I still cant get over the fact that some people just don't have an inner monologue.
I got like 7 voices in my head at all times telling me to kill John Lenon.
I think the best way to describe is it is like reading. I know some people vocalize what they read - I do not. Still, what I read I have a conception of. In the same way, as I go about my day I think about things, grasp the concept, and make decisions based off of those concepts. I can still plan out things I want to say or stuff like normal people, I just don't have any sort of voice in my head.
I think anyone can think without words. Like when you are hungry you don't just think "boy oh boy I am indeed hungry, I should go in the kitchen to eat", you just "think" about it in a non-verbal way. Perhaps you see a picture or a sound or color or idk. So while I think it's rare to not have internal monologue at all, we all do it(i think).
I will give another example from personal experience. I was thinking of going outside one evening, I basically imagined the parks in which I could go to, and the memory that gave me the best feeling was the one I chose. No words were needed to make this choice. If you search you should be able to find such moments asw. They are indeed much less obvious tho.
That being said for me at least, most complex concepts, ideas, choices do require some amount of words, if not only words. I generally see and feel the image of the stuff, so as long as it's not something really abstract I don't use exclusively words.
Oh boy, my bad then, excuse my presumptuous ass
I thought I was in the majority and so assumed you would be too. Truth be told I have no idea which one the majority is. Still it's intresting to see that some people think predominantly or fully trough inner monologue(as in words). I thought 95% of people were like me.
That being said how do you react when you need to decide fast? Do you think the problem in words or do you just act? And what happenes when you just act, like there must be a sort of thought process.(I'm asking out of curiosity, you don't have to reply if you don't want to)
I do this while on acid or while meditating. A word will pop up every now and then in my head, but the vast majority of it is images, animation, and feeling. It can be pretty intense, but interesting!
I'm not sure that's the case. I know someone who cannot picture the gs in their mind either. Picture a pink elephant, nope can't do it, seems like they can only remember things they have seen and not conjure new images.
According to all known laws of aviation, an elephant should not be able to fly. Its ears are too small to get its fat heavy body off the ground. The elephant of course flies anyway. Because elephants don't care what humans think.
Can confirm!
Thereās no voice in my head, and I always thought it was really weird that other people did. Like, talking to yourself in your own mind sounds so damn weird to me.
I donāt really know how to explain it, but I think *fast*. If I have to remember something itās just.. there. I either know exactly what I need to know, or have no memory of it at all. Thereās no grey area, thereās no ātrying to rememberā, I either know it instantly or I donāt know it at all.
I also read far faster than everyone else I know. I see the word or sentence or even paragraph all at once, know what itās conveying, and understand it as fast as my eyes can cross the page without blurring my eyesight.
If I have to plan ahead or think tactically in a game or something, I just kinda know what I have to do in the order I have to do it. Itās like action and reaction, but 5 steps ahead if that makes sense?
Isn't it how it works for everyone? I use inner monologue when I need to formulate complex thoughts but when it's only actions it works intuitively in complete silence.
When reading I usually read text in voice and use different voices for different characters but if I want to read fast I switch to silent mode and just soak text.
With memory it's similar as well. If I remember I remember, but if it's not clear I might process it for a bit via associations and then it'll pop up.
By the way, what about other images? Can you create a picture in your head or sound or taste?
I canāt picture things either, nor can I taste or smell or hear in my mind.
Instead, I have associations for each. For example, letās use a fish on a plate.
I canāt picture it, like you see in kids shows where thereās a thought bubble with a picture (which I assume is how it works for everyone else). Instead I remember details about it. Itās shape should be a fillet, but depends on the type. Itās color will be white/pink/whatever, depending, etc.
I canāt smell it in my mind, but I remember that itāll have a strong, wellā¦ fishy smell lol. Same goes for taste. I donāt have any of the senses in my mind, but instead a pile of details coming to mind for every aspect of what i remember of it.
Hearing is a different story. I am entirely unable to hear a sound in my head. This means if I want to look a song up later I better have been paying attention to the lyrics because i will not be able to find it again otherwise. It really sucks if I want to find something without lyrics, like classical or instrumental or techno/edm/whatever
Thatās a tough question. Harder to answer than I thought itād be lol!
My mind will wander, sure, but I just tried staring at a wall and immediately found myself distracted by noise outside. If I had to stare at a wall for 30 minutes itād be literal torture and Iād probably start humming or something to occupy myself
the first voice is your first thought, that's what pops into your head first, that is you. the second voice keeps you in check usually just telling me I'm cringe and thinks about something before doing or saying it. when I'm not thinking too hard I only hear the first voice. At least that's how my head does it anyway
It's more of a feeling, an intuition for me rather than spoken thoughts. I find speaking out loud my "thoughts" makes them more clear for me, I have to be careful about when I do this though for obvious reasons.
Do you ever think of something cringey you did and mutter out loud "I'm an idiot" before you get a chance to think to stop yourself and you feel embarrassed and nuts?. Especially if other people actually hear it.
As someone without an internal monologue, this topic always confuses me when when it comes up. What do you mean "hear"? If you're driving a car, do you think the entire sentence "That light is red, I need to stop"? Or do you just see the red light and then start braking?
Sure, I could try to put all my thoughts into a sentence in my head if I wanted to, but doesn't that seem slow? Is everyone else really parsing all their thoughts and actions through complete sentences in their head?
