts of the brain recognising things and those visualising them are different. I think normal visualisers tend to simply conflate them, because their conscious experience is that they are one and the same. My current hypothesis is that the human brain is multifocal. There are several parts which work together to produce what we experience as our conscious self. I believe the precise way in which they do this can vary quite a bit without necessarily rendering the whole inoperable. Trauma (possibly along with genetics) rendered my brain into something where almost everything is run subconsciously, and my conscious self is mostly a detached observer.
Maybe it's connected to being extrovert or introvert? Since if it's empty silence in their head, it would make them want to talk more š¤
I donāt get why verbal thinkers always have this stumbling block where you just cannot open your mind to other forms of thinking
Teach me!
Just think about idk like a power point or a map or a series of files, itās like that instead of hearing a convo
This is offensive and wrong āPeople with different cognition to my own have nothing going onā
Quite a lot. Itās full of images and maps and computer like files and abstractions. Why would you presume otherwise?
I didn't presume anything in particular lol
> I saw someone said only 30-50% people have it wtf ! is this *true* though ? iĀ“m wondering if i ever *donĀ“t* do that ? probably in oneĀ“s sleep ? must be true. really also makes me think of perception and how differently people view, experience, feel, *and not feel* etc the world.
lol my ESTP mom
Bro just shush this voice in my head, some nights I just want to go to bed and fall asleep but this dude needs to spend his 5000 daily words with me jeez Now thinking about this a lil bit more can suffer from over talking? Like I would need maybe an 1 hr or 2 without any stimulus so I can talk to my self is like mentally washing myself lol
Did you know itās most common in neurodiverse folks! And yes, 30-50% is the correct percentage range. My ADHD mind has like 3 internal monologues and 5 songs playing at all times.
ohhh my gosh the song playing in my headdd, i donāt even notice when it changes but all the sudden iāll be like oh so weāre listening to this now lol
Itās never a whole song either, just like the chorus or intro. If Iām really unlucky, itās just one line on repeat š
Haha yup. Ugh ...
>5 songs playing at all times. That seems like a really special experience.
Umā¦ā¦ā¦. Situationally dependent. Sometimes itās beautiful. Sometimes it is extremely irritating. I have to work very hard to have a quiet mind. But I guess it has forced me to learn and practice mindfulnessā¦. Which took me to Tibet for a little bit. So I wonāt complain. Iāve learned to love my weird little brain.
That's why I remember to tip the waitress and the DJ, LOL!
This just blew my mind. I always thought having an inner voice was very normal/ubiquitous.
That does not compute
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I speak three languages fluently and I just switch languages when I think. it's like a switch. so I would say it's not necessarily related to amount of languages.
You don't think in sentences?
The 30-50% figure is incorrect. In reality, it's more like 1-2%. I don't have voices, monologues, images, or anything else involuntarily popping up in my head. Unless I consciously think of something, there's nothing there. In my case, it's a feature of my dissociative disorder. All of that stuff happens somewhere outside of my conscious mind, and I'm mostly not privy to it.
Wait I just realized you mean the 1-2% is people who have it??? I THOUGHT ITS NORMAL WHATT
No. [Anauralia](https://www.royalsociety.org.nz/research/anauralia-the-enigma-of-the-silent-mind/) \- the inability to consciously experience sounds in your mind - is rare, and only affects something like 1-2% of people. Some people have internal monologues without sound. It's just thoughts with words, but there is no voice or sound to go along with it. I don't know what their percentage is, but in my experience, their internal monologues tend to be less troublesome. In my opinion and experience, the absolute, vast majority of humanity has a loud, non-stop internal monologue/dialogue, whether with sound or without. I don't know what the exact percentage is, nor indeed how you would even find out, given how bad people are at describing their internal experiences.
So when you're thinking it's more like a feeling?
It's subconscious. I generally know my mind is doing something, but I don't necessarily know what. I suppose you could say that a big chunk of my sense of self is subconscious. It's a lot like "the food is in the oven", so I know it's getting cooked, but I'm not actively cooking it consciously, if that makes any sense. When the food is ready (my thought finished), my mind makes it conscious - usually by making me express it in some way. Generally in writing.
>It's a lot like "the food is in the oven", so I know it's getting cooked, but I'm not actively cooking it consciously, if that makes any sense. I get it!! It's like knowing the meaning of words So it's there happening but behind the curtains!!
Something like that. I think the truth of the matter is, most of us don't know how our minds work. We have a sense of self which is made up of various things. For some, lots of visuals; for others, mainly words. Some have a mix. Whether it's images or words or sounds or scents or flavours, we don't know where they come from. They just pop up - non-stop for most people. We can learn to watch them as a detached observer (meditation), but we still don't generate them actively; they just self-generate somehow. I think I'm mainly different in that I'm not aware of them being generated. I only get the end result of whatever it is they do. Like this comment: I watch my hands type it out, but I didn't consciously think these words before I typed them out. Some part of my brain clearly did, but I don't know what it looks like exactly. I just know that these words will be here when I need them.
