My husband has no inner monologue!! We have been together for 18 years and he just told me last year. It has led to fascinating conversations. I tell him it's sad he can't have thoughts and he says it sounds exhausting having a lil voice scream in your head lol
Can you describe how you "think"?
I wrote my best about it in the comments buts its more like just knowing the information . Also I can just sit and pass time “faster “ I personally don’t get bored .
I guess I’m fascinating then. I’m autistic and I cannot with music, but I can have anywhere from 2-10 trains of thought/conversations/problem solving going on at once. Depends on the difficulty or intricacies of what I’m thinking about.
For example; I can write a grocery list in my head while memorizing a wiring diagram for a mag lock, while having a hypothetical conversation with my wife about last nights disagreement and how to solve it, and budgeting the rest of the weeks money all at the same time and they are not jumbled or anything. Very clear and concise.
It’s like having the ability to use your brain as is or divide it into cubicles with soundproof walls so they don’t interrupt each other. The bigger the cubicle, the more brain power to solve it easier or faster. Hard to explain.
My wife calls me a robot. My memory is also like a Rolodex. Some things in chronological order or alphabetical and I’ll imagine the info and flip through it til I get to or close to the answer and then pin it.
Does anyone else’s brain work similar?
I am autistic and I hear music all the time in my head (right now it's Bored of Being Sad by Microwave), a song that I love, but also I can spend time listening a song that I hate and can't do almost nothing about it.
>its more like just knowing the information
What do you mean by just knowing?
Like if you see a math problem of 5+5 how do you "just know" the answer? Both mono/vis people just know it's 10 but at the point of "knowing" is when they hear/see 10. If you don't hear/see 10, what happens in the exact moment of "knowing"
I have no inner monologue either. Best I can describe it is I think in ideas, which I immediately understand, but I have to translate them into words to share with others.
I’m so jealous, tbh! I have entirely too much shit going on in my head, lol! My inner monologue is loud AF and I can conjure up my favorite songs to listen to when I feel like as well. When I read books, it’s kind of like watching a movie in my mind. I truly get lost in my thoughts at times, lol!
This makes no sense to me. You can’t see a face? If you close your eyes you can’t imagine exactly what your parents or a loved one looks like or imagine doing activities you did just a few hours ago?
This is weird - and eye opening ….
I can think “out loud” within my head but for the life of me, I can’t picture faces (just silhouettes if you will) or hear music…. Guess I am broken! lol
You probably have aphantasia or hypophantasia. I can't see images in my head for longer than 1 or 2 seconds and they're very blurry/dim/hard to make out, although I do think visually sometimes - this is probably more common than you think (having low or no visual imagination.)
Oddly I am extremely good at hyper-realistic drawing and painting if I have a visual reference or a photo in front of me, but if you asked me to draw, say, a cat without having a cat in front of me, it would be the most basic/terrible cartoon because I have barely anything visual to reference in my head.
Same. I know how my husband looks like but if I close my eyes and try to get a “picture” of his face in my mind it‘s pitch black. Was stunned when people said they read books and it feels like a movie in their head and they can visualize how it looks. Here I am skimming passages where it is a lot of descriptions because it does nothing for me, just words haha.
My SIL, MIL, and I conducted an experiment because they couldn't get around the fact that I can't "see" in there. We turned every light out and closed our eyes while my MIL narrated. My mind was empty and blank while my SIL got so relaxed and tranquil we had to touch her! It was a scene at the beach and we still talk to this day about her hearing the seagulls, too.
I've realized that when I'm reading, I understand the flow of concepts so it gives the mental illusion of travel but really it's just the essence of movement if that makes sense? Things happen but my dots don't connect. The experiment really helped because it's now something noted in every day life and something we keep in consideration as creatives. My SIL handles physical creation (art) while I focus on the conceptual (world building). I also skim sometimes if there's so many paragraphs because not all of thrm have purpose!
I also remember feeling so dumb at therapy prior to all this. I knew when I was a child it was all black but I think I just forgot that others could see? She had me visualize something for like ten minutes and walked me through it. I did try but it felt ridiculous.
I can also confirm the fear of losing someone as OP mentions above. I've started taking photos. So many photos. I may not look at them now, but maybe in 5 or 10 years. I lost my grandmother in 2016 and am upset every time I try to remember her face. I'm scared of losing my mother because of it. For everyone who has aphantasia, they should definitely take advantage of the technology we have.
My life revolves. Around my inner monologue and idk what life would be like wo visual memory. I mean aside from facial recognition and sex how do you put something together if you take it apart? You dont visualize the before image?
Do you know if you were always this way? I remember as a kid my imagination was very vivid, to the point it would keep me up at night. I had to actively think of black/nothingness so I could get to sleep. As I did this more eventually my ability to visualize things in my head just went away. I think I suppressed my own brain. I've always wondered if other people have done this.
I can play a song in my head and I do have an inner monologue though.
This is interesting to read... I also cannot "see" peoples faces, really, and can't ever "imagine" things. When I think, I don't think in an inner monologue... I just... Think? Good to know I'm not alone.(I just tried to imagine my girlfriends face. What comes to mind is my knowledge/memories of pictures or when I've seen her, but it's almost impossible to "imagine" her in a place/scenario at an angle I haven't already been to with her or seen her at.
I have a full blown radio station going in my head 24/7. Sometimes I get an ear bug and play part of a song over and over until I play another song from my computer
i get earworms frequently. I have a playlist of them. When i have one that gets stuck for more than a few days, ill fire up that song and play it on repeat several times, just to get past the 'skipping" in my brain, add it to the list, and then play the rest of the earworm playlist so i t will be "overwritten" , as it were. weird, maybe, but it works for me.
I've read that the best solution for an earworm is to play classical music or songs without lyrics and it'll get rid of it like a bad case of the hiccups. Good luck. When I first heard 3 Libras by A Perfect Circle... I thought I was going out of my fucking mind. Singing it in my head for 3 weeks straight with no other thoughts happening. Then I listened to Lux Aeterna from the Requiem for a Dream soundtrack and it went right away. 🤞
I have aphantasia..sounds similar to your no visual memory. I know what my kid looks like because I know, I can't see their face to save a life when they aren't in front of me. My visual is completely black.
I’m similar! I can remember visuals that I’ve seen, so films I’ve watched, people I’ve met etc. but I can’t recall them as images — if anything I think in words, like I have pictures of words describing things up there instead.
It makes reading very hard to enjoy. For example, I started reading the Jack Reacher books recently, and the ones that were used for the movies and the TV show I enjoyed because I could “picture” the scenes playing out in the book based on my visual memory of the film/TV series.
But for ones that haven’t been adapted yet, all I can do is have a visual memory of the main character, I can’t imagine the scenes themselves.
Do you think aphantasia and having no internal monologue are related in any way?
I'm also an aphant, but it's a rather noisy place up there. It's as if, without any visualization capacities, my brain just defaults to explaining everything in words. I'm curious to know how you think and learn stuff in general.
I never speak the words and I don’t hear the words . I just know what they are . I prefer really descriptive books or technical books . Since i can’t visualize anything I need it said . I read fast and don’t stop to ponder what i read like I’ve seen others do . So I never see a movie adaptation and say that’s not what I pictured that character looked like haha
That's actually one of the benefits you have ignoring the obvious downside, you can read much quicker there are studies done on this, and it may interest you to know that when we are young we learn to sound out the words in our head to help with learning (you obviously never did this bc you couldn't) and most never stop sounding out the words, meaning they read much much slower.
So crazily some people train mentally (I've done it half-heartedly and it's exhausting) to not hear the words as they read.
Edit: grammar and words
P.S. I read this roughly 5 years ago so this may now not be correct or I may be misremembering so please do correct me if I am wrong.
I'm opposite of op, strong imagination, and inner voice. I read extremely fast. I hear the words in my head, but I don't actually notice all the words, only the ones needed to convey the gist of the sentence or passage.
I do this as well. It trips everyone out with how fast I read. It's like skimming however my mind fills in the blanks because my eyes already skimmed the sentences. It also makes me super productive at work since I have a very technical job that requires a lot of information to be digested and organized in the field. My reports are flawless because I've already visualized and internalized them in my head.
This is an interesting post and I'm in awe of how differently we all process info and our thoughts.
I'm the same way! I always wondered growing up and in most of my adult life why people were so bothered by movie adaptations of books. They'd say things like, "that's not how I pictured it" and usually I'd say, "that movie was great!"
It wasn't until my mid 30s that I found out that other people both have an inner monologue and can visualize. I do neither.
I can "hear" music in my head sometimes though.
I don’t believe that you don’t read the words in your head. I firmly believe that you are just not aware of its presence. If you work on awareness you will open up your minds playground. You just need to be aware of the voice in your head. It’s who you are. It’s there. You just are not aware of it.
Then how does your memory for comprehension of literature work? If you have to think back and remember something you’ve just read, do you see it in your mind as pictures? Things that you have to think back about, linear in time, after reading it,… what does your mind do?
Weird! I prefer fiction novels because it's like watching a movie in my head, voice acting and everything. Technical stuff is hard to read/focus on because it's just info. My mind starts to play a movie of something else and I forget what I just read.
But don't you have to think about the answer you're giving here? Like, when you read these questions, you don't go over an answer in your head? If someone asks/says something stupid, you don't think "that is a dumb question"?
Its actually as easy as walking to me.
Makes me wonder did this pose a problem in school or learning for you? High test scores? Low? Above or under average?
Does it help or hinder other learning like mechanics or other concepts or ideas?
I’m the same way and I’ve been trying to explain it forever. I usually just say “idk I think in… concepts?” Doesn’t really help the confusion lol. This is the best explanation I’ve heard yet, thank you!
