My last post blew up unexpectedly, which is nice. But I feel some responsibility to try to rationalize this whole thing. I am hoping that some good can come from this realization. I hope it gives scientists a better understanding of the brain, which can eventually lead to breakthroughs in mental health. A lot of depression and anxiety stems from that “little voice in the back of your head.” I had a theory that maybe people that do not have the internal monologue could be better defended against depression. Nowadays, so many people are being diagnosed with mental illness, so maybe it is an evolutionary benefit if we are talking in terms of Darwinism. Darwin always preached that animals that survive the longest are the ones that are the best at adapting and overcoming disadvantages. So maybe it is our way of preventing unwanted deaths from suicide, addictions, and other adverse effects caused by mental illnesses. I am not saying that any of this theory holds any scientific weight at all, but it does get you thinking. This theory can easily be tested through surveys and polls, so I hope this sparks the interest of anyone with a passion for psychology/neurology. Who knows, maybe this will cause a domino effect of theories and experiments which can ultimate improve our understanding of this batshit crazy world we live in. Whatever comes out of this, I am just glad that people are using their brains and connecting with others around them. Everyone is so distracted by the external world and forgets to look inwards.
RIP KOBE.
@RyanLangdon_
Inside My Mind 
I think example looks at the mountains , I wonder if anyone is up there. I don’t feel I speak to self more like think what I need to do and have imagination when I’m bored. But a dialogue I am mind blown about having these thoughts. Maybe I need clarification . I tend to problem solve or plan what I need to do or what comes next
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I think they’re speaking of your inner voice. Mine sounds like I do. There’s not however a conversation going on in my mind , but I do think in sentences
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The simplest answer I can think of….there is always more than one way of doing things. And yes I am like you having conversations in my mind all day and night too which leads me to this question. I wonder how the others dream? That would be an interesting topic to broach.
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You can find out some of the state of the art research into this (as of 2-3 years ago) from Matthew Walker’s book “Why We Sleep”.
It’s somewhat expensive and difficult to collect data about the details of what people are dreaming, but the technology is there and the “proof of concept” has been done, so I would guess that the funding is probably available for further work.
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Interesting..I don’t have conversations, and I don’t dream to often. When I do it’s more of a continuation of daydreaming or like watching and/or starring in a movie in my mind.
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I always thought the ability to hum a song – sometimes with words – while having the usual inner conversations must have something to do with having ADHD. But now you’re telling me people DON’T think in full sentences??? How can that be? My inner voice never stops, ever. Ever.
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I often have a song “playing” in the background of my inner thoughts. I wonder if those who don’t have inner conversations also don’t get “ear worms”. 🤔
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” A lot of depression and anxiety stems from that “little voice in the back of your head.” I had a theory that maybe people that do not have the internal monologue could be better defended against depression.”
It’s a nice thought, but I’m sorry to say it doesn’t work that way; we’re very much just as prone to depression and all the rest as anyone else… (BTDT)
Instead of that “little voice in the back of your head” using words to inspire a bad (or good) feeling, my brain just feels the feeling, along with everything that inspired it… Remember, my brain is very contextual, so if I think of ONE thing I tend to think of everything associated with it…. The good news is that once I’m ABLE to think of something good I can usually snap out of a depression pretty quickly, because all the other good things come along with it. 🙂
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Interesting post. I am one of those people with a constant flow of verbiage in my head; it never stops. I started laughing when the author noted people who do not experience this. Wow – the other half; I had no idea. I think it’s amazing. I understand how they can think in terms of mind maps and contextual information, I just did not know anyone did not have that constant stream or voice in their head.
I have done much research as of late on learning. I learned I am drawn to writing. I work in technology and am not all that interested in widgets (hardware) and have taken to technical writing. I read recently a well known designer (can’t remember her name) said she didn’t know what her opinion on a subject was until she wrote it down. I also read, in several articles, a quote from Thoreau where he said “good writing is clear thinking.”