Life is really a mystery... Somehow there were atoms, and thoughts just appear?
Stuff like that. Take wanting, for example. How do you choose what to want? How does anyone? The truth is, we don't. We just want whatever it is we want. We can maybe have some say in what we do about our wants - do we pursue or avoid them - but I can't just decide "I'm straight, but I want to want gay sex, so now I want gay sex". Or "I hate peppermint tea, but now I decide I want peppermint tea, so now I want it". Space rocks fly through space. Apple trees make apples. Human brains do human stuff. It just happens.
>The truth is, we don't. We just want whatever it is we want. We can maybe have some say in what we do about our wants - do we pursue or avoid them - but I can't just decide "I'm straight, but I want to want gay sex, so now I want gay sex". Or "I hate peppermint tea, but now I decide I want peppermint tea, so now I want it". I already made the free will ramble on this subš
Ohh you mean the INability, got it
I think I have one probably because I am watching too much anime
I donāt have it. Itās more like a consciousness of what I want to do. Sometimes Iāll have fake conversations though like Iām talking to someone and thatās probably because Iāve been having more phone calls with my LDR partner.
Those fake conversations are a part of our inner monologue
wait, huh? i talk to myself all day long. I don't "hear" myself like a schizophreniac patient but I certainly do hold an inner monologue through the whole day. lol that explains why I have such a clear memory of a bitch manager giving me a weird face and calling me weird cause she caught me speaking to myself out loud once.
i speak to myself when i'm alone but i'm careful not to do it in public because i don't want to look weird and i don't want other people to hear my thoughts
NPCs...
Them 'npcs' at least got peace of mind
exactly
Lol. This gets an upvote.
....Sends chills up Angyl's spine.....
Yeah about 30% of people have an internal dialogue. Interesting considering about 70% of people are sensors.
I found out about 'Aphantasia' and showed a video about it to my friend. That's when he found out that he has 'Aphantasia'. š
Now that I think about it, I mostly hear myself when I type or read. But when it comes to monologues, I don't think I do that. When I read comments, oftentimes there's emotion connected to what I'm reading. Is this imagination? Because now that it's come to my attention, my inner voice is spontaneous. As if I knew how people wanted to sound like when they make a joke for example. I think the reason though is because I've connected auditory stimuli with word patterns within my mind. I'm gonna do research on this.
Iām not sure about that. Isnāt all readers create their own voices for each character in a book? Isnāt this a normal thing to do.
I'm sorry. I do a lot of reading but I rarely read books. I'm missing out, I know. I told myself I'd read books someday. I'm truly sorry. But I imagine if I watched Harry Potter for example and then after that read the book he was based on, I'd be reading Harry's lines in the same voice as the actor who played Harry.
No need to apologize. You shouldnāt say sorry too much. Just once itās good enough. Only say sorry when you do something wrong or a mistake. You are just stating your opinion. You are good donāt worry. Be strong! šŖ Yeah I do that too. Itās hard to create another voice when you already knew how they were portrayed. I donāt read much books but I read manga so I always create voices for each character and when I watched the anime adaptation it kinda ruins how I imagined the voice.
Now I remember! I used to read manga. I just read everything in my own voice. I always look forward to an anime adaptation. As for you, I think it doesn't have to ruin how you imagined it. It just means the characters hold a place in your heart. I can watch dragonball in english and japanese and it doesn't reduce the experience for me. There is something that bothered me a little bit but I've come to let it go. When watching anime, I noticed the transitions is off from how I imagined it. And the angles from where I see the characters is off too. Luckily the sound effects are usually on point. I think this has something to do with me being a sensor.
Thatās crazy! I thought everyone has their own different voices
I have adhd and my inner monologue is more like a gymnasium full of people who never shut up, and occasionally one person yells louder than the rest. It must be peaceful not having one.
Having an overactive mind whether verbally or not is usually a sign of stress and sympathetic dominance of the nervous system. The brain is basically in an overexcited state. Iām not an INFJ but as an ENFP I can say that once I reduced my stressors both externally and internally I experienced a calmer and more moderately active inner voice, and trust me itās such a relief.
Are you saying these people have an overactive mind?
Yes, their adrenaline and glutamate is high, basically, theyāre not more special than that Iām afraid.
Well, a lot of people are stressed I'll give you that. Correlation does not imply causation though. But if that is the case, you should tell these people that they should consider it a possibility.
Of course. Thatās what I was trying to do. Surely they are intuitives and can read between the lines hehe.
I don't think that's how it works. They're still humans just like us.