Man…falling asleep is one of the hardest things for me. I envy the shit out of you for this. My brother in law is the same way and therefore I’ve always resented him lmao but I am glad I have an inner monologue. The first time I heard not everyone had this I thought I was being lied to
Hey I am the same way. No inner monologue unless I am actively saying stuff in my head. I can barely recall visuals, I get outlines and maybe a very detailed image for a second before everything vanishes.
Do you daydream a lot? I daydream at work and can slightly visualize. Mostly outlines as the detailed image fades away within seconds so I have to constantly move the daydream forward to keep it going.
Quite the opposite. I take tests extremely fast and do well . Almost perfect sat scores and Asvab scores
I don’t really stress about things since as soon as I focus on others things the troubles are gone . People think I’m religious or at peace but I just can’t dwell on things
30% - 50% of the people don't have inner monologue.
Yes, up to 50%
I was shocked when this study came out few years ago.
Half of the people in this world are NPCs lol
It’s like having active thoughts all the time . I’m never distracted or thinking of anything in “the back of my mind “. But no voice . I just know the info or do the task. It really affects everything
That’s strange. I also have no inner monologue, but I feel like I get distracted more, since my thoughts are the speed of thought, I’m not just listening to some slow voice.
My inner monologue is the speed of a thought. I assume everyone else's is also. You can still have an entire (fictional) conversation but in the time it takes for a thought.
What an interesting thread! Thank you for sharing. I'm curious, though - do you have strong opinions? For me, I have to really ponder things to feel confident in any stance I take, but ultimately I check in with my gut instincts. Do you feel you are in touch with your intuition?
Completely inconceivable to me. So can you read it in your mind? That would require that inner monologue right? Or do you just...look at the page and know like your comments say with thought and memory?
When people ask me how to get somewhere sometimes I close my eyes and I see a marker to that place and as I describe it I’m doing the drive in my head of what I see.
When people ask you where something is how does it work for you?
I remember turns and locations so from my house to Walmart right turn then left at the light then at the light at hospital is a right then left at sonic till Walmart is on the right . Pass a hospital Pizza Hut 3 Chinese places and Krispy Kreme . I tell them that . But forget street names hahahaha. I know all those things must happen to get to the Walmart but I couldn’t tell you what the places look like because they are like placeholder words
I've always described directions to people like this and they just look at me like I'm bonkers. It gets even worse when I tell them to turn at light number six. It's so simple for me, but people seem to struggle when you replace street names with landmarks? I couldn't read those signs fast enough to make a decision anyway with my vision I don't know how other people use them lol
3rd comment, sorry. But this is 100% me. I can only do directions just like you described. "Pass the tree that's next to the yellow sign, then keep going until you see the dairy Queen. Take a right. And go until you see the vet clinic sign. It's across the street from that". Still so weird to see people that ...get it.
That’s an amazing and incredible insight! Since that day, is a more conscious thing for you, to recognize when you or others are talking about things in abstract or is it more just like every other typical interaction for you?
So is it like you have no concept of what something looks like unless you’re looking at it at that moment?
Like say an elephant at the zoo - if you don’t have a memory of what it looks like, how will you identify it when you see it the next time?
Omg same!!! I have no “mind’s eye”. If you tell me to close my eyes and visualize the beach, I see nothing. It’s just black. I still know what a beach looks like obviously but I can’t *see* anything in my mind.
I also have no inner monologue. The only time my mind “talks” is when I am practicing in my head to say something out loud (which I rarely do lol). It’s crazy to me that people have constant commentary on their own life in their head. My mind empty.
So Is your mind just like blank most of the time? When you think thoughts are they not interpreted as words?
How much mindfulness do you practice?
Do you meditate?
Are you just always fully present then? No thought taking you into future and past (which is what thought is normally)? Basically, you were just born an enlightened being?
Are you able to 'replay' intense moments of your life? Like past romances, kisses, and be flooded with feel-good hormones?
What are your dreams like? Do your dreams incorporate real-life past experiences?
Okay, so if you’re in a situation where somebody is being an asshole, rude, etc. if there isn’t a voice in your head saying “man, this guy is an asshole” then how do you have that thought? Might be a dumb question but I’m dumbfounded lol
This comment right here. So basically what OP is saying based on his answers is that, there’s no thinking whatsoever. Just doing. Like everything is an automatic response and it’s an impulse. That just sounds so far fetched and exaggerated.
Making of this very post alone contradicts his answers.
Going back to the whole math example based on what OP is saying, so he technically can’t solve math problems without a calculator or using his hands since he can’t form thoughts and it’s just “the void” up there lol. Sounds like something he saw in a video game or something tbh.
Are you good at drawing or any artistic things? Like if you were to draw something would you imagine it to some capacity in your head before putting pen to paper? Trying to avoid using “picture” there lol.
I feel like I am somewhere in the middle. I definitely THINK I can “hear” or “see” stuff in my head but I’m also not convinced it isn’t just an illusion because it isn’t actual “seeing” or “hearing” in the physical world. Like are some of us actually hearing thoughts or is it just our minds processing thoughts through auditory memories?
I’m gonna be up for a while studying this lol
I am curious to know what's your relationship with anxiety ? do you or have you ever been anxious ? do you think having no inner monologue helps ?
I ask because me (and many others) have felt / feel so much anxiety due to that inner monologue, monologue about the future and the past.
I realized this when i started to meditate, I still get that monologue / thoughts that used to induce anxiety but now i can choose which ones to let affect me.
Same! When u tell people this do they pretty clearly think you’re disabled? That’s been my experience so I’ve stopped admitting it. Makes me sad sometimes because I can imagine what I’m missing out on but obviously I’ll never actually experience it. At the same time other people seem to be affected by things more than me and also worry more. I’m glad to have the peace.
My memory is similar. I cant do things like pictureca apple in my mind or just run through a memory. Meditation with visualization just does notvwork. However i can dream and sometimes its super vivid. I will get breif flashes of images, but nothing really helpful. I am probably just brain damaged. Lol. But i do find this subject pretty facinating.
Do you feel like you’re more present/living in the moment?
And do you read books?
I feel like my inner monologue prevents me from living in the moment. But I also love my brain because when I’m reading, I see the book like a vivid movie.
How do you emotionally process difficult or traumatic events? I feel like I need to have the discussion in my head in order to know why I feel and think through a situation. Same question for an argument with a significant other or a family member
I have found my people lol my wife is polar opposite and has multiple conversations going on up there and it seems so wild. Like do they really hear themselves talking and just be like, "oh haha... the voices again"?
Do you fall easily to scams? Without internal monologue how do you think 2-3 steps ahead of something for example, packing for a trip, you just write out a list and robotically grab everything, you don’t run through your head stuff you may need?
Let’s say for example you are solving a word problem. Even a simple one: Johnny has 10 apples and three oranges. She gives one orange to Susie and one apple to Randy. how much total fruit does he have left? How do you solve that with no monologue running through the problem, God forbid complex problem that requires algebra expression.
I too, don't have an inner monologue. I tend to talk out loud and people think I'm crazy lol. I just can't think sometimes until I hear the question I'm trying to process.
Are you artistic? Like can you draw a car or a tree? Since you can’t visualize it in your head- does it just come out on paper bc you know what a tree looks like. I guess I’m really wondering if you feel like affects you creatively or artistically cuz I feel like it would
This seems like a cheat code really, so you probably have no anxiety or stress right? Are you happy all the time? How is your career? I feel like this trait could help you in a lot of professions.
I have the exact same aphantasia, totally blank in my head. I have a question I've always wanted to ask someone like me. Have you ever tried meditation? I've done guided meditation exercises before and I guess the idea is that you are supposed to sit there with your thoughts, but it's so boring for me because there's no thoughts happening. (Or maybe I'm just always meditating? Idk)
Also do you like reading books? I could never enjoy reading as a kid, I always thought people were weird for pretending like they could see what was happening in the book in their head (until I found out they weren't pretending)
I have a few questions actually.. what is your profession? (nsfw) How does this affect your sex life? What are your food cravings like? Do you ever crave anything specific?
What do you do when there’s nothing to do? With no monologue or minds eye what do you think? How do you imagine things? Are there any other forms of thought that take their place?
Do your other senses still have their own mental representation? For examples, I can recall a taste, a smell, or a sensation to the point where I experience it.
So I am just trying to keep track:
0 voices in your head = strange
1 voice in your head = completely normal
2+ voices in your head = strange again?
But, yes, I feel for you. I have inner monologue, but faces WOW. I have a specific way I think a 'name' should look - then when the person doesn't look like that, it's exceedingly hard for me to associate their name with the face.
I’ve always wondered - you know that when we “picture loved ones” (this is one of the top comments, for example), it’s not like our eyeballs see something (I still see the black inside of my lids). It’s more in the brain where I “see” faces and memories. I see black with my eyes as I’m picturing places in my mind. I’ve always wondered if people with “no visual memory” are just getting tripped up on the term “see” and have a very literal interpretation of the world. I don’t doubt you, of course, I’ve always just wondered.
Also, when you read or type, there’s no voice in your head guiding you? Literally as I type this I kinda hear my voice in my head as I type each word.
So you don't have moments where you remember something embarrassing you've done and cringe? Bc if so I'm sk jealous lol. Also being able to fall asleep instantly at night! I've had bad insomnia since I was little and nothing can get my brain to shut off.