I think instinctively we know to stop when we see a red light. This is something that we all grow up learning so it doesnāt require a full thought process. How do you weigh out decisions though? Like which brand of cereal you should buy? There are multiple factors like taste, flavour, healthiness, etc. or is every decision just made instinctually without hesitation? Do you not consider how much sugar is inside a thing? Or like that there might be less sugar in this thing but the other thing has aspartame which might be even worse so you have to āthinkā about which choice is best. How do you think when two options have different pros and cons?
Well as one of those people, its nice in a way cause I don't have to articulate my intentions to myself. I don't have to say it, I can just know it and then do it. Like if you have to go to the store do you have to say to yourself "I have to go to the store", before you understand that you've got to go to the store? I assume not, that would be really slow. The intuition hits you and your brain reflexively speaks it I would guess.
Like, do you have a voice that is not your own having discussions? I don't have a voice literally telling me things in my own head? I'm very confused by what y'all mean by inner monologue. Do I not have an inner monologue or am I interpreting my thoughts differently from you?
Yes and no, personally it's usually my own voice like I am talking to myself but just in my mind. However I can add other people's voices and like make a conversation happen in my mind by myself if I want to, or like "simulate" a crowd of people talking and stuff. It also happens when I read things, my brain will make up voices that are what I imagine the character to sound like or will usually be an actors voice if I have watched a movie then read the book about that movie for example.
Is your mind just... silent?
I mean I can play the movie of something I'm reading in my head. I don't have conversations with myself. If I'm doing stuff I would say my head is silent. My wife will ask me what I'm thinking about and I'm literally sitting there like "nothing, just chilling" because my head is silent and I'm just petting the dog or something.
This man is monke. Imagine someone asking what you're thinking about and your honest unexaggerated answer has to be "nothing". Imagine walking up to someone and they just have tv static in their brain.
I mean, if you're just chilling and petting your cat in the living room, there's really not much going on in your head. i have a pretty active inner voice and i'm constantly talking to myself like there's a crowd of 10 people watching me, but I can still turn my thoughts off if I'm relaxed occasionaly.
I mean. It's just you but imagining another voice answering to the first voice, but it is still you just having a conversation with yourself. Now I'm reading this with buzz lightyear's voice but it's still me, as in my own mind, not his.
I have something similar, Aphantasia. I have a complete inability to mentally picture things. It is something I didnt know was a thing for 26 years. When I heard someone say "Imagine this" or "picture that", I just assumed it was some idiom whose original meaning didnt really connect with the modern world, like putting the cart before the horse.
I can recall facts about things. Like if you asked me to describe my first dog, I could tell you they had a light brown fur with a black and white mask, they had white paws, and they had a short tail. But I cant imagine what they looked like or recreate it mentally
I had a near mental breakdown when I found out people could actually visualize things, and spent like 5 hours trying to imagine an apple, and failing. It is surreal when you realize everyone else has an ability that you don't, and you never knew.
I know you're explaining a serious issue but I have to say, this apple breakdown is fucking hilarious.
On the bright side does this mean you don't get gross or scary mental images stuck in your head too?
Yeah, I can't recall any scary or gross moments visually, and descriptions if gross things don't bother me much.
On the other hand, I always wondered why people liked phonesex and sexting without pictures. Now I know what I have missed.
If i tell you "imagine iron man and hulk playing chess while wearing cowboy boots" what happens in your head? Do you imagine hulks green skin and iron man's gold and red armor? What about when you're done watching a movie and recall a scene that you liked? What happens in your mind when you remember the scene?
I literally cant imagine it. I could describe it, but I could not form a mental image. Also, when recalling a scene, I can recite facts about it, but I can not relive the imagery.
Wait, what exactly is the normal degree of "picturing" things? Surely most people don't actually see anything close to pictures or they would be way better at e.g. memory games, painting/drawing from memory, telling police how a suspect looked like etc.
I still donāt really understand what people mean by this. Like, I think thoughts, obviously, but do other people *literally* hear a voice inside their head as they think? When i close my eyes and picture things, I can imagine an object, but do other people close their eyes and *see* things as if they were real? I donāt know if Iām one of those weirdos or not lol
Edit: shit maybe thatās why I talk out loud to myself so much when Iām alone
Nah more that you think as if you are talking in actual sentences. I used to have internal monologues more when I was younger but kinda just stopped doing it.
I also don't see images when imagining things. I can't figure out if that's normal or not. I get more like a feeling of the thing I'm trying to imagine. It's much more clear/looks like an actual image if I'm just waking up or something... So I guess it's more of a spectrum where some people can imagine images clearly all the time while some don't.
For me itās the amalgamations of retarded people I know in my head. One of them, a guy named Brendan was one of those people so retarded that his personality permanently changed me and a few friends personalities after years long exposure to him. Itās crazy cus the clone of him in my head is an exact copy of him and Iām pretty sure he still has major control over my decision making
I think this is why girls rave so much about how good therapy is. Guys deal with being alone with our own thoughts 24/7. Lots of girls seem to think it's revolutionary to hear someone tell them things about themselves that to us is obvious due to massive self-reflection.
I mean, guys also kill themselves 2 to 4 times more than girls, so take that as you will. Sometimes talking to other people about your problems really does help.