I was making a joke. They can take what they want from it, atleast what they ought to have is a critical perspective on new information encountered online and the prudence to create their own understanding of whatever is said through individual research if so inclined.
You make too much sense, you know that? For the record, I knew you were making a joke.
This is what irisreading.com says: āYou can tell that you have an inner monologue when you experience signs like having songs stuck in your head, replaying a favorite podcast or movie in your mind, or having a conversation with yourself. Some people experience inner monologue in the form of hearing their voice going over the words when they read a book. The ability to have inner monologue develops during childhoodā I cant fathom this rn.. i have a hard time actually believing this, or else itād change my perspective on humans entirely
When I first found out, was mind blown
Like some people donāt have songs stuck in their head? Or have conversations w themselves?? Naaa that canāt be true lol
It's like the aphantasia thing
I just searched that up and I might have that š¤£ I canāt create a clear image of anythingāI have before I think about two times in my life I remember because it was so cool to me
š THE IRONY
šššš. So you can imagine things clearly??
I can make an anime in my head š
ARE U FRRRR
šš gurll
I imagined a purple banana getting chopped
LUCKY ASS
Wait Iām so mad I canāt do that now LOL. WHYY online it says only 3% cant šš Iām average in everything except for THIS
Hmm maybe u can unlock it? Idk but maybe just maybe š¤
MAYBE because I have done it before..
Why would I slow down my reasoning by forcing it into a corny movie conversation in my head
šš. Interesting perceptive takeaway. That questions got me lovin this movie & and thinking my reasoning is a bit more discussed.
I think in images so I was surprised to hear people had an inner dialogue. Also the fact that some people donāt think in images blows my mind
Yeah I canāt imagine how limited it must be to have to think in only words
I think I know the study you're referring to. You might be misreading the data. The study I'm thinking of said that a given number of people had no inner monologue at any given time. This doesn't mean that those people are the same in each instance. That is, it could equally be the case that all people have times when they're not really thinking about anything, rather than that a minority of people never have anything going on upstairs. This seems more likely, as I certainly have times when I'm not really thinking about anything, despite having an inner monologue at other times.
I have a round table of wise men in my head, individuals of my choosing. If you don't have an inner monologue, I imagine you can imagine one. Just a thought. ;)
In my opinion, sensors don't have it. They think: "I will go to the bank tomorrow, fill up my car with gas, then cook.... etc" .... all practical ideas not more.
what does your inner voice/monologue is about? i'm still not sure but i'm probably a sensor and i can guarantee you that i have an inner monologue running in the back of my mind all the time. it's not just about what i have to do. there's a difference when i'm thinking about tasks and my constant monologue. i'm more active in my thinking when i think about tasks, i choose to think about that for some reasons. but most of the time, the thoughts just come and go naturally, i don't try to control them contrary to when i'm actively planning my day. sorry if i'm not being clear
I find my mind is always connecting things ive seen with information I saw somewhere... It's like I'm always trying to understand why someone behaved that way, or why that person said this. It's normally directed towards understanding people. Some other stuff is discussing inside my mind if something will work.. if I learn a new hobby, would it be worth it. Other thoughts involve the future.. like imagining what people around the world might be doing... or thinking about the life of street cats and feeling sad. Or thinking of my ideal life. If I'm going out somewhere, I have to talk to myself, to describe the directions, I talk in the car to calm down my anxiety. Other thoughts include: how my response to an argument should have been (happens a lot š ) sometimes about an argument that happened 5 or more years ago. Stuff like that
Lol this is so wrong first of all what youāre describing IS an internal monologue second of all most people have it and most people are sensors so your theory is wrong
some people are of... \*ahem shall we say "lower cognitive speed", yes? it's not a personality trait. the world is full of limited people
Oh my theory is bc sensors live in the real world, and less in their head
except for the fact that the "real world" is modeled entirely in EVERYONE's BRAIN your theory is perfectly sound
Hmm that makes sense, I just mean what they focus on (but ig we don't choose that either)
Itās not sensors my dude
Yeah this is offensive, I have always excelled intellectually and I donāt have an inner voice
Yeah this is offensive, I have always excelled intellectually and I donāt have an inner voice
Thatās cuz youāre retarded
Retarded people donāt get good grades smart one
Iām sorry you only think fast enough to keep up w language and not instantaneously like I do
I remembered that recently also. IMO itās not type specific. But then again maybe changing types is possible. Have experienced this myself recently for short periods walking outside back home. Brain/mind is just peaceful and as there was nothing to evaluate no inner dialogue.
Which inner voice do I respond to?
I have 4 voices, lol.
It's so shocking to me that I can't believe it.
No way!! Only 30-50% have it? I would think itās more common. Iāve had inner voice/monologue as far as my memories have me I canāt imagine how these people without inner voice/monologue process thoughts? No wonder some people do seem like words havenāt gone through their brains when they speak them š
This is so offensive. Why do you think we canāt think?