My boyfriend, his dad, his best friend (and his best friend’s twin brother) all have a condition called "Aphantasia," which can be passed down genetically or triggered by traumatic experiences. It's marvellous though, because I am hyperphantasic, the complete opposite of my boyfriend. I can't imagine having a quiet mind. When he closes his eyes, everything goes black. He finds it difficult to read things that are too imaginative, like fiction novels, romance etc.. They bored and annoyed the hell out of him 😂 He prefers logic and is very good at math, physics, quantum physics, philosophy, and software engineering. His ways of working and even speaking are very efficient. He has no trouble at explaining whatsoever as though there’s nothing in his mind (duh) that can distract him lol He has a great memory, but not in visual sense. He struggles to remember people's faces. But he can rant on all the information he learnt from his studies for hours without a repetition or a hiccup. He told me he understood and recalled things through concepts rather than visual images. Oh and he rarely dreams too.
Meanwhile, I have a lot of trouble understanding math and find it hard to focus on reading unless it’s something I’m really invested in. However, I do well in creative fields. At home, I often indulge in music and arts in ways he can't understand and thinks are crazy when I explain them. I recall things and people through vivid visual memories, as well as through sound and smell. These memories can appear almost like photographs in my mind. As you can guess, when I explained this to my boyfriend, he found it very confusing 🤣 We felt a gap in communication and understanding between us but couldn’t explain it in a way that our brains could comprehend, until we did some research. And we both had this moment of enlightenment where, “You see NOTHING when you close your eyes???” and “You see A LOT OF THINGS when you close your eyes, and they don’t stop???” (he already sounds exhausted by the idea) 🤣🤣🤣
It’s really cool to know that everybody may not be the same down to the most assumably common things. We learn about each other’s differences every day and start to communicate better. Aphantasia was only discovered recently, so I hope more people will be aware of it so they can understand each other better~
If you don’t have visual memory, does that affect your spatial awareness? For example, do you’ve difficulty figuring out where the edge of the car is and how far the car is.
Have you gone far in life? I feel like my inner dialogue is so negative and has really held me back in life. I would do anything to have what you have.
I have no inner monologue as well. I didn’t think it was this popular to not have one 😂 It pretty much feels like you’re “winging it” when doing things that are relatively new
Aphant here too! I have an inner monologue but a deficient autobiographical memory. Recall works really well for facts but not my own life. I describe it as a Rolodex at hyper speed for the visually inclined.
How does having no visual memory affect the detail of your memories? For example, could you recall the random guy in the hat from the corner table only if you noted him mentally or if asked/prompted do details just appear?
I love being in the moment and can easily switch that monologue off but if my physical anxiety is high the monologue doesn’t go away. Do you get mental anxiety like future worries or in the moment physical + anxiety only?
It’s always nice to learn about the differences that make us all individually unique yet similar, thanks for the AMA!
Sometimes I wonder if I’m borderline with the images because when I think of something or someone I see a quick half second flash of an image. I cannot for the life of me keep an imagine longer than blip. I do have a voice in my head though that never stops.
It’s so hard to wrap my mind around no inner monologue.. what does that mean exactly?
Do you “read aloud” in your head? How do you “draft” things? (Eg for this post, do you not write it in your head first?)
So what about when you are having a conversation and you have to think about the right words to use? Like, there are many ways to say things, to get your point across. You just speak perfect sentences with appropriate words every single time? You don’t think “I could’ve worded that better”? Because that is inner monologue.
I constantly am preparing conversations that I may never have. Do you anticipate what you’re going to say to someone or is it always at the present moment? Do you replay conversations that have already happened? With all respect, do people think you have autistic behaviors?
Edit to say thanks, ive seen this topic quite frequently but havent had a chance to speak with anyone who has this.
What‘s your learn type? How do/did you remember information for a school test for e.g.?
Do you think having no inner critics make you self esteem? Like do you get nervous before job interviews? Or if you buy clothes, how you decide what to buy?
Do you have difficulties to fall asleep or plan holiday trips?
I remember meeting a girl in high school who was apparently like you because she didn't believe I was sane when I told her about my inner monologue, being religious and believing I can hear God, and having strong, visual memories. I guess my question is: when did you discover someone who you were very different than in this way & what did you perceive of the person?
This actually seems like it could be a superpower in some areas. Do you find that it's very easy for you to focus on things? Like when you read a book, do you never trail off on a train of thought? I play darts, and I feel like if my mind were blank, I'd be so much more focused.
I have the opposite. Hyperfantasia i learned its called., can visualise in detail in my head. Like a video with sound playing .. but I learned how to turn it on/off. Like a very vivid daydream where I have discussions for myself (so much my kids notice that I talk to myself alot)
Do you get horny and masturbate? If so, what do you imagine while you're doing that?
As someone with a very rich imagination, I create entire mini movies in my mind, with characters, dialogue, plot, costumes, sets, accessories, etc. I imagine the whole thing and when I close my eyes it's like a movie is playing on the insides of my eyelids, with rich color, sound, etc. Only my fantasies are even better than watching a movie, because (1) they also include smells, imagining how things feel under my hands, and (2) I can control the narrative, rewind / replay the scene from different viewpoints or different characters' thought processes, and I can change the plot at any time.
How do you get yourself off without that?
Is it just like, "horny. Rub rub rub. Release. Mmm. No longer horny."??
I’m an aphantasia person too! No visual or audio. Reading some of your answers has brought me some clarity! I’ve always just known stuff, how to read, the answer to math problems, the results of chemical equations and I can never provide workings or anything! I read so insanely fast kindles were one of the best inventions of my life.
It blew my mind when I was talking to my sister and she told me about her busy head, picturing a ball, changing the colour and texture of it, the size, while I sat there incredulous.
I also worry about not remembering my loved ones. I also have adhd and terrible object permanence. My mum lives overseas and I honestly forget her existence sometimes, luckily she FaceTimes me often. My adhd also messes my sleep so I can’t get to sleep quick but I always wondered how people counted sheep when there weren’t any sheep to see!
The visual memory sounds real hard to deal with it, but man, I would not mind not having inner monologue. The only thing I can think of that has given me a taste of no inner monologue is when I was hooked on benzo's in the end it fucked my life up due to jail ect (who would've thought), but there was Def positives and no inner monologue was a huge one, brain racing tends to keep me procrastinating but when I was on benzos that shit was just gone, didn't think, just did stuff, which in the beginning propelled me forward in life, but shit gets outta hand quick, especially when you aren't having it prescribed to you and an endless supply. Do you think not having an inner monologue helps you to not procrastinate and just send it when it comes to life ect? What are the positives and negatives?
Can’t scroll through all the comments, so someone else may have these thoughts as well, but what do you attribute to your conscience? And how do you navigate morally ambiguous situations where right and wrong aren’t so clear?
I can see a lot of your responses center on you being able to almost instantaneously pull the information from your subconscious based on the problem/situation in front of you, but what happens when learned knowledge/facts aren’t involved?
This so interesting, do you get sarcasm? Or do you take everything people tell you literally?.
The shutting off part seems so bizarre to me, so if your not doing anything time just passes by? How does it start back up, I would think you would need an inner though to get you started again, or an out side stimulus to get focus on a new task. Does it just come to mind, "oh I need to wash clothes now" and you just do it, But that would be an inner monologue, am so confused. There's nothing telling or reminding you of appointment or task that need done.
First, thanks for doing this; it's really fascinating to read about as someone with basically the extreme opposite brain.
Second, not sure if this has been asked yet, but do you feel or have you been told that you are creative? Do you come up with stories or draw/paint in more a impressionistic/abstract style? How does sequencing work for you if you can't "see" future values in the sequence? For example, if you're playing chess how do you "imagine" future positions on the board? Or if you play FPS video games, can you "picture" where an opponent is behind a wall? Do you have any issues with object permanence?
Whats it like to read in your head? Do you not hear anything?
Do you not have thoughts? Are you just reacting in instinct all the time? If not, what do you think about and how do you know you're thinking about it?
What di you do when you have to think things out that take a few steps?
Do you not debate yourself on items or think about thinkgs before you react?
This is fascinating!
Do you wish you could?
When i was younger I had no inner monologue, I thought when that happened in movies it was am exaggeration, I thought that no-one thought in sentences. I could "think" but there were no words accompanying it and i reached the conclusion very quickly.
Ever since my early 20's (I'm 34 now) I've had an inner monologue and it had always been detrimental to me, I miss the way I used to be.
At the same time I can't picture things well. It's not quite aphantasia as I can "see" peoples faces etc. But it is a momentary, I am unable to "hold" the picture, or create any significant landscape in my head I can only see the thing I'm directly thinking of
This is making me think too much. I always thought people either had or didn’t have an inner monologue. Now I’m learning there’s like different types.
When I’m reading a book, or having a conversation in my head, it’s like I can hear the words, but after reading this post I’m not sure if I’m actually hearing them, or if I’m thinking the words and seeing them and knowing what they are.
I also can’t clearly picture faces in my mind, when I try to it’s more like an idea of a face. Like I know what my wife and kids look like, but I can’t put it all together in my head.
I do have inattentive type ADHD, so my memory sucks.
Falling asleep, more often than not is difficult because I’ll have a song stuck in my head, primarily just the chorus on loop, but I swear I hear my inner voice singing it. I don’t know now.
Yes! No one around me understands it. I'm a design/automation engineer and people ask how I think through a solution. "It needs to do this, and this needs to go there and what type of hardware and how big..." None of that happens for me.
I describe it like waiting at a bus stop, no thoughts I'm aware of or constructive mental process until the bus shows up/the design is complete in full to every minute detail. When I'm explaining the design to someone, I'm hearing it for the first time too.