This post hits home since I am constantly working and reworking verbiage in my head; it is no wonder I am interested in writing. Thanks for the post. It is somewhat of a life-changer. I better understand what I should focus on now. Thanks again.
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The connection with dreaming is an interesting one. I have a near-constant internal monologue when awake, as many people report. I do not see images in my mind when awake, as most people do. But it is the reverse in my dreams. I dream in clear images with no sound or dialogue most of the time. I am always surprised when I wake up and remember someone talking in my dream. And it is never like a waking conversation. Often it is a stream-of-consciousness sort of ting. I know what is going on and move to the next image or scene, all jumbled and difficult to interpret.
But I do not always dream in images. Sometimes It seems that a silent voice is narrating a story. It is in complete sentences and well crafted, like a novelist or short story writer. There are no images along with it. It is like someone is reading a Talking Book to me. It’s weird. I wonder if anyone else has verbal dreams like that.
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I not only have an internal monologue, when I read text of actual friends I hear it in their voice. And when I do the same with those who I have met on social media only I hear them as I think they would sound. I think my internal monologue is on steroids.
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which can ultimately* improve our understanding of this batshit crazy world we live in.
Please don’t hate me. I’m not being mean, you have such good points and I’m sharing it all. Just wanted to make sure before you become famous 💕
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Completely glad you write this. I’m in the collection of people who have that voice in my head and carry on millions of conversations in my head all the time. It’s why I have had to realize that out loud I’ll say the “third thought” and realize that the first two (with all the context and background info) is still in my head lol. People have stared at me before and then I’m like “oh sorry I guess I didn’t say the first part out loud”. Lol. But I Def didn’t know others didn’t have it at all. Interesting. I’ll have more reflections on this later. Thanks for giving my brain something to chew on for a while.
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I have whole conversations with myself every day. Like for instance I am speaking in my head what I typing right now, and spelling some in my head as well. I sing songs in my head. I can recall whole conversations in my mind that I have had with someone else, and can hear them speak their part of the conversation, and I can pull up what was going on in my minds eye and watch it like a video.
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I’m a life coach and author. What you are speaking about are called ‘representational systems’ and there are 3 primary ones: visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. A representational system is how a person generally perceives, stores, processes, and retrieves, data. We (usually) have all 5 senses. Taste and smell are not considered primary representational systems because it would be very difficult for most to perceive the world entirely through those 2 senses, so they are not as well represented, although someone who was blind, deaf and mute would likely be primarily scent-based.
I discuss this topic more fully in Chapter 4: Aspects of Communication, in my book, Secret Weapons of Mass Orgasm: The Science of Sex & The Artistry of Love available on Amazon at http://amzn.to/1TdDOQ8
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Ah, yes. The one who talks and the one who watches the one who talks. Try reading The Untethered Soul. Interesting observations on this very subject. I’ve experienced talkative times and times of complete silence, sometimes eerie other times a relief. I also find it fascinating that not only do I hear my voice at times, but when I’m reading, my mind reads the parts in different voices. When reading a text from a friend, I hear it in their voice. I think that bit is simply imagination. Not sure. I think you may be onto something wrt mental health.
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I could really shed some light on this for you, but I’ll be damned, I can’t figure how to contact you.. I’m no too good with computers… just send me an e-mail lol and I can tell you a lot of things.. darn computers teehee…
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I’m glad I managed to remember my password.. in the event that my e-mail isn’t disclosed, my last name is Simard, and my e-mail is my last name then a period then my first name with gmail.. pls contact me we have lots to discuss.. 🙂
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So…. this reminds me of the first time I took ADHD meds. I was like, what? You mean other people’s minds work like this naturally?
ADD or ADHD
I explain it like this.
You have a tunnel to walk-through, and you have a red rubber bouncy ball in your hand. Your goal, is to get through this tunnel with that red ball at the end. That red ball represents a thought. As you walk through the tunnel, you have to bounce this ball till the end, when, all of a sudden, a hundred multicolor rubber balls just like yours including red ones, all start bouncing around you at once.