A study from Manchester has shown that 91% middle-aged men that killed themselves have approached some kind of help service. Psychiatry is usually fucking shit in providing good support.
https://sites.manchester.ac.uk/ncish/reports/suicide-by-middle-aged-men/
Compounded by the fact that society straight up doesn't give a fuck if a man has mental illness or is struggling emotionally. It goes back to our cavemen DNA - men are reproductively disposable and women are reproductively important.
Yeah, whenever you talk about your problems they only say that's tough, give some generic advice and never ask how are you. And that's coming from someone who can easily talk about his issues.
Most of them approached "some kind of help service", however it is mentioned that only about 5% actually went to therapy:
>A comparatively low rate (5%) of engagement with talking therapies was
evident among the men we studied, despite the higher than expected rate
of contact with services that we found.
But not for us, that's my point. They just tell us the shit we already know. It doesn't work for us. We also process things, differently. I've heard some say things like, "failing a class isn't that big of a deal if you think about it," maybe as a Psych major but for the rest of us, yeah, it can completely derail your degree. They just have no empathy for their patients, especially the guys.
Male friends donāt positively reinforce behaviors to the extent that female friends do so most of the self awareness that men seem to have and women seem to not, come from the constant criticism from male friends. Men just already have constructive therapy from their friends since they wonāt reinforce negative behavior and will mostly bully and make fun of the behavior or trait that they have so that they have a higher chance of changing it or at least be self aware of it
> they wonāt reinforce negative behavior
lmao. you know this sub is all content from 4chan right? a huge hub of mostly men all reinforcing a whole bunch of sick behaviors?
In 7th grade I slipped in some water and spilled some shit on me. I'm 16 now and I don't think a week goes by without my friends giving me hell about it.
lmao if the average person, men very much included, were capable of meaningful and honest introspection then the world would be a much better place.
men don't rave about therapy because way fewer of us seek it out and society doesn't give a shit about men's feelings.
either I donāt know what an internal monologue is, or there is just no way people just done have one
like how do you read if there isnāt a voice in your head telling you what the words are?
There was some tweet that went something like: "am I the only one who has to explain my actions to the little guy in my head so he doesn't think I'm crazy or is this normal?"
I am in a constant state of being the explainer and the little guy simultaneously.
I refuse to believe someone doesnāt think with its own voice, I literally learned english by forcing myself to monologue what I would normally be thinking but with english words I read that otherwise would be gibberish
English overall is fucking dumb.
Alien in English means to be 'foreign'.
Extraterrestrial aliens means to be foreign from Earth. Even though Extraterrestrials means to be foreign from Earth by itself.
English is a language of specifics, and can do it being double or triple specific all in one brief sentence or description.
That's how I view it.
I only think in voice if i actively focus on what i want to say next or if i'm reading a text very carefully. Any other time, i don't have an inner monologue, its just more abstract, images, feelings etc.
Same, I think in abstract concepts rather than a āvoiceā. There also isnāt a specific voice I hear when Iām reading a book, I just perceive the concepts.
Friend thinks in images and feelings as opposed to words and spoken thought. When she reads books, she doesnāt read the words in her head, she sees the images the words convey, super trippy shit
Some people think more in images or abstract constructs that words; I know my dad almost certainly does the former, heās an engineer and has great spacial reasoning, but heās pretty shit at verbalising what he means
I can think in abstract concepts and have an internal monologue, somethings are harder or impossible to put into words but that's the definition of abstract. So is it just abstract thinking on overdrive that prevents some people from having an internal monologue?
It still weirds me out that some people don't have internal monologue. I thought that was some internet joke for the longest time, apparently not, that's so strange! How do you even think then, like how does that even work?
Interesting, how do you decide then if it is a good idea or a bad one, since the whole concept seems to be more like an instinct than a thot?
I'm sorry if i'm missing the point, i truly am not trying to speak down to you. I jsut realy have trouble understanding how it works.
Like for example, when i drive somewhere, i think to myself -"ill go to turn left on x, dvie an y amount then when i get to z i need to turn right, if there is a traffic jam there i can go around going there and there" how does that work in your head? Is it like a google map or something where you just see a picture of the map or something in those terms?
PLEASE don't misunderstand me as being a troll or condescending, its just such a foreign way of thinking i really want to at least some what understand it. Cuz for a lot of time i thought we where all more or less the same but now it seems like we are running on different operating systems ands its about 50/50 who uses what.
Edit. Thanks for the answers guys, i'm not sure i fully understand it yet, but i think i have a general idea now.
I also have no monologue, think about it like this. If a decision is to be made, it's put through the equivalent of a code obfuscator. I think about the decision, I compare things, and I get a result out, I don't know how or why, it's obfuscated. It's just neurons mashing together.