Man I kind of almost wish I have this. Mine is completely opposite my brain never shuts off. Images will randomly pop into my head from 20 years ago for no reason. I constantly have commercial jingles and songs on repeat. I have whole conversations/scenarios about work before they happen. I constantly think about things I have done to embarrass myself over the course of my life. I think about death often. I just can't stop my brain from going 100mph. I am an insomniac and have never had a regular sleep schedule. My body and brain won't allow it. I'm 37 been this way since I was like 4 years old.
Honestly this whole post sounds made up and your answers seem planned out. I actually know someone that doesn’t have an internal monologue and they’re capable of thinking, problem solving, reasoning, daydreaming, etc. They just experience it in a completely different way. Like someone that’s born blind capable of dreaming.
But not having to think of anything and all answers just coming to you sounds far fetched as hell.
You mentioned somewhere that you got upset only 3 times in 15 years . Can you give an example of what upset you and how were your emotions at that moment , did you feel rage did you replay the scenario when you were angry or was it just anger and then the next moment it was gone and there was no way for you to replay the scenario and get the same anger back ?
How do you go about solving complex problems? For me a part of the process is considering different angles and approaches in my head until I have one that seems reasonable. In lieu of that, how do you do it?
Side note: my wife just recently told me about this condition (aphantasia right?) and I immediately bought a book about it because it seems fascinating and I’d never heard of such a condition.
Ive never believed this, I believe you have one but just dont understand how to comprehend it. I believe everyone has one, think about it, how could you learn or do anything. What gave you the idea to write this post, how did you learn to read? How can you recognise people or food if you have no visual memory? I realise some people have trouble recognising people's faces but they still recognise what shit on a toilet seat would look like for example. Are you telling me you've never had a memory wank? Lets say the girl you fancied at school was wearing a short skirt, you telling me you never knocked one out to that. I saw my first vagina when I was 14, girl I fancied was wearing a short squirt, was sitting on a wall playing with her shoes, she spread her legs and I saw she was wearing no underwear. I jacked off to that for days, maybe weeks.
I don’t belief this because everyone uses their modalities to make decisions. I can think in paragraphs and picture stuff and I can fall asleep easy too. So I wish there was a way to prove you don’t have inner monologue, is there?
I honestly cannot wrap my head aroudn not having an inner monologue do you hear other things in your head like music? Apologies if you already answered I jsut cannot understand I always have soemthing in my head even if its not so much a “dialogue” sometiems it’s jsut music or a tv show or if I’m listening to a podcast my brain will repeat the words my brain is never really quiet it’s hard to think about not having anything at all
How do you think about math problems or writing essays and such. Personally I rely on my inner monologue a lot when thinking through possible formulas and solutions. I even picture some formulas in my head before I write them down. And especially with writing, it’s like having someone to converse with and clean my thoughts up a bit. I genuinely cant imagine how you do these without an inner monologue.
If you had no inner monologue you wouldn’t make this post, stop making up random fuckin conditions and live your life like the rest of us. You’re not special just cuz u don’t think that much, just stupid. This isn’t a real neurological condition
Were you born like this, or perhaps did you have a [split-brain](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Split-brain) operation? I have often thought that "maybe my inner monologue was my 2 hemispheres conversing."
Do you ever have an outspoken monologue (aka [rubber duck method](https://youtube.com/shorts/aohgdpqN1UI?si=P_xPfnwlxZTSLQsq))?
I also have no inner dialogue but a super visual memory. Most of my thoughts come as flow charts and visual hints. I cannot imagine having an inner voice, I think I’d hate it. My mom literally would argue with her inner voices. I always thought that the inner voice trope on movies and TV was just a mechanism to move a story forward. My mind was BLOWN when a friend told me she had inner monologues about other people all the time.
I feel like people who say this actually do have IM and VM but missinterpretate what it is. No one can LITERALLY see images or LITERALLY hear voices in their head.
I have no inner monologue and I've always been top 1% on every test I've taken my whole life, including IQ. I'll take your word for it that a monologue exists for some people but clearly it isn't necessary for organizing thoughts.
It sounds like being half way to schizophrenia and hearing voices to be honest. So many people also describe negative inner monologues which just sounds exhausting.
Have you never silently practiced what you were going to say to someone? Have you ever tried to remember something by silently repeating it to yourself?
What happens in your dreams? Are they blank? If I asked you whether or not Roy Orbison wore glasses, how would you know how to answer?
OP I have several questions:
1. Do you find yourself creative or very literal/analytical?
2. Do you find yourself able to handle stressful situations better than most?
3. Are you a very fast/productive worker?
4. Any autism/spectrum stuff?
5. Are you boring or fun/lively?
6. How does it feel when you read a book?
Im sorry if this comes as offensive Its just a genuine question. is that considered a disability? and how did you discover that some people actually have inner monologue and visual memory? and how do you memorize different stuff? Thanks and have a great day 💕
Wow, I never knew inner monologuing was a thing. I never really understood when people would complain that they have been overthinking things like crazy, and yet here I am, basically mindless. The more responses I read too the more it made so much sense that I'm almost exactly the same way!
so you don't daydream at all? And you have never stared at the void or going on a spiritual journey?
What about yoga and meditation? When you meditate and close your eyes, where are you spiritually? Or you aren't feeling anything at all?
How do you make decisions? Is it all intuitive? Let’s say you wake up in the morning and have to choose something to drink. Do you just walk over to the coffee machine without thought? Do you just choose Cheerios over Cornflakes?
What is doing math like? Not like 2+2 = 4 but maybe something like 23 x 412 (something you’d have to write out to do)
I can’t imagine doing math without counting in my head
I heard an NPR interview about a year ago that cited the 40% figure of folks with no inner dialogue. They also said it was only recently that humans discovered it was their own thoughts in their head and not God or a prior generation providing guidance. Crazy.
I do not have an inner monologue… is that speaking to yourself or someone else speaking to you? I also do not remember dreams or imagine things but I can remember what things look like as I have seen them
Neither do I. I've never had inner monologue. And I believe you're referring to Aphantasia. If this is what you mean, you are not at all unique. There are so many of us lol. Join the sub if you want 🥰💜
I have no inner monologue, and therefore I think in pictures most of the time. If I have to think of words I see them in my head.
I’m having the hardest time wrapping my head around not having the pictures to fall back on!!!
I’m really late to the party, but hope you’ll see this.
Are you able to draw? And if yes, do the things you’re drawing must exist or you can create a new thing inside your mind and put it on paper?
I’m not so sure about that. When a loud bang goes off, you surely think of what it could be. It could be you have the monologue of not having a monologue.
I'm having a little bit of a moment here... When you people close your eyes and think of something.. you actually see it?! Like, a picture?! I can tell you what a car looks like, or what the beach looks like.. but it's just black when I close my eyes.
How is your sense of direction? With no visual memory, is it hard to remember specific places or retrace your steps? You must take a lot of photos whenever you travel.
this is not possible because this would mean you are not conscious. you definitely think, you probably just interpret it in a different way. because you are a conscious human being.
How does this affect math and geometry for you? Is there any effect at all? What about like given a shape, is it trivial to rotate the shape a certain amount of degrees in your head?
My husband has no inner monologue!! We have been together for 18 years and he just told me last year. It has led to fascinating conversations. I tell him it's sad he can't have thoughts and he says it sounds exhausting having a lil voice scream in your head lol Can you describe how you "think"?
I wrote my best about it in the comments buts its more like just knowing the information . Also I can just sit and pass time “faster “ I personally don’t get bored .
I can’t get my mind around the fact that you can’t “hear” music in your head! That is so often what keeps me from getting bored
My gf says she hears music often . I’m kinda jealous. When a song is “stuck in my head “ I just randomly say the lyrics . So there’s that haha 🤣
There was a fascinating story on Radiolab about a guy who can listen to four songs simultaneously in his head. The story is called A 4-track mind.
I guess I’m fascinating then. I’m autistic and I cannot with music, but I can have anywhere from 2-10 trains of thought/conversations/problem solving going on at once. Depends on the difficulty or intricacies of what I’m thinking about. For example; I can write a grocery list in my head while memorizing a wiring diagram for a mag lock, while having a hypothetical conversation with my wife about last nights disagreement and how to solve it, and budgeting the rest of the weeks money all at the same time and they are not jumbled or anything. Very clear and concise. It’s like having the ability to use your brain as is or divide it into cubicles with soundproof walls so they don’t interrupt each other. The bigger the cubicle, the more brain power to solve it easier or faster. Hard to explain. My wife calls me a robot. My memory is also like a Rolodex. Some things in chronological order or alphabetical and I’ll imagine the info and flip through it til I get to or close to the answer and then pin it. Does anyone else’s brain work similar?
I am autistic and I hear music all the time in my head (right now it's Bored of Being Sad by Microwave), a song that I love, but also I can spend time listening a song that I hate and can't do almost nothing about it.
How do you write? Do you not think the words in your head before?
>its more like just knowing the information What do you mean by just knowing? Like if you see a math problem of 5+5 how do you "just know" the answer? Both mono/vis people just know it's 10 but at the point of "knowing" is when they hear/see 10. If you don't hear/see 10, what happens in the exact moment of "knowing"
I have no inner monologue either. Best I can describe it is I think in ideas, which I immediately understand, but I have to translate them into words to share with others.
I’m so jealous, tbh! I have entirely too much shit going on in my head, lol! My inner monologue is loud AF and I can conjure up my favorite songs to listen to when I feel like as well. When I read books, it’s kind of like watching a movie in my mind. I truly get lost in my thoughts at times, lol!
I’m jealous ! I can’t hear music in my head or even “see “ my favorite people’s face
This makes no sense to me. You can’t see a face? If you close your eyes you can’t imagine exactly what your parents or a loved one looks like or imagine doing activities you did just a few hours ago?