Sometimes you get to the end of the tunnel, and you have a different red ball, and sometimes you come out with an entirely different ball.
On meds
You approach the tunnel, bounce your ball all the way across, meanwhile those other thoughts stay outside the tunnel, until you get out, with that same single red ball, or thought. And then, you can move on to process another thought.
This happens mid sentence sometimes. Sometimes the rest of the sentence or thought is completely lost. Sometimes I will say something like battery instead of vitamin, but finish the sentence or thought. It’s super frustrating not to be able to track your own thoughts or access your brain as others easily do. I truly believe it effects memory too. It’s hard on my family. I frustrate and or confuse them daily. It’s infuriating for me. It totally effects my moods too.
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Read the book, The surrender experiment by Micheal singer. It is alllll about this concept. About the internal voice! It’s so interesting!
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I think in concept maps and have struggled with depression my whole life. There is no inner monologue that tells me I’m unworthy. It’s just a feeling or a subconscious belief. Would be nice to have a special power against depression, but it just ain’t so.
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I tend to think in concepts and visualizations. Words are too slow. Like, if I hear the dryer buzzer go off, I very quickly realize that I need to get up, go get the bed sheet out of the dryer, and go make my bed. I don’t say all that to myself, ain’t no one got time for that. The dryer buzzer very quickly makes me see the dryer and the unmade bed in my head, and I know what I have to do, without having to say anything internally.
I’m not the best at speaking to others, though. I struggle to think of the right words, quite often. Maybe that’s the price I pay – I don’t practice in my head like the rest of y’all.
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maybe.
i dont think? i just do.
what the fuck is this internal monologue yall apparently mostly have???
i feel. colors are interesting. i dont devote thoughts of colors of strangers to memory
i only think with words when im deliberately thinking bout doing that or if i can see the alphatbet, ala keyboard.
when i write with pencil and paper unless i think hard while im writing the text comes out wonky. words missing vowels, sentences printed with the words in the wrong order, etc.
this means when im in class i only take notes if i dont want to learn. its way too much effort to take notes, too much concentration im not putting on learning in class.
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Yet the question is can you? if you wanted to practice could you hear your voice doing so in your head?
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So, on the way to the dryer you don’t have any other “thoughts” like fuck Its so, weird I am going to share my example so, If someone throws a ball to me, think fast style… I literally think fast “woah! ball, catch… too fast, slap it.” as I think through the steps my body acts. It isn’t like I just do it without mentally making it happen. Do you just do things and have no thoughts about it?
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Throughout my life I’ve had an internal conversation. That’s never been a problem HOWEVER, I discovered that when I speak out loud to myself, things get weird. For instance, if I’m obsessed with a subject from which I can’t escape in my internal conversation, all I have to do it say out loud, “Get off it” and the internal conversation melts away. I’ve given a lot of thought to this, discussed it with others. Speaking out loud to myself has become not just a mystery but a tool to clear my mind and help with the simplest of things like finding a “lost” object; all I have to do is ask myself where it is and in a moment it shows up or I remember what happened to it. Try it, you might like it . . .
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Temple Grandin (a woman with autism) wrote a book called “thinking in pictures” where she describes the way she thinks and perceived the world. Maybe these monologue-less people are on the spectrum?
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The Idea of an Internal Monologue has been around for an extremely long time. I would surprised if it had not been considered in psychology before. I also have found that a lot of artist do not have such and internal monologue
and artists are also very prone to anxiety and depression…
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Add in there the people who are visual and think things in pictures. The narrative in our brains is constant snaps of pictures.
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I dont think without a voice. All my thoughts are verbal, in my head, unless I am asleep. I talk to myself all day. I might have thought or intuition that are nonverbal, but I’m not aware of them.