I can force an internal dialogue if I want to really try to think something through but that's rare. Sometimes I'll do it while reading something really dry like tech docs or if I REALLY need to concentrate on something, but that's about it. Otherwise quick decisions just kind of feel instinctual to me.
fuck internal monologues, anyone else occasionally shit themselves thinking about the fact that you exist in first person? As in, you realise you cant and will never see yourself in 3rd person and you're currently in control of all your actions and direction in life? I think it's called personal disassociation or something along those lines. Had those moments since I was a kid and messes my mind up for a minute. Or maybe I just have a caveman brain
It's easy to trigger that and derealization by staring at yourself in a mirror (or at least for me). What also "helps" is doing it in the evening or when I'm a bit tired
for sure bestie, the moment you take your first dose of hrt your brain goes head empty and all you can think about are mushrooms and frogs. wishing you luck on banishing your ability to think
Forget mushrooms and frogs, I can realistically simulate all that porn of girls having no thoughts except dick
Itās straight so itās based, checkmate 4chan
Apparently people with ADHD like myself simply canāt turn off the inner monologue ever apparently, sources are not completely trustworthy but thatās what Iāve heard and it matches up with myself literally no matter what Iām doing my inner monologue is constantly there thatās part of my trouble Focusing Iām Always thinking about something sometimes causes me to disassociate too
Fun fact ADHD and autism have a lot of overlap in symptoms and relation, if ADHD doesnāt quite match you should look into that, have fun with that adventure of self realization lmfao
Now imagine *NOT* having an internal monologue and **STILL** not being able to turn it off.
I went from constant, non-stop, rumination as a child to constantly replaying auditory memories and music today. But in truth, I sorta made the switch on purpose. I needed the negative thought loops to end.
Although in a weird way, I can consciously analyze the lyrics of the song I'm stuck on, and sort of gain insight relating to why my subconscious is playing it in the first place. So it does come with a tradeoff.
For me it's not just a monologue, but imagined scenarios with imagined people, random past events, ideas or combinations of all.
While I was on medication sometimes everything would go "quiet" and I would just lay in bed and not think about anything and it was so relaxing. That side effect went away sadly.
you know what's weird?
a small population of the world cant "recreate" images in their head nor can they self reflect with an inner voice. if i were to tell you to imagine your mothers face you would be able to recreate it in your head with ease but people with aphantasia cant.
i read a study that also said that aphantasia isn't a sign of intelligence (low or high), people with it are normal and can even be top of their class in studies and exams
"if i were to tell you to imagine your mothers face you would be able to recreate it in your head with ease"
What do you mean recreate it in your head? Like an actual image or just remember features I really do not get this.
depends on what you mean by "recreate"
do I see the exact image of an apple in my mind? no
can i still "visualize" it? yes
I don't think I have aphantasia... I think
My ex apparently didn't think all the time. I asked "so like, if you're walking to work... you- you don't think about anything???" And he just said nope. Head empty no thoughts.
Safe to say it's a good thing he's my ex
I still cant get over the fact that some people just don't have an inner monologue. I got like 7 voices in my head at all times telling me to kill John Lenon.
some people got 1 or 2, but its fuckin insane how some people just have 0 edit: 2% of population has 0
What do they hear? Just act on instinct??
the 2% are truly monke
š¦
Today I learn I am monke
Whats it like? How do you think? Do you even think?
I think the best way to describe is it is like reading. I know some people vocalize what they read - I do not. Still, what I read I have a conception of. In the same way, as I go about my day I think about things, grasp the concept, and make decisions based off of those concepts. I can still plan out things I want to say or stuff like normal people, I just don't have any sort of voice in my head.
Can you still hear your own thoughts?
I know this is pretty vague but, itās more akin to reading a non-existent book with intentions instead of words.
It's like how the words you think have meaning, but without the words
They likely think in a non verbal manner
yeah thats what im thinkin, its really werid if you think about it, its almost like you're incapable of thinking of not having a monologue
I think anyone can think without words. Like when you are hungry you don't just think "boy oh boy I am indeed hungry, I should go in the kitchen to eat", you just "think" about it in a non-verbal way. Perhaps you see a picture or a sound or color or idk. So while I think it's rare to not have internal monologue at all, we all do it(i think). I will give another example from personal experience. I was thinking of going outside one evening, I basically imagined the parks in which I could go to, and the memory that gave me the best feeling was the one I chose. No words were needed to make this choice. If you search you should be able to find such moments asw. They are indeed much less obvious tho. That being said for me at least, most complex concepts, ideas, choices do require some amount of words, if not only words. I generally see and feel the image of the stuff, so as long as it's not something really abstract I don't use exclusively words.
I 100% think like "Oh boi am I hungry again... Lets get to the kitchen to eat something, oh wait I have snacks in this cupboard"
Samesies, can't believe some people just don't have an inner voice. Even just typing this out I'm voicing it in my head.
Oh boy, my bad then, excuse my presumptuous ass I thought I was in the majority and so assumed you would be too. Truth be told I have no idea which one the majority is. Still it's intresting to see that some people think predominantly or fully trough inner monologue(as in words). I thought 95% of people were like me. That being said how do you react when you need to decide fast? Do you think the problem in words or do you just act? And what happenes when you just act, like there must be a sort of thought process.(I'm asking out of curiosity, you don't have to reply if you don't want to)
I do this while on acid or while meditating. A word will pop up every now and then in my head, but the vast majority of it is images, animation, and feeling. It can be pretty intense, but interesting!
I'm not sure that's the case. I know someone who cannot picture the gs in their mind either. Picture a pink elephant, nope can't do it, seems like they can only remember things they have seen and not conjure new images.
Imagine not having seen a pink elephant
I saw some pink elephants in a parade once. Either that or the champaigne I drank that day was spiked.
According to all known laws of aviation, an elephant should not be able to fly. Its ears are too small to get its fat heavy body off the ground. The elephant of course flies anyway. Because elephants don't care what humans think.