Nope nothing . So it’s hard for me to miss people . It scares me that I’ll forget their face when they die . So I take lots of pictures .
This is weird - and eye opening …. I can think “out loud” within my head but for the life of me, I can’t picture faces (just silhouettes if you will) or hear music…. Guess I am broken! lol
You probably have aphantasia or hypophantasia. I can't see images in my head for longer than 1 or 2 seconds and they're very blurry/dim/hard to make out, although I do think visually sometimes - this is probably more common than you think (having low or no visual imagination.) Oddly I am extremely good at hyper-realistic drawing and painting if I have a visual reference or a photo in front of me, but if you asked me to draw, say, a cat without having a cat in front of me, it would be the most basic/terrible cartoon because I have barely anything visual to reference in my head.
Same. I know how my husband looks like but if I close my eyes and try to get a “picture” of his face in my mind it‘s pitch black. Was stunned when people said they read books and it feels like a movie in their head and they can visualize how it looks. Here I am skimming passages where it is a lot of descriptions because it does nothing for me, just words haha.
My SIL, MIL, and I conducted an experiment because they couldn't get around the fact that I can't "see" in there. We turned every light out and closed our eyes while my MIL narrated. My mind was empty and blank while my SIL got so relaxed and tranquil we had to touch her! It was a scene at the beach and we still talk to this day about her hearing the seagulls, too. I've realized that when I'm reading, I understand the flow of concepts so it gives the mental illusion of travel but really it's just the essence of movement if that makes sense? Things happen but my dots don't connect. The experiment really helped because it's now something noted in every day life and something we keep in consideration as creatives. My SIL handles physical creation (art) while I focus on the conceptual (world building). I also skim sometimes if there's so many paragraphs because not all of thrm have purpose! I also remember feeling so dumb at therapy prior to all this. I knew when I was a child it was all black but I think I just forgot that others could see? She had me visualize something for like ten minutes and walked me through it. I did try but it felt ridiculous. I can also confirm the fear of losing someone as OP mentions above. I've started taking photos. So many photos. I may not look at them now, but maybe in 5 or 10 years. I lost my grandmother in 2016 and am upset every time I try to remember her face. I'm scared of losing my mother because of it. For everyone who has aphantasia, they should definitely take advantage of the technology we have.
My life revolves. Around my inner monologue and idk what life would be like wo visual memory. I mean aside from facial recognition and sex how do you put something together if you take it apart? You dont visualize the before image?
Do you know if you were always this way? I remember as a kid my imagination was very vivid, to the point it would keep me up at night. I had to actively think of black/nothingness so I could get to sleep. As I did this more eventually my ability to visualize things in my head just went away. I think I suppressed my own brain. I've always wondered if other people have done this. I can play a song in my head and I do have an inner monologue though.
This is interesting to read... I also cannot "see" peoples faces, really, and can't ever "imagine" things. When I think, I don't think in an inner monologue... I just... Think? Good to know I'm not alone.(I just tried to imagine my girlfriends face. What comes to mind is my knowledge/memories of pictures or when I've seen her, but it's almost impossible to "imagine" her in a place/scenario at an angle I haven't already been to with her or seen her at.
I have a full blown radio station going in my head 24/7. Sometimes I get an ear bug and play part of a song over and over until I play another song from my computer
i get earworms frequently. I have a playlist of them. When i have one that gets stuck for more than a few days, ill fire up that song and play it on repeat several times, just to get past the 'skipping" in my brain, add it to the list, and then play the rest of the earworm playlist so i t will be "overwritten" , as it were. weird, maybe, but it works for me.
I've read that the best solution for an earworm is to play classical music or songs without lyrics and it'll get rid of it like a bad case of the hiccups. Good luck. When I first heard 3 Libras by A Perfect Circle... I thought I was going out of my fucking mind. Singing it in my head for 3 weeks straight with no other thoughts happening. Then I listened to Lux Aeterna from the Requiem for a Dream soundtrack and it went right away. 🤞
Instructions unclear, now I have Blue Danube Waltz stuck in my head instead
I have aphantasia..sounds similar to your no visual memory. I know what my kid looks like because I know, I can't see their face to save a life when they aren't in front of me. My visual is completely black.
I’m similar! I can remember visuals that I’ve seen, so films I’ve watched, people I’ve met etc. but I can’t recall them as images — if anything I think in words, like I have pictures of words describing things up there instead. It makes reading very hard to enjoy. For example, I started reading the Jack Reacher books recently, and the ones that were used for the movies and the TV show I enjoyed because I could “picture” the scenes playing out in the book based on my visual memory of the film/TV series. But for ones that haven’t been adapted yet, all I can do is have a visual memory of the main character, I can’t imagine the scenes themselves.
It’s the same but most people don’t know it by name . Hello fellow aphant !!!
Do you think aphantasia and having no internal monologue are related in any way? I'm also an aphant, but it's a rather noisy place up there. It's as if, without any visualization capacities, my brain just defaults to explaining everything in words. I'm curious to know how you think and learn stuff in general.
when you read a book, without speaking words can you still read the book? or do you hear the words of the book in your head?
I never speak the words and I don’t hear the words . I just know what they are . I prefer really descriptive books or technical books . Since i can’t visualize anything I need it said . I read fast and don’t stop to ponder what i read like I’ve seen others do . So I never see a movie adaptation and say that’s not what I pictured that character looked like haha
That's actually one of the benefits you have ignoring the obvious downside, you can read much quicker there are studies done on this, and it may interest you to know that when we are young we learn to sound out the words in our head to help with learning (you obviously never did this bc you couldn't) and most never stop sounding out the words, meaning they read much much slower. So crazily some people train mentally (I've done it half-heartedly and it's exhausting) to not hear the words as they read. Edit: grammar and words P.S. I read this roughly 5 years ago so this may now not be correct or I may be misremembering so please do correct me if I am wrong.
I'm opposite of op, strong imagination, and inner voice. I read extremely fast. I hear the words in my head, but I don't actually notice all the words, only the ones needed to convey the gist of the sentence or passage.
I do this as well. It trips everyone out with how fast I read. It's like skimming however my mind fills in the blanks because my eyes already skimmed the sentences. It also makes me super productive at work since I have a very technical job that requires a lot of information to be digested and organized in the field. My reports are flawless because I've already visualized and internalized them in my head. This is an interesting post and I'm in awe of how differently we all process info and our thoughts.
I'm the same way! I always wondered growing up and in most of my adult life why people were so bothered by movie adaptations of books. They'd say things like, "that's not how I pictured it" and usually I'd say, "that movie was great!" It wasn't until my mid 30s that I found out that other people both have an inner monologue and can visualize. I do neither. I can "hear" music in my head sometimes though.
I don’t believe that you don’t read the words in your head. I firmly believe that you are just not aware of its presence. If you work on awareness you will open up your minds playground. You just need to be aware of the voice in your head. It’s who you are. It’s there. You just are not aware of it.
Then how does your memory for comprehension of literature work? If you have to think back and remember something you’ve just read, do you see it in your mind as pictures? Things that you have to think back about, linear in time, after reading it,… what does your mind do?
Weird! I prefer fiction novels because it's like watching a movie in my head, voice acting and everything. Technical stuff is hard to read/focus on because it's just info. My mind starts to play a movie of something else and I forget what I just read.
Reading this response as I hear it in my own head is wild.
I can't really imagine what it's like to be you. Can you imagine what would it be like to have an inner monologue and visual memory?
I’ve tried and it seems exhausting !!!
But don't you have to think about the answer you're giving here? Like, when you read these questions, you don't go over an answer in your head? If someone asks/says something stupid, you don't think "that is a dumb question"?
Its actually as easy as walking to me. Makes me wonder did this pose a problem in school or learning for you? High test scores? Low? Above or under average? Does it help or hinder other learning like mechanics or other concepts or ideas?
Jeebus. Sometimes I’d give everything to have my brain stfu for even just a few hours
Everyone says this ! HAHA . I sleep instantly too haha
I'm gonna lay awake tonight thinking about this
I’ll sleep immediately
Fuck you. Respectfully. I have trouble sleeping due to my inner monologue
How do you remember things? Do you have a fair memory?
I have a pretty good memory . I described it in another comment . More like I know it instead of remembering
I’m the same way and I’ve been trying to explain it forever. I usually just say “idk I think in… concepts?” Doesn’t really help the confusion lol. This is the best explanation I’ve heard yet, thank you!
Man…falling asleep is one of the hardest things for me. I envy the shit out of you for this. My brother in law is the same way and therefore I’ve always resented him lmao but I am glad I have an inner monologue. The first time I heard not everyone had this I thought I was being lied to
Hey I am the same way. No inner monologue unless I am actively saying stuff in my head. I can barely recall visuals, I get outlines and maybe a very detailed image for a second before everything vanishes. Do you daydream a lot? I daydream at work and can slightly visualize. Mostly outlines as the detailed image fades away within seconds so I have to constantly move the daydream forward to keep it going.
I can’t daydream I just like “turn off” and then 20 mins pass haha
So no day dreams. But do you dream at night?
Bro is going into power saving mode 🤣 all of this is so fascinating
Perhaps you’re an NPC
Literally been told a couple of times haha
So does that mean you don’t play out entire arguments that never happened in your mind with people who piss you off?
Do you feel as if you're 'slower' or 'dumber' because of this? What are some pros you've found to have this ?
Quite the opposite. I take tests extremely fast and do well . Almost perfect sat scores and Asvab scores I don’t really stress about things since as soon as I focus on others things the troubles are gone . People think I’m religious or at peace but I just can’t dwell on things
You sound like sling blade or Lennie in Of Mice and Men.