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I think “RIP Kobe” is a sloppy, “trying to be cute but I’m thoughtful” ending to what was a nice piece you wrote. You sound like a college kid when you finish your well written article with that. Kobe Bryant dying has no relevance to what you you wrote. Perhaps its edginess and recent happening made you put it in there.
Remember that people from everywhere read your stuff, or won’t read your stuff respectively….if you can’t catch on early to less is more with things like this. If you write for Southern California population than that’s what you will probably have as a demographic
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Haha I am on the other end, I don’t think in full sentences, but even if I don’t have that voice inside my head, I sort of think in concepts, without words, so you can reason the same way as with words, of course depression is also possible there. Besides, depression is mostly a feeling that is accompanied by bad thoughts, I’d say those thoughts develop from bad feelings, the feelings come first.
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Haha I am on the other end, I don’t think in full sentences, but even if I don’t have that voice inside my head, I sort of think in concepts, without words, so you can reason the same way as with words, of course depression is also possible there. Besides, depression is mostly a feeling that is accompanied by bad thoughts, I’d say those thoughts develop from bad feelings, the feelings come first.
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I do not have a ‘voice in my head’ or however you phrased it in your other post. I never knew people actually did until reading that 10 minutes ago!!! Mind literally blown 🤯🤯. And it’s 6am, I’m not ready for this 😂. But anyways, i saw this post about being less likely to have mental illness and I just thought I’d chime in that I have had/currently have depression. I don’t hear myself talking or anything in my head, but we still can obviously think about things in our mind. Whenever I think about things I usually see things visually as if it were happening/real. With your example about reading, I can think/see the words in my head, but I don’t have a voice speaking them or anything (sounds like you do?!?). But again, as I read I visually see what i am interpreting. Now sure if that gives any better perspective.
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I HAVE A QUESTION WHY DOES ONE SIDE OF THE BRAIN RUNS SLOWER ON ONE SIDE THAN THE OTHER
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MY YOUNGEST DAUGHTERS DOES AN SHE HAS SEIZURES AN REAL BAD ANXIETY ATTACKS THEY COME OUT THE BLUE SHE CANNOT CONTROL HER ATTACKS
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“This theory can easily be tested through surveys and polls”. I don’t think that. You can lie in surveys and polls. To do a scientific study we would need a test that differentiates between these two types.
None the less, this is news to me.
I wonder if these people without monologue in their head are more happy as they are in a sense in a meditative state.
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I converse internally with myself. Sometimes to the point that I reprimand myself for “going on” about something.
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“Darwin always preached that animals that survive the longest are the ones that are the best at adapting and overcoming disadvantages.”
This is backwards. the ones (within a species) that are best at adapting and overcoming disadvantages are the ones that survive the longest, and more importantly, breed.
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I definitely have this. Always conversing with myself, but at night, or if terribly tired, I often see it in typed words when I close my eyes.
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I am in your ten percent of people who do not have “sentences” inside. Unfortunately, I have a pretty high IQ, but ultra average processing speed*, and I believe this relative discrepancy is responsible for extreme anxiety. Because I have to SPEAK words to get the same result as an “internal monologue” person, I wind up with lots of bottled up knowledge and emotion that I cannot process due to lack of opportunity. I’m also diagnosed with ADHD because, due to the swirling vapors of knowledge and emotions that are in my mind, it’s hard for me to “pin” my thoughts down. I literally MUST make audible or physical words to keep track of them. Sometimes, there is so much “thought vapor” that I can’t cut through the fog and I freeze up entirely and can’t move forward and accomplish anything at all. People see my inability to cut off my focus on a particular topic as “obsessive” or as “hyper-focused” (hyper-focus goes with the adhd diagnosis) but in reality, it’s simply a matter of NEEDING to verbalize something because I NEED to have complete thoughts. It drives most everybody in my life up a wall, because I could literally talk endlessly about things, much the way most people can THINK endlessly about things… and sometimes the thinking that people can do in the silence of their brains is VERY NECESSARY. So… when I’m blabbing away, and people are like “omg shuuuutttttt uuuuppppp,” what they’re really doing to me is telling me, “I don’t have time for you to finish thinking.” It’s agonizing. You wanna talk about anxiety… sheesh… I’d be willing to bet that my kind is FAR more anxious than regular folks.