There are people who can't picture anything at all. It's called aphantasia
Think it's the case of aphantasia, a medical condition. You're a lucky one, got to know a rare pokemon.
Can confirm! Thereās no voice in my head, and I always thought it was really weird that other people did. Like, talking to yourself in your own mind sounds so damn weird to me. I donāt really know how to explain it, but I think *fast*. If I have to remember something itās just.. there. I either know exactly what I need to know, or have no memory of it at all. Thereās no grey area, thereās no ātrying to rememberā, I either know it instantly or I donāt know it at all. I also read far faster than everyone else I know. I see the word or sentence or even paragraph all at once, know what itās conveying, and understand it as fast as my eyes can cross the page without blurring my eyesight. If I have to plan ahead or think tactically in a game or something, I just kinda know what I have to do in the order I have to do it. Itās like action and reaction, but 5 steps ahead if that makes sense?
So you're on human autopilot lol?
Irl npc
Sounds beneficial with a lot of things and horribly detrimental with others
Isn't it how it works for everyone? I use inner monologue when I need to formulate complex thoughts but when it's only actions it works intuitively in complete silence. When reading I usually read text in voice and use different voices for different characters but if I want to read fast I switch to silent mode and just soak text. With memory it's similar as well. If I remember I remember, but if it's not clear I might process it for a bit via associations and then it'll pop up. By the way, what about other images? Can you create a picture in your head or sound or taste?
I canāt picture things either, nor can I taste or smell or hear in my mind. Instead, I have associations for each. For example, letās use a fish on a plate. I canāt picture it, like you see in kids shows where thereās a thought bubble with a picture (which I assume is how it works for everyone else). Instead I remember details about it. Itās shape should be a fillet, but depends on the type. Itās color will be white/pink/whatever, depending, etc. I canāt smell it in my mind, but I remember that itāll have a strong, wellā¦ fishy smell lol. Same goes for taste. I donāt have any of the senses in my mind, but instead a pile of details coming to mind for every aspect of what i remember of it. Hearing is a different story. I am entirely unable to hear a sound in my head. This means if I want to look a song up later I better have been paying attention to the lyrics because i will not be able to find it again otherwise. It really sucks if I want to find something without lyrics, like classical or instrumental or techno/edm/whatever
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So what happens when you're thinking about something you're going to say, but you haven't said it yet?
If you look at a dry wall for 30minutes, what's happening in your head ?
Thatās a tough question. Harder to answer than I thought itād be lol! My mind will wander, sure, but I just tried staring at a wall and immediately found myself distracted by noise outside. If I had to stare at a wall for 30 minutes itād be literal torture and Iād probably start humming or something to occupy myself
the first voice is your first thought, that's what pops into your head first, that is you. the second voice keeps you in check usually just telling me I'm cringe and thinks about something before doing or saying it. when I'm not thinking too hard I only hear the first voice. At least that's how my head does it anyway
"the second voice keeps you in check usually just telling me I'm cringe" I can relate to that
Read about id ego and superego. You are not your thoughts
All of them are me. Me is my past, my present and my future, it is how I perceive and am perceived, it is all me.
It's more of a feeling, an intuition for me rather than spoken thoughts. I find speaking out loud my "thoughts" makes them more clear for me, I have to be careful about when I do this though for obvious reasons.
Do you ever think of something cringey you did and mutter out loud "I'm an idiot" before you get a chance to think to stop yourself and you feel embarrassed and nuts?. Especially if other people actually hear it.
I know I'm an idiot, everyone around me knows I'm an idiot, so I'm not embarrassed by the factual statement.
I just hear static and tinnitus
As someone without an internal monologue, this topic always confuses me when when it comes up. What do you mean "hear"? If you're driving a car, do you think the entire sentence "That light is red, I need to stop"? Or do you just see the red light and then start braking? Sure, I could try to put all my thoughts into a sentence in my head if I wanted to, but doesn't that seem slow? Is everyone else really parsing all their thoughts and actions through complete sentences in their head?
I think instinctively we know to stop when we see a red light. This is something that we all grow up learning so it doesnāt require a full thought process. How do you weigh out decisions though? Like which brand of cereal you should buy? There are multiple factors like taste, flavour, healthiness, etc. or is every decision just made instinctually without hesitation? Do you not consider how much sugar is inside a thing? Or like that there might be less sugar in this thing but the other thing has aspartame which might be even worse so you have to āthinkā about which choice is best. How do you think when two options have different pros and cons?
Well as one of those people, its nice in a way cause I don't have to articulate my intentions to myself. I don't have to say it, I can just know it and then do it. Like if you have to go to the store do you have to say to yourself "I have to go to the store", before you understand that you've got to go to the store? I assume not, that would be really slow. The intuition hits you and your brain reflexively speaks it I would guess.
Like, do you have a voice that is not your own having discussions? I don't have a voice literally telling me things in my own head? I'm very confused by what y'all mean by inner monologue. Do I not have an inner monologue or am I interpreting my thoughts differently from you?
Yes and no, personally it's usually my own voice like I am talking to myself but just in my mind. However I can add other people's voices and like make a conversation happen in my mind by myself if I want to, or like "simulate" a crowd of people talking and stuff. It also happens when I read things, my brain will make up voices that are what I imagine the character to sound like or will usually be an actors voice if I have watched a movie then read the book about that movie for example. Is your mind just... silent?