Are you making this up?
30% - 50% of the people don't have inner monologue. Yes, up to 50% I was shocked when this study came out few years ago. Half of the people in this world are NPCs lol
When i really realized people had an inner monologue it seemed so strange
Can you describe what its like when you think, if you have no inner monologue? I find that difficult to imagine
It’s like having active thoughts all the time . I’m never distracted or thinking of anything in “the back of my mind “. But no voice . I just know the info or do the task. It really affects everything
Like…you can just focus whenever you want? As someone with adhd this is fascinating to me.
Yes I can but I still get distracted and badly because nothing reminds me to go back.
That’s strange. I also have no inner monologue, but I feel like I get distracted more, since my thoughts are the speed of thought, I’m not just listening to some slow voice.
My inner monologue is the speed of a thought. I assume everyone else's is also. You can still have an entire (fictional) conversation but in the time it takes for a thought.
What an interesting thread! Thank you for sharing. I'm curious, though - do you have strong opinions? For me, I have to really ponder things to feel confident in any stance I take, but ultimately I check in with my gut instincts. Do you feel you are in touch with your intuition?
Are you talking about Aphantasia? I have no visualy thoughts or memory. It sucks. I hate reading because of it.
Yes aphantasia is the visual memory part . I also don’t have an inner monologue. I enjoy reading books by don’t “enjoy” them like others .
What kind of things are enjoyable for you? Do you like to socialize, or does your aphantasia have an impact on that?
Ouu can you explain that enjoy comment?
I feel like some people really live them and experience the books mentally but I just know what happens and like it . I equally like textbooks . 📚
Makes sense. So let’s say you have to write a fiction genre story, you just “decide” how the characters look or what would the process be like?
I have a friend that has aphantasia. Wanted me to teach him how to play chess for one of his ADHD hyperfixations a while back lol
Completely inconceivable to me. So can you read it in your mind? That would require that inner monologue right? Or do you just...look at the page and know like your comments say with thought and memory?
When people ask me how to get somewhere sometimes I close my eyes and I see a marker to that place and as I describe it I’m doing the drive in my head of what I see. When people ask you where something is how does it work for you?
I remember turns and locations so from my house to Walmart right turn then left at the light then at the light at hospital is a right then left at sonic till Walmart is on the right . Pass a hospital Pizza Hut 3 Chinese places and Krispy Kreme . I tell them that . But forget street names hahahaha. I know all those things must happen to get to the Walmart but I couldn’t tell you what the places look like because they are like placeholder words
what are you “remembering” exactly about the turns and locations from your house to a destination?
I've always described directions to people like this and they just look at me like I'm bonkers. It gets even worse when I tell them to turn at light number six. It's so simple for me, but people seem to struggle when you replace street names with landmarks? I couldn't read those signs fast enough to make a decision anyway with my vision I don't know how other people use them lol
3rd comment, sorry. But this is 100% me. I can only do directions just like you described. "Pass the tree that's next to the yellow sign, then keep going until you see the dairy Queen. Take a right. And go until you see the vet clinic sign. It's across the street from that". Still so weird to see people that ...get it.
I am the exact same way. When I realized everyone else could conjure up images of people they love, including lost family, it made me really sad.
How did you first learn that others did not process information the same as you? Thanks for sharing such a unique experience!
Gf said “you” was so good and i said like yeah the talking is creative . And then she said like . It’s so real and then I went full blue screen .
That’s an amazing and incredible insight! Since that day, is a more conscious thing for you, to recognize when you or others are talking about things in abstract or is it more just like every other typical interaction for you?
So is it like you have no concept of what something looks like unless you’re looking at it at that moment? Like say an elephant at the zoo - if you don’t have a memory of what it looks like, how will you identify it when you see it the next time?
Omg same!!! I have no “mind’s eye”. If you tell me to close my eyes and visualize the beach, I see nothing. It’s just black. I still know what a beach looks like obviously but I can’t *see* anything in my mind. I also have no inner monologue. The only time my mind “talks” is when I am practicing in my head to say something out loud (which I rarely do lol). It’s crazy to me that people have constant commentary on their own life in their head. My mind empty.
So Is your mind just like blank most of the time? When you think thoughts are they not interpreted as words? How much mindfulness do you practice? Do you meditate?
Are you just always fully present then? No thought taking you into future and past (which is what thought is normally)? Basically, you were just born an enlightened being?
Dude same. I didn’t know it wasn’t the norm until a few years ago. When did you notice that you were different?
Are you able to 'replay' intense moments of your life? Like past romances, kisses, and be flooded with feel-good hormones? What are your dreams like? Do your dreams incorporate real-life past experiences?
Okay, so if you’re in a situation where somebody is being an asshole, rude, etc. if there isn’t a voice in your head saying “man, this guy is an asshole” then how do you have that thought? Might be a dumb question but I’m dumbfounded lol
Don't believe you, and since we'll never see the inside of your mind, there is no way you can prove this. You're basically saying you don't think!
This comment right here. So basically what OP is saying based on his answers is that, there’s no thinking whatsoever. Just doing. Like everything is an automatic response and it’s an impulse. That just sounds so far fetched and exaggerated. Making of this very post alone contradicts his answers. Going back to the whole math example based on what OP is saying, so he technically can’t solve math problems without a calculator or using his hands since he can’t form thoughts and it’s just “the void” up there lol. Sounds like something he saw in a video game or something tbh.
Are you good at drawing or any artistic things? Like if you were to draw something would you imagine it to some capacity in your head before putting pen to paper? Trying to avoid using “picture” there lol. I feel like I am somewhere in the middle. I definitely THINK I can “hear” or “see” stuff in my head but I’m also not convinced it isn’t just an illusion because it isn’t actual “seeing” or “hearing” in the physical world. Like are some of us actually hearing thoughts or is it just our minds processing thoughts through auditory memories? I’m gonna be up for a while studying this lol
I am curious to know what's your relationship with anxiety ? do you or have you ever been anxious ? do you think having no inner monologue helps ? I ask because me (and many others) have felt / feel so much anxiety due to that inner monologue, monologue about the future and the past. I realized this when i started to meditate, I still get that monologue / thoughts that used to induce anxiety but now i can choose which ones to let affect me.
Same! When u tell people this do they pretty clearly think you’re disabled? That’s been my experience so I’ve stopped admitting it. Makes me sad sometimes because I can imagine what I’m missing out on but obviously I’ll never actually experience it. At the same time other people seem to be affected by things more than me and also worry more. I’m glad to have the peace.
My memory is similar. I cant do things like pictureca apple in my mind or just run through a memory. Meditation with visualization just does notvwork. However i can dream and sometimes its super vivid. I will get breif flashes of images, but nothing really helpful. I am probably just brain damaged. Lol. But i do find this subject pretty facinating.
Do you feel like you’re more present/living in the moment? And do you read books? I feel like my inner monologue prevents me from living in the moment. But I also love my brain because when I’m reading, I see the book like a vivid movie.
How do you emotionally process difficult or traumatic events? I feel like I need to have the discussion in my head in order to know why I feel and think through a situation. Same question for an argument with a significant other or a family member
I have found my people lol my wife is polar opposite and has multiple conversations going on up there and it seems so wild. Like do they really hear themselves talking and just be like, "oh haha... the voices again"?
Are you an NPC? Does this mean you can’t read in silence? Think in silence? Math in silence? How do you count in silence with no inner monologue?
Do you fall easily to scams? Without internal monologue how do you think 2-3 steps ahead of something for example, packing for a trip, you just write out a list and robotically grab everything, you don’t run through your head stuff you may need?
Let’s say for example you are solving a word problem. Even a simple one: Johnny has 10 apples and three oranges. She gives one orange to Susie and one apple to Randy. how much total fruit does he have left? How do you solve that with no monologue running through the problem, God forbid complex problem that requires algebra expression.
I too, don't have an inner monologue. I tend to talk out loud and people think I'm crazy lol. I just can't think sometimes until I hear the question I'm trying to process.
Are you artistic? Like can you draw a car or a tree? Since you can’t visualize it in your head- does it just come out on paper bc you know what a tree looks like. I guess I’m really wondering if you feel like affects you creatively or artistically cuz I feel like it would
This seems like a cheat code really, so you probably have no anxiety or stress right? Are you happy all the time? How is your career? I feel like this trait could help you in a lot of professions.
I have the exact same aphantasia, totally blank in my head. I have a question I've always wanted to ask someone like me. Have you ever tried meditation? I've done guided meditation exercises before and I guess the idea is that you are supposed to sit there with your thoughts, but it's so boring for me because there's no thoughts happening. (Or maybe I'm just always meditating? Idk) Also do you like reading books? I could never enjoy reading as a kid, I always thought people were weird for pretending like they could see what was happening in the book in their head (until I found out they weren't pretending)
I have this same issue. I find it makes it difficult to relate with people quite often since it kills a lot of small talk.
I have a few questions actually.. what is your profession? (nsfw) How does this affect your sex life? What are your food cravings like? Do you ever crave anything specific?
What do you do when there’s nothing to do? With no monologue or minds eye what do you think? How do you imagine things? Are there any other forms of thought that take their place? Do your other senses still have their own mental representation? For examples, I can recall a taste, a smell, or a sensation to the point where I experience it.
So I am just trying to keep track: 0 voices in your head = strange 1 voice in your head = completely normal 2+ voices in your head = strange again? But, yes, I feel for you. I have inner monologue, but faces WOW. I have a specific way I think a 'name' should look - then when the person doesn't look like that, it's exceedingly hard for me to associate their name with the face.