I have many more thoughts on that. (Hahahahahahahaha I didn’t mean the joke before it came out and now I’m literally lolling at myself.) I’d be happy to share IN WORDS. I’m really good at that. Give me ALL YOUR QUESTIONS.
*My IQ indices are all magnificently high, except for my processing speed index, which is high average. I am diagnosed with a processing speed DISABILITY because there are at least two standard deviations between my processing speed index and all three other intelligence indices. Thus, even though I’m apparently some sort of outrageously intelligent human, I am cognitively disabled because I can’t efficiently use my smarts. They’re swirling uselessly inside my big brain.
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I have an internal monologue. So do my husband and son. My daughter does not. She was blown away by the fact that we do. My son, who is on the Autism spectrum, laughed when I joked with her that maybe that’s why she speaks without thinking.
My husband, daughter, and I all have diagnosed GAD (generalized anxiety disorder). My son does not.
Until I read this post I’d considered that maybe my daughters anxiety is so heightened because she doesn’t have the internal monologue to work her way through why she’s anxious, and what can be done to help it, as both my husband and myself do.
This whole thing just makes me go hmmm 🤔
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I don’t see sentences but there is definitely dialogue which sometimes I must tell to Stop! I see numbers aligned in a peculiar way and when doing simple math, access the numbers in this peculiar pattern. I have no idea why. 🙂
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I had this revelation many years ago too. Probably in my 20’s. I do. My husband does not. We live together in harmony, but literally have our heads on two different planets. I wonder if this can be traced back through DNA and points to different trails of evolution….??
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Very interesting! This concept has never occurred to me also. My thoughts on a possible correlation: some folks are “auditory” and others “visual”, a third, more rare type is “kinetic”, meaning that these methods are their primary means of learning. Is it possible that this missing inner dialogue might tie in with the way someone compensates for being able to learn. I personally can’t remember things well if I can’t reiterate the information inside my head…but there would likely be other coping mechanisms for folks who don’t have this ability. Really fascinating article. It would be cool if there are papers published on it.
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I definitely have this! I have full conversations in my head. Honestly, I never gave it any thought! I’ve just always been this way. I kind of guess I thought everyone naturally does the same thing.
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Just to be clear, this is not an unknown phenomenon in cognitive science, and isn’t any kind of dichotomy where some people do and some people don’t. Generally everyone has multiple modes of thought and we switch between them according to need.
Here’s a good article that covers some of the science behind the phenomenon.
https://www.dazeddigital.com/science-tech/article/44494/1/living-without-inner-speech-voice-inside-head-psychology-science
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Here’s a thought to get you further down the rabbit hole. What about babies? They can’t talk, or really know words. So do they think in feelings? My point is we would all start out as babies thinking without an inner monologue. So at some point in childhood, it changes. Thanks for the headache though lol. I am a monologue thinker by the way.
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It would be very interesting to have a professional perspective on this matter by a psychologist, neurologist, etc. I, too, have an inner voice and my husband does not. He is very intelligent and was always a better student than I ever was. I wonder if the abstract thinking would be advantageous for someone trying to learn new information. I’m hoping we can get scientific input on this subject soon. This has blown my mind and has helped me appreciate the differences we all have.