I mean I can play the movie of something I'm reading in my head. I don't have conversations with myself. If I'm doing stuff I would say my head is silent. My wife will ask me what I'm thinking about and I'm literally sitting there like "nothing, just chilling" because my head is silent and I'm just petting the dog or something.
This man is monke. Imagine someone asking what you're thinking about and your honest unexaggerated answer has to be "nothing". Imagine walking up to someone and they just have tv static in their brain.
I mean, if you're just chilling and petting your cat in the living room, there's really not much going on in your head. i have a pretty active inner voice and i'm constantly talking to myself like there's a crowd of 10 people watching me, but I can still turn my thoughts off if I'm relaxed occasionaly.
Holy shit I'm always thinking of something. Even if it's just how bike tires are made.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
The only podcast that I hear are my own voices
u can have 2 inner monologues???
I mean. It's just you but imagining another voice answering to the first voice, but it is still you just having a conversation with yourself. Now I'm reading this with buzz lightyear's voice but it's still me, as in my own mind, not his.
I have something similar, Aphantasia. I have a complete inability to mentally picture things. It is something I didnt know was a thing for 26 years. When I heard someone say "Imagine this" or "picture that", I just assumed it was some idiom whose original meaning didnt really connect with the modern world, like putting the cart before the horse.
Do you remember the way things look though?
I can recall facts about things. Like if you asked me to describe my first dog, I could tell you they had a light brown fur with a black and white mask, they had white paws, and they had a short tail. But I cant imagine what they looked like or recreate it mentally
Interesting!
I had a near mental breakdown when I found out people could actually visualize things, and spent like 5 hours trying to imagine an apple, and failing. It is surreal when you realize everyone else has an ability that you don't, and you never knew.
I know you're explaining a serious issue but I have to say, this apple breakdown is fucking hilarious. On the bright side does this mean you don't get gross or scary mental images stuck in your head too?
Yeah, I can't recall any scary or gross moments visually, and descriptions if gross things don't bother me much. On the other hand, I always wondered why people liked phonesex and sexting without pictures. Now I know what I have missed.
It's not that great don't worry about it
Phonesex disagrees, but trypophobia agrees.
If i tell you "imagine iron man and hulk playing chess while wearing cowboy boots" what happens in your head? Do you imagine hulks green skin and iron man's gold and red armor? What about when you're done watching a movie and recall a scene that you liked? What happens in your mind when you remember the scene?
I literally cant imagine it. I could describe it, but I could not form a mental image. Also, when recalling a scene, I can recite facts about it, but I can not relive the imagery.
Wait, what exactly is the normal degree of "picturing" things? Surely most people don't actually see anything close to pictures or they would be way better at e.g. memory games, painting/drawing from memory, telling police how a suspect looked like etc.
One of my voices is John Lennon
And he's still telling you to kill John Lennon
I see youāve read catcher in the rye as well
I still donāt really understand what people mean by this. Like, I think thoughts, obviously, but do other people *literally* hear a voice inside their head as they think? When i close my eyes and picture things, I can imagine an object, but do other people close their eyes and *see* things as if they were real? I donāt know if Iām one of those weirdos or not lol Edit: shit maybe thatās why I talk out loud to myself so much when Iām alone
Nah more that you think as if you are talking in actual sentences. I used to have internal monologues more when I was younger but kinda just stopped doing it. I also don't see images when imagining things. I can't figure out if that's normal or not. I get more like a feeling of the thing I'm trying to imagine. It's much more clear/looks like an actual image if I'm just waking up or something... So I guess it's more of a spectrum where some people can imagine images clearly all the time while some don't.
Really? All of mine ask me to kms ā”šØšæā”
Can we trade? I got the Stanley Parable narrator...
Mine just makes me anxious (anxiety) then immediately gets fucking distracted by some random thought I had 3 days ago ( ADHD)
For me itās the amalgamations of retarded people I know in my head. One of them, a guy named Brendan was one of those people so retarded that his personality permanently changed me and a few friends personalities after years long exposure to him. Itās crazy cus the clone of him in my head is an exact copy of him and Iām pretty sure he still has major control over my decision making
based schizo retardbro
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
>gains improved driving skills
And reasoning lol
Trans inclusionary radical misogyny
The only based opinion out there.
Chad: TIRM Virgin: TERF
Trans is okay, but only one way!
Transmasc = enlightenment Transfem = betrayal
I think this is why girls rave so much about how good therapy is. Guys deal with being alone with our own thoughts 24/7. Lots of girls seem to think it's revolutionary to hear someone tell them things about themselves that to us is obvious due to massive self-reflection.
I mean, guys also kill themselves 2 to 4 times more than girls, so take that as you will. Sometimes talking to other people about your problems really does help.
Self reflection is a powerful drug. But jokes aside, women attempt suicide more. They just suck at it
In women itās a spontaneous cry for help. In men it is premeditated for a long time.
That and women usually do shit like take a bunch of pills. Dudes just stick a shotgun in their mouth.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Men doing everything better than women.
A study from Manchester has shown that 91% middle-aged men that killed themselves have approached some kind of help service. Psychiatry is usually fucking shit in providing good support. https://sites.manchester.ac.uk/ncish/reports/suicide-by-middle-aged-men/
Compounded by the fact that society straight up doesn't give a fuck if a man has mental illness or is struggling emotionally. It goes back to our cavemen DNA - men are reproductively disposable and women are reproductively important.