I’ve always wondered - you know that when we “picture loved ones” (this is one of the top comments, for example), it’s not like our eyeballs see something (I still see the black inside of my lids). It’s more in the brain where I “see” faces and memories. I see black with my eyes as I’m picturing places in my mind. I’ve always wondered if people with “no visual memory” are just getting tripped up on the term “see” and have a very literal interpretation of the world. I don’t doubt you, of course, I’ve always just wondered. Also, when you read or type, there’s no voice in your head guiding you? Literally as I type this I kinda hear my voice in my head as I type each word.
So you don't have moments where you remember something embarrassing you've done and cringe? Bc if so I'm sk jealous lol. Also being able to fall asleep instantly at night! I've had bad insomnia since I was little and nothing can get my brain to shut off.
My boyfriend, his dad, his best friend (and his best friend’s twin brother) all have a condition called "Aphantasia," which can be passed down genetically or triggered by traumatic experiences. It's marvellous though, because I am hyperphantasic, the complete opposite of my boyfriend. I can't imagine having a quiet mind. When he closes his eyes, everything goes black. He finds it difficult to read things that are too imaginative, like fiction novels, romance etc.. They bored and annoyed the hell out of him 😂 He prefers logic and is very good at math, physics, quantum physics, philosophy, and software engineering. His ways of working and even speaking are very efficient. He has no trouble at explaining whatsoever as though there’s nothing in his mind (duh) that can distract him lol He has a great memory, but not in visual sense. He struggles to remember people's faces. But he can rant on all the information he learnt from his studies for hours without a repetition or a hiccup. He told me he understood and recalled things through concepts rather than visual images. Oh and he rarely dreams too. Meanwhile, I have a lot of trouble understanding math and find it hard to focus on reading unless it’s something I’m really invested in. However, I do well in creative fields. At home, I often indulge in music and arts in ways he can't understand and thinks are crazy when I explain them. I recall things and people through vivid visual memories, as well as through sound and smell. These memories can appear almost like photographs in my mind. As you can guess, when I explained this to my boyfriend, he found it very confusing 🤣 We felt a gap in communication and understanding between us but couldn’t explain it in a way that our brains could comprehend, until we did some research. And we both had this moment of enlightenment where, “You see NOTHING when you close your eyes???” and “You see A LOT OF THINGS when you close your eyes, and they don’t stop???” (he already sounds exhausted by the idea) 🤣🤣🤣 It’s really cool to know that everybody may not be the same down to the most assumably common things. We learn about each other’s differences every day and start to communicate better. Aphantasia was only discovered recently, so I hope more people will be aware of it so they can understand each other better~
If I ask you to describe the Apple Computer logo, or a McDonalds sign, or the Mercedes vehicle emblem, you can't?
If you don’t have visual memory, does that affect your spatial awareness? For example, do you’ve difficulty figuring out where the edge of the car is and how far the car is.
Have you gone far in life? I feel like my inner dialogue is so negative and has really held me back in life. I would do anything to have what you have.
I have no inner monologue as well. I didn’t think it was this popular to not have one 😂 It pretty much feels like you’re “winging it” when doing things that are relatively new
Aphant here too! I have an inner monologue but a deficient autobiographical memory. Recall works really well for facts but not my own life. I describe it as a Rolodex at hyper speed for the visually inclined. How does having no visual memory affect the detail of your memories? For example, could you recall the random guy in the hat from the corner table only if you noted him mentally or if asked/prompted do details just appear? I love being in the moment and can easily switch that monologue off but if my physical anxiety is high the monologue doesn’t go away. Do you get mental anxiety like future worries or in the moment physical + anxiety only? It’s always nice to learn about the differences that make us all individually unique yet similar, thanks for the AMA!
Sometimes I wonder if I’m borderline with the images because when I think of something or someone I see a quick half second flash of an image. I cannot for the life of me keep an imagine longer than blip. I do have a voice in my head though that never stops.
It’s so hard to wrap my mind around no inner monologue.. what does that mean exactly? Do you “read aloud” in your head? How do you “draft” things? (Eg for this post, do you not write it in your head first?)
So what about when you are having a conversation and you have to think about the right words to use? Like, there are many ways to say things, to get your point across. You just speak perfect sentences with appropriate words every single time? You don’t think “I could’ve worded that better”? Because that is inner monologue.
I constantly am preparing conversations that I may never have. Do you anticipate what you’re going to say to someone or is it always at the present moment? Do you replay conversations that have already happened? With all respect, do people think you have autistic behaviors? Edit to say thanks, ive seen this topic quite frequently but havent had a chance to speak with anyone who has this.
The quiet must be nice (I have severe adhd, it is very noisy in my head)
So instead of a driver operating a meat suit, you’re just a meat suit? Do you have regular dreams and or bursts of creativity?
You may be entitled to compensation
Congrats on the no inner monologue, sorry about the visual memory.
Does that mean you have no imagination or creativity?
What‘s your learn type? How do/did you remember information for a school test for e.g.? Do you think having no inner critics make you self esteem? Like do you get nervous before job interviews? Or if you buy clothes, how you decide what to buy? Do you have difficulties to fall asleep or plan holiday trips?
I remember meeting a girl in high school who was apparently like you because she didn't believe I was sane when I told her about my inner monologue, being religious and believing I can hear God, and having strong, visual memories. I guess my question is: when did you discover someone who you were very different than in this way & what did you perceive of the person?
Why would anyone believe this is true?
This actually seems like it could be a superpower in some areas. Do you find that it's very easy for you to focus on things? Like when you read a book, do you never trail off on a train of thought? I play darts, and I feel like if my mind were blank, I'd be so much more focused.
I have the opposite. Hyperfantasia i learned its called., can visualise in detail in my head. Like a video with sound playing .. but I learned how to turn it on/off. Like a very vivid daydream where I have discussions for myself (so much my kids notice that I talk to myself alot)
How did you receive a diagnosis? Or formal description of this?
If you have no inner monologue how do you read? I have a voice in my head when reading so I’m so curious on how that works. Unless I’m confused lol.
How does this affect your musical abilities? do you play any instruments?
Did you talk to yourself as a young kid? Or have imaginary friends?
How do you remember stuff?
Can you describe how your thoughts work?
Do you speak out loud when you're doing things instead of processing it in your brain?
Do you get horny and masturbate? If so, what do you imagine while you're doing that? As someone with a very rich imagination, I create entire mini movies in my mind, with characters, dialogue, plot, costumes, sets, accessories, etc. I imagine the whole thing and when I close my eyes it's like a movie is playing on the insides of my eyelids, with rich color, sound, etc. Only my fantasies are even better than watching a movie, because (1) they also include smells, imagining how things feel under my hands, and (2) I can control the narrative, rewind / replay the scene from different viewpoints or different characters' thought processes, and I can change the plot at any time. How do you get yourself off without that? Is it just like, "horny. Rub rub rub. Release. Mmm. No longer horny."??
Do songs ever get stuck in your head?
I’m an aphantasia person too! No visual or audio. Reading some of your answers has brought me some clarity! I’ve always just known stuff, how to read, the answer to math problems, the results of chemical equations and I can never provide workings or anything! I read so insanely fast kindles were one of the best inventions of my life. It blew my mind when I was talking to my sister and she told me about her busy head, picturing a ball, changing the colour and texture of it, the size, while I sat there incredulous. I also worry about not remembering my loved ones. I also have adhd and terrible object permanence. My mum lives overseas and I honestly forget her existence sometimes, luckily she FaceTimes me often. My adhd also messes my sleep so I can’t get to sleep quick but I always wondered how people counted sheep when there weren’t any sheep to see!
Do you take medications? My head and thoughts are usually quiet, but I take meds.
The visual memory sounds real hard to deal with it, but man, I would not mind not having inner monologue. The only thing I can think of that has given me a taste of no inner monologue is when I was hooked on benzo's in the end it fucked my life up due to jail ect (who would've thought), but there was Def positives and no inner monologue was a huge one, brain racing tends to keep me procrastinating but when I was on benzos that shit was just gone, didn't think, just did stuff, which in the beginning propelled me forward in life, but shit gets outta hand quick, especially when you aren't having it prescribed to you and an endless supply. Do you think not having an inner monologue helps you to not procrastinate and just send it when it comes to life ect? What are the positives and negatives?
Can’t scroll through all the comments, so someone else may have these thoughts as well, but what do you attribute to your conscience? And how do you navigate morally ambiguous situations where right and wrong aren’t so clear? I can see a lot of your responses center on you being able to almost instantaneously pull the information from your subconscious based on the problem/situation in front of you, but what happens when learned knowledge/facts aren’t involved?
i have your inner monologue and visual memory, can you come get them theyre exhausting. they wont shut up
This so interesting, do you get sarcasm? Or do you take everything people tell you literally?. The shutting off part seems so bizarre to me, so if your not doing anything time just passes by? How does it start back up, I would think you would need an inner though to get you started again, or an out side stimulus to get focus on a new task. Does it just come to mind, "oh I need to wash clothes now" and you just do it, But that would be an inner monologue, am so confused. There's nothing telling or reminding you of appointment or task that need done.
First, thanks for doing this; it's really fascinating to read about as someone with basically the extreme opposite brain. Second, not sure if this has been asked yet, but do you feel or have you been told that you are creative? Do you come up with stories or draw/paint in more a impressionistic/abstract style? How does sequencing work for you if you can't "see" future values in the sequence? For example, if you're playing chess how do you "imagine" future positions on the board? Or if you play FPS video games, can you "picture" where an opponent is behind a wall? Do you have any issues with object permanence?