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I’m someone who does not have an internal monologue, and I’ve had depression and OCD most of my life (twenty years or so). Unfortunately, the lack of an internal voice hasn’t done much to deter the negativity for me. I often wish I could have a silent conversation with myself about those feelings, because, as it stands, my brain just swirls together a million images, memory flashes, concepts, abstractions, etc. in it’s effort to rationalize and recover. It’s total chaos, in my experience. It’s like trying to wrangle ten kites in a hurricane. There’s certainly no obvious cause-and-effect, like with a dialogue; things just seem to appear and disappear. Sometimes difficult to interpret, always difficult to process/analyze. The other irritating thing about it is, having to actually vocalize what I’m feeling (especially if it’s something private or sensitive) means I need to constantly assure nobody else can hear me while processing. That can be hard or impossible, depending on where I am. Also, talking to another person is sometimes the *only* way I can effectively process, because it’s giving me conversational feedback that my brain won’t. This has gotten me into trouble before, having to share private things because it’s my only way to logic them out.
Not trying to be a pity party. I get on fine for the most part, and it’s given me a great visual mind and an ability to adopt many voices (for impersonations, writing, etc.) without clashing with one dominant internal voice. It’s very flexible, in it’s way, and I wouldn’t change it now. But, for me, the lack of an actual voice hasn’t diminished the effects of mental health problems. It’s made therapy sessions extremely effective and self-care regiments extremely challenging.
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Intreguing concept not sure I understand
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When I am silently reading something and stumble across a word that’s unfamiliar to me, I stay stuck on that word until I can pronounce it correctly in my mind. I can’t just skim across it because if I don’t hear it correctly in my brain I can’t move on. It similar to having an out loud conversation with someone and you get tongue tied on a word and keep trying to say it until you get it right. Oh and I also hear music playing in my mind all day everyday even when I’m having convos with myself.
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Now, add in two different and separate tinnitus sounds and I might be able to be understood!
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I drive myself crazy with the dialogue in my brain. I wish there was an off switch for that. I had an abusive mother. I learned well from her and berate myself constantly and am trying to quit but it is ingrained. Does anyone else experience this type of dialogue?
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Maybe we just need to stop making labels for each other and not call each other mentally ill. Getting labelled all the time is frustrating and annoying. No wonder so many people feel depressed, which adds another label to them. Back then the inexplicable was a deity nowadays it’s just another mental illness.
Like Patrick illustrated in his dryer example, not every thought process requires to be internally verbally expressed. It sometimes is enough to react to a know signal. However, any form of planning future actions requires a form of conceptual analysis before committing an action and the process is expressed as words or numbers.
I don’t believe for a second there are people out there who do not internally speak or think a sentence before bringing it to paper. However, i do believe there are lots of people not giving it enough thought of any kind before taking action.
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You’re kind of pitching this as people having it one way or the other. For me it’s situational.
I can be in a “flow” state where thoughts and ideas and my interaction with the world don’t have active dialog and stimuli and my reactions there of just “are” or are represented abstractly in my head. e.g. just turning my brain off and enjoying my surroundings or doing tasks automatically/rote work, or at another extreme being in an active argument with someone else where the internal monologue gets fully externalized as it occurs.
Or in different situations I can have an active monologue or even internal dialog with myself. The latter manifests particularly in situations where I’m socially isolated and don’t have any particular task actively capturing my attention (e.g. when traveling in a foreign country alone).
I wonder if it’s related to Daniel Kahneman’s fast and slow thinking paradigms…
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You are on the tip of the iceberg about this, I really become annoyed with people that cannot follow my train of thought when it comes to mechanical items. say i am thinking about building a storm door on my cellar i can look at the items i have on hand and the pieces come together in a visual representation of the completed door or incomplete door if i am lacking something. same with disassembly of an item, something like an exploded view, with the pieces floating in the direction that it came off. also have an inner “movie” that plays- first person view – on what i am needing to do with different outcomes played out, all at high speed,
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This sounds so much like an asbergers brain to me. I have casually made fun of my husband for almost 20 years because I always catch him talking to himself in a whisper in the mirror. I say ” why don’t you just talk to yourself inside your head like the rest of us??” Now it makes sense. He can’t.
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