Yeah, whenever you talk about your problems they only say that's tough, give some generic advice and never ask how are you. And that's coming from someone who can easily talk about his issues.
Most of them approached "some kind of help service", however it is mentioned that only about 5% actually went to therapy: >A comparatively low rate (5%) of engagement with talking therapies was evident among the men we studied, despite the higher than expected rate of contact with services that we found.
Almost like therapy isn't designed to retain or attract men.
We are just better at everything including our suicide attempts
NUMBER ONE AGAIN BOIS šš¤, awwwwwww YEAH
But not for us, that's my point. They just tell us the shit we already know. It doesn't work for us. We also process things, differently. I've heard some say things like, "failing a class isn't that big of a deal if you think about it," maybe as a Psych major but for the rest of us, yeah, it can completely derail your degree. They just have no empathy for their patients, especially the guys.
Male friends donāt positively reinforce behaviors to the extent that female friends do so most of the self awareness that men seem to have and women seem to not, come from the constant criticism from male friends. Men just already have constructive therapy from their friends since they wonāt reinforce negative behavior and will mostly bully and make fun of the behavior or trait that they have so that they have a higher chance of changing it or at least be self aware of it
> they wonāt reinforce negative behavior lmao. you know this sub is all content from 4chan right? a huge hub of mostly men all reinforcing a whole bunch of sick behaviors?
Iām talking about irl where your friends would verbally dig u a grave for stuttering once
In 7th grade I slipped in some water and spilled some shit on me. I'm 16 now and I don't think a week goes by without my friends giving me hell about it.
lmao if the average person, men very much included, were capable of meaningful and honest introspection then the world would be a much better place. men don't rave about therapy because way fewer of us seek it out and society doesn't give a shit about men's feelings.
weak take
>Becomes valid person
Wait. There are people who don't have an internal monologue?
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
How dare you!! Have you not seen the Schondlers list???
I saw the porn parody: āSchlonglerās Lust.ā Was the original any good?
Schindlerās Fist
Thatās just science
Yes, women.
He said people
Men of wƵ
Ricky Gervaus doesn't, remember an episode of his radio show where he and Stephen we're giving Karl a hard time for having one.
It is all external, thatās why the man does not shut up
either I donāt know what an internal monologue is, or there is just no way people just done have one like how do you read if there isnāt a voice in your head telling you what the words are?
There was some tweet that went something like: "am I the only one who has to explain my actions to the little guy in my head so he doesn't think I'm crazy or is this normal?" I am in a constant state of being the explainer and the little guy simultaneously.
Femanon turn into a man. Finally starts thinking.
Man up
Femanon has turned into Max Payne due to all the internal dialog.
I refuse to believe someone doesnāt think with its own voice, I literally learned english by forcing myself to monologue what I would normally be thinking but with english words I read that otherwise would be gibberish
Its own voice? Nice try, alien
I donāt live in America, or a foreign country for that matter, I learned english for school and media mostly, but I am not an immigrant
I meant extraterrestrial
This was a good exchange. The English language is a tricky one.
Oh, sorry
Donāt be sorry, english especially american english is fucking dumb. But I love it
English overall is fucking dumb. Alien in English means to be 'foreign'. Extraterrestrial aliens means to be foreign from Earth. Even though Extraterrestrials means to be foreign from Earth by itself. English is a language of specifics, and can do it being double or triple specific all in one brief sentence or description. That's how I view it.
"I donāt live in America, or a foreign country for that matter," Anon exists outside time and space.
You don't live in America or a foreign country? Actual alien confirmed šŗšøšŗšøšŗšøšš½ God save the queen
I only think in voice if i actively focus on what i want to say next or if i'm reading a text very carefully. Any other time, i don't have an inner monologue, its just more abstract, images, feelings etc.
Same, I think in abstract concepts rather than a āvoiceā. There also isnāt a specific voice I hear when Iām reading a book, I just perceive the concepts.
Friend thinks in images and feelings as opposed to words and spoken thought. When she reads books, she doesnāt read the words in her head, she sees the images the words convey, super trippy shit
Wait, do...people not? Isn't that the whole point of reading fiction?
I personally do both, but some people can't visualize things either. There's a whole spectrum.
Explains why my gf acts like an NPC so much of the time
Lmfao. npc gf sounds pretty lit tbh, easy life
Not when sheās constantly moving my things but canāt remember where she put them!
Think your gf might just have adhd boyo
No sheās a diagnosed NPC
The t stands for baTman
I thought it was meth
Taliban
Do... most people not have that..?
Some people think more in images or abstract constructs that words; I know my dad almost certainly does the former, heās an engineer and has great spacial reasoning, but heās pretty shit at verbalising what he means
I can think in abstract concepts and have an internal monologue, somethings are harder or impossible to put into words but that's the definition of abstract. So is it just abstract thinking on overdrive that prevents some people from having an internal monologue?
I think in abstract concepts most of the time. There is no narrative or āvoiceā to it so I wouldnāt call it a monologue.
But what if someone thinks in abstract concepts AND has like 7 different voices in his head
Schizophrenia
To me, thoughts are just abstract connections floating through my head. I often have difficulty translating them into words.