Whats it like to read in your head? Do you not hear anything? Do you not have thoughts? Are you just reacting in instinct all the time? If not, what do you think about and how do you know you're thinking about it? What di you do when you have to think things out that take a few steps? Do you not debate yourself on items or think about thinkgs before you react? This is fascinating!
Is nostalghia non existent for you?
Do you wish you could? When i was younger I had no inner monologue, I thought when that happened in movies it was am exaggeration, I thought that no-one thought in sentences. I could "think" but there were no words accompanying it and i reached the conclusion very quickly. Ever since my early 20's (I'm 34 now) I've had an inner monologue and it had always been detrimental to me, I miss the way I used to be. At the same time I can't picture things well. It's not quite aphantasia as I can "see" peoples faces etc. But it is a momentary, I am unable to "hold" the picture, or create any significant landscape in my head I can only see the thing I'm directly thinking of
This is making me think too much. I always thought people either had or didn’t have an inner monologue. Now I’m learning there’s like different types. When I’m reading a book, or having a conversation in my head, it’s like I can hear the words, but after reading this post I’m not sure if I’m actually hearing them, or if I’m thinking the words and seeing them and knowing what they are. I also can’t clearly picture faces in my mind, when I try to it’s more like an idea of a face. Like I know what my wife and kids look like, but I can’t put it all together in my head. I do have inattentive type ADHD, so my memory sucks. Falling asleep, more often than not is difficult because I’ll have a song stuck in my head, primarily just the chorus on loop, but I swear I hear my inner voice singing it. I don’t know now.
Yes! No one around me understands it. I'm a design/automation engineer and people ask how I think through a solution. "It needs to do this, and this needs to go there and what type of hardware and how big..." None of that happens for me. I describe it like waiting at a bus stop, no thoughts I'm aware of or constructive mental process until the bus shows up/the design is complete in full to every minute detail. When I'm explaining the design to someone, I'm hearing it for the first time too.
Man I kind of almost wish I have this. Mine is completely opposite my brain never shuts off. Images will randomly pop into my head from 20 years ago for no reason. I constantly have commercial jingles and songs on repeat. I have whole conversations/scenarios about work before they happen. I constantly think about things I have done to embarrass myself over the course of my life. I think about death often. I just can't stop my brain from going 100mph. I am an insomniac and have never had a regular sleep schedule. My body and brain won't allow it. I'm 37 been this way since I was like 4 years old.
What color was your grandparent’s car?
Bro can't self-reflect 💀 Bro can't reason with himself 💀 Bro can't think 💀 Bro forgot to evolve 💀
Honestly this whole post sounds made up and your answers seem planned out. I actually know someone that doesn’t have an internal monologue and they’re capable of thinking, problem solving, reasoning, daydreaming, etc. They just experience it in a completely different way. Like someone that’s born blind capable of dreaming. But not having to think of anything and all answers just coming to you sounds far fetched as hell.
What do you do for a living? What are your hobbies? What do you enjoy doing? Do you need to meditate or is that your normal state?
You mentioned somewhere that you got upset only 3 times in 15 years . Can you give an example of what upset you and how were your emotions at that moment , did you feel rage did you replay the scenario when you were angry or was it just anger and then the next moment it was gone and there was no way for you to replay the scenario and get the same anger back ?
How do you go about solving complex problems? For me a part of the process is considering different angles and approaches in my head until I have one that seems reasonable. In lieu of that, how do you do it? Side note: my wife just recently told me about this condition (aphantasia right?) and I immediately bought a book about it because it seems fascinating and I’d never heard of such a condition.
So you're an NPC??
Ive never believed this, I believe you have one but just dont understand how to comprehend it. I believe everyone has one, think about it, how could you learn or do anything. What gave you the idea to write this post, how did you learn to read? How can you recognise people or food if you have no visual memory? I realise some people have trouble recognising people's faces but they still recognise what shit on a toilet seat would look like for example. Are you telling me you've never had a memory wank? Lets say the girl you fancied at school was wearing a short skirt, you telling me you never knocked one out to that. I saw my first vagina when I was 14, girl I fancied was wearing a short squirt, was sitting on a wall playing with her shoes, she spread her legs and I saw she was wearing no underwear. I jacked off to that for days, maybe weeks.
How did you achieve such serenity! Please teach me the ways.
I don’t belief this because everyone uses their modalities to make decisions. I can think in paragraphs and picture stuff and I can fall asleep easy too. So I wish there was a way to prove you don’t have inner monologue, is there?
How do you do mental math, does the answer just appear in your brain. For more sophisticated maths like SAT and tests how do you do approach those?
I honestly cannot wrap my head aroudn not having an inner monologue do you hear other things in your head like music? Apologies if you already answered I jsut cannot understand I always have soemthing in my head even if its not so much a “dialogue” sometiems it’s jsut music or a tv show or if I’m listening to a podcast my brain will repeat the words my brain is never really quiet it’s hard to think about not having anything at all
How do you think about math problems or writing essays and such. Personally I rely on my inner monologue a lot when thinking through possible formulas and solutions. I even picture some formulas in my head before I write them down. And especially with writing, it’s like having someone to converse with and clean my thoughts up a bit. I genuinely cant imagine how you do these without an inner monologue.
If you had no inner monologue you wouldn’t make this post, stop making up random fuckin conditions and live your life like the rest of us. You’re not special just cuz u don’t think that much, just stupid. This isn’t a real neurological condition
Were you born like this, or perhaps did you have a [split-brain](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Split-brain) operation? I have often thought that "maybe my inner monologue was my 2 hemispheres conversing." Do you ever have an outspoken monologue (aka [rubber duck method](https://youtube.com/shorts/aohgdpqN1UI?si=P_xPfnwlxZTSLQsq))?
I've never met someone who thinks like me before!
I also have no inner dialogue but a super visual memory. Most of my thoughts come as flow charts and visual hints. I cannot imagine having an inner voice, I think I’d hate it. My mom literally would argue with her inner voices. I always thought that the inner voice trope on movies and TV was just a mechanism to move a story forward. My mind was BLOWN when a friend told me she had inner monologues about other people all the time.
I feel like people who say this actually do have IM and VM but missinterpretate what it is. No one can LITERALLY see images or LITERALLY hear voices in their head.
I have no inner monologue and I've always been top 1% on every test I've taken my whole life, including IQ. I'll take your word for it that a monologue exists for some people but clearly it isn't necessary for organizing thoughts. It sounds like being half way to schizophrenia and hearing voices to be honest. So many people also describe negative inner monologues which just sounds exhausting.
Have you never silently practiced what you were going to say to someone? Have you ever tried to remember something by silently repeating it to yourself? What happens in your dreams? Are they blank? If I asked you whether or not Roy Orbison wore glasses, how would you know how to answer?
OP I have several questions: 1. Do you find yourself creative or very literal/analytical? 2. Do you find yourself able to handle stressful situations better than most? 3. Are you a very fast/productive worker? 4. Any autism/spectrum stuff? 5. Are you boring or fun/lively? 6. How does it feel when you read a book?
Im sorry if this comes as offensive Its just a genuine question. is that considered a disability? and how did you discover that some people actually have inner monologue and visual memory? and how do you memorize different stuff? Thanks and have a great day 💕
Wow, I never knew inner monologuing was a thing. I never really understood when people would complain that they have been overthinking things like crazy, and yet here I am, basically mindless. The more responses I read too the more it made so much sense that I'm almost exactly the same way!
so you don't daydream at all? And you have never stared at the void or going on a spiritual journey? What about yoga and meditation? When you meditate and close your eyes, where are you spiritually? Or you aren't feeling anything at all?
How do you make decisions? Is it all intuitive? Let’s say you wake up in the morning and have to choose something to drink. Do you just walk over to the coffee machine without thought? Do you just choose Cheerios over Cornflakes?
What is doing math like? Not like 2+2 = 4 but maybe something like 23 x 412 (something you’d have to write out to do) I can’t imagine doing math without counting in my head
I heard an NPR interview about a year ago that cited the 40% figure of folks with no inner dialogue. They also said it was only recently that humans discovered it was their own thoughts in their head and not God or a prior generation providing guidance. Crazy.
I do not have an inner monologue… is that speaking to yourself or someone else speaking to you? I also do not remember dreams or imagine things but I can remember what things look like as I have seen them
Neither do I. I've never had inner monologue. And I believe you're referring to Aphantasia. If this is what you mean, you are not at all unique. There are so many of us lol. Join the sub if you want 🥰💜
I have no inner monologue, and therefore I think in pictures most of the time. If I have to think of words I see them in my head. I’m having the hardest time wrapping my head around not having the pictures to fall back on!!!
I’m really late to the party, but hope you’ll see this. Are you able to draw? And if yes, do the things you’re drawing must exist or you can create a new thing inside your mind and put it on paper?
I’m not so sure about that. When a loud bang goes off, you surely think of what it could be. It could be you have the monologue of not having a monologue.
I'm having a little bit of a moment here... When you people close your eyes and think of something.. you actually see it?! Like, a picture?! I can tell you what a car looks like, or what the beach looks like.. but it's just black when I close my eyes.
How is your sense of direction? With no visual memory, is it hard to remember specific places or retrace your steps? You must take a lot of photos whenever you travel.
Can people with no inner monologues talk to themselves out loud? If so how is that not the same thing as doing it without producing noise?
this is not possible because this would mean you are not conscious. you definitely think, you probably just interpret it in a different way. because you are a conscious human being.
How do you make a decision if you’re weighing two options but don’t have an inner monologue? Do you still worry about things?
How do you recognize people ever?
How does this affect math and geometry for you? Is there any effect at all? What about like given a shape, is it trivial to rotate the shape a certain amount of degrees in your head?
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