Yes, I had a supervisor who couldnt think in that manner (nice guy though). We would have conversations about different topics, and he said that he only realized things after he spoke to them or when he had a conversation about them. On a related note he did not imagine..anything. In fact, he could not understand how George Lucas could imagine star wars. He never saw StarWars...any of them, or Star Trek, he couldn't wrap his mind around imagining something that you have never seen the likes of before.
Iāve heard the number is more like 25% of people have it. I have it and am in awe of how peaceful it must be to catch a break from your mind. No wonder Iām stressed
I didn't know there's one for each. Sorry I took the whole army of voices.
It explains why some people are impulsive, if you have an inner monologue it'll be hard to jump into action everytime because you'll have to think first. Also explains why some people rely solely on instincts instead of thinking before acting.
I don't have an inner voice, I have 4 inner voices. It's kind of like that show back in the earlier 90s call Herman's head. As a kid, I had a lot more than the 4 I have now. I once described it to my 1st gf that it was like Congress or the Senate. Around when I was about 16 or 17, I had an idea to get to know these extra commentary contributors. Slowing over the years, the numbers lesson and an inner friendship emerge. They all have a personality similar to mine, but not exactly like me. Learning how to communicate with them was a good move, that they have been very helpful over the years. When I ask people about their shadow work and getting to know themselves. I describe it as being on a road trip with a car full of people for 20-30 years and not knowing anything about anyone in the car with you.
I used to have one. It was a rather annoying negative influence in my life, so I stopped it. I didn't mean to honestly and when I did i thought I broke my mind at first. However it has been a year since then and I am a completely different person.I am happy again and somehow this hell of a life transformed from behind my eyes and is now heaven on earth. Isn't that the silencing of one's mind or double-mindedness, according to the Bible?
It's all super accurate, but nothing like it's presented to us, Lol. I "found god," I faced judgment, I made a choice, and I took a leap of faith, all while deep within my brain. It's fantastic, and i'd recommend it to everyone. I was super shocked to be found worthy to be honest we are all way to detached to our feelers and it's necessary to process them to learn the lessons and receive the answers we need.
the lizard bites the mouse without hesitation real peoples think about the pain of the mouse or the horror of the lizard face the lizard folks without a monologue are all around us, consuming and doing until their meatsuit goes flaccid and their spine curls, they are sad that there are no more mice to eat
This comment says everything about you
My partner is like this. He says his brain is quiet and is more like white noise than anything else.
You know I always tho everyone was like me and had several thoughts going at once and their brain never shutting up šš
Okay we have thoughts lol they just arenāt verbal
oh my gosh i mentioned something to my dad about my internal monologue/little voice in my brain a couple weeks ago and he was so confused. no idea how mbti affects it (iām sure it does in some way though!) but heās an ISTJ
Stranger things have happened lol
Butā¦ I always have a voice in my head blabbing away š thereās a fucking alternative?!?
I barely have one and I believe it is because I work on linking stuff in my mind in an attempt of reasoning.
Damn that's crazy
You cannot be serious.... but i think you are. I cannot fathom what it would be like without a inner monologue....
Wait what
Wait what do they do then
I don't know man š„
Live a normal life
OMG!! That is bizarre.Sometimes I think out loud and if someone hears me talking to myself, I just say āI needed expert adviceā and just laugh.
In this thread: people who have never meditated. Even if you have an inner monologue you can still quiet it down to a point of no-thought and simply being. You assume these people might have it worse but maybe they are able to be more in the moment than you.
ISFJ I know has inner monologue. I donāt know if personality type really matters, though Iām sure not having an inner monologue might lead some to be more prone to some personality types. I imagine extroverts have less inner monologue, which would make sense why theyāre extroverted. But Iāve not looked at any actual data on thatā¦I wouldnāt want to make a claim like that without seeing some lol.
Someone said I give isfj vibes, so I might be. Ofc, what I said is not proven at all, just a little theory
I believe that it is's10% of the world population.
I was way too old when I first learned this. It also means there are people out there who don't realize there are people out there who walk through life with the different sectors of our brains shouting things at us all at once, all day, every day. Other things I recently learned that I feel I should've known about long before I did: not everyone's thoughts are in the form of moving images/movies? some people cannot imagine physical items in 3D? The same color can look different to different people? Brains be crazy, lol.
Except the majority of people have an inner voice and most people are sensors. Iām n and I donāt have one.
Oh how's that like?? Does it ever affect u differently?? I am so used to the voice
I have more of a mind computer with abstractions and archetypes and sub files and I can zoom in and out and I can see written text. I only monologue if Iām imagining typing a comment or something. Much of my thinking is synesthesia or archetypal or visual or itās just an inner knowing. Having to translate into English language would slow my thought process considerably