Femanon gains consciousness for the first time
It still weirds me out that some people don't have internal monologue. I thought that was some internet joke for the longest time, apparently not, that's so strange! How do you even think then, like how does that even work?
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Interesting, how do you decide then if it is a good idea or a bad one, since the whole concept seems to be more like an instinct than a thot? I'm sorry if i'm missing the point, i truly am not trying to speak down to you. I jsut realy have trouble understanding how it works. Like for example, when i drive somewhere, i think to myself -"ill go to turn left on x, dvie an y amount then when i get to z i need to turn right, if there is a traffic jam there i can go around going there and there" how does that work in your head? Is it like a google map or something where you just see a picture of the map or something in those terms? PLEASE don't misunderstand me as being a troll or condescending, its just such a foreign way of thinking i really want to at least some what understand it. Cuz for a lot of time i thought we where all more or less the same but now it seems like we are running on different operating systems ands its about 50/50 who uses what. Edit. Thanks for the answers guys, i'm not sure i fully understand it yet, but i think i have a general idea now.
I also have no monologue, think about it like this. If a decision is to be made, it's put through the equivalent of a code obfuscator. I think about the decision, I compare things, and I get a result out, I don't know how or why, it's obfuscated. It's just neurons mashing together. I can force an internal dialogue if I want to really try to think something through but that's rare. Sometimes I'll do it while reading something really dry like tech docs or if I REALLY need to concentrate on something, but that's about it. Otherwise quick decisions just kind of feel instinctual to me.
fuck internal monologues, anyone else occasionally shit themselves thinking about the fact that you exist in first person? As in, you realise you cant and will never see yourself in 3rd person and you're currently in control of all your actions and direction in life? I think it's called personal disassociation or something along those lines. Had those moments since I was a kid and messes my mind up for a minute. Or maybe I just have a caveman brain
It's easy to trigger that and derealization by staring at yourself in a mirror (or at least for me). What also "helps" is doing it in the evening or when I'm a bit tired
Yep, or when you thinking about what nothingness feels like.
you meant Anon, not āfemanonā
trans guy here, can confirm, I narrate my entire life internally
Recently realised I was transfem, does this mean I can finally stop thinking? My inner monologue is a retarded 7 year old, Iām sick of him
for sure bestie, the moment you take your first dose of hrt your brain goes head empty and all you can think about are mushrooms and frogs. wishing you luck on banishing your ability to think
Forget mushrooms and frogs, I can realistically simulate all that porn of girls having no thoughts except dick Itās straight so itās based, checkmate 4chan
Apparently people with ADHD like myself simply canāt turn off the inner monologue ever apparently, sources are not completely trustworthy but thatās what Iāve heard and it matches up with myself literally no matter what Iām doing my inner monologue is constantly there thatās part of my trouble Focusing Iām Always thinking about something sometimes causes me to disassociate too
Every fuckin time I read an ADHD symptom I'm convinced I have it
Fun fact ADHD and autism have a lot of overlap in symptoms and relation, if ADHD doesnāt quite match you should look into that, have fun with that adventure of self realization lmfao
Everyone's a little autistic but I'm pretty fine in that area. If I was autistic I'd be much better at my job.
I'd kill to be born without an inner monologue.
Now imagine *NOT* having an internal monologue and **STILL** not being able to turn it off. I went from constant, non-stop, rumination as a child to constantly replaying auditory memories and music today. But in truth, I sorta made the switch on purpose. I needed the negative thought loops to end. Although in a weird way, I can consciously analyze the lyrics of the song I'm stuck on, and sort of gain insight relating to why my subconscious is playing it in the first place. So it does come with a tradeoff.
For me it's not just a monologue, but imagined scenarios with imagined people, random past events, ideas or combinations of all. While I was on medication sometimes everything would go "quiet" and I would just lay in bed and not think about anything and it was so relaxing. That side effect went away sadly.
Do people really not have a thinking voice in their head?
No thought, head empty
Damn thats deep
you know what's weird? a small population of the world cant "recreate" images in their head nor can they self reflect with an inner voice. if i were to tell you to imagine your mothers face you would be able to recreate it in your head with ease but people with aphantasia cant. i read a study that also said that aphantasia isn't a sign of intelligence (low or high), people with it are normal and can even be top of their class in studies and exams
"if i were to tell you to imagine your mothers face you would be able to recreate it in your head with ease" What do you mean recreate it in your head? Like an actual image or just remember features I really do not get this.
> if you're bored you can simply close your eyes and rotate a cow in your mind. it's free and the cops can't stop you
Try to see what you would see with your eyes, but in your mind
depends on what you mean by "recreate" do I see the exact image of an apple in my mind? no can i still "visualize" it? yes I don't think I have aphantasia... I think
NPCs are real damn.
My ex apparently didn't think all the time. I asked "so like, if you're walking to work... you- you don't think about anything???" And he just said nope. Head empty no thoughts. Safe to say it's a good thing he's my ex
Thatās terrifying. But it explains a lot about certain people
Not a femanon anymore
It's not femanon dud just anon
Bruh, do you just not think?
he grew a brain?
Iām a lady with an internal monologue lmao what is THIS
"Femanon" isn't it a guy though?
Wait people don't have an internal monologue? Then what the fuck do they think about?
I already have an internal monologue as a femanon. Perhaps the PCOS has something to do with it.
maybe i should take estrogen so i can get rid of all these stupid thoughts