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Not everyone has an internal monologue

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Re: Not everyone has an internal monologue

#161

Post by burnte »

ghoul2 wrote: post #101

I actually didn't used to have this "internal monologue". Until a couple years ago - when it just sorta showed up. And at some point I became consciously aware of it - and its ...power, I guess. Without the inner monologue it had been impossible for me to have "insincere" conversations. Using that word for the lack for a better one - I mean where I am talking to someone and consciously controlling what I say instead…

> 3. Can't seem to be able to turn it off, or control it entirely. The monologue is my worst critic - not a bad way, but it'd be nice for it to not _be_ there all the time.

For me, I've always had it, and I can't control it either. however, it does go quiet in one of two circumstances, when I'm very, VERY relaxed (so, rarely) and when I'm deep in "the zone" of concentration, which is really nice.

Re: Not everyone has an internal monologue

#162

Post by turdnagel »

pdonis wrote: post #124

While the fact that there are two types of people in this respect is interesting, the article seems to be over the top with the "it's ruining my life" bit. Yes, people are different, and some of the ways in which they are different are very fundamental. Deal with it.

Completely agree. This kinda reads like somebody just smoked their first joint.

Re: Not everyone has an internal monologue

#163

Post by chrisfinne »

enobrev wrote: post #45
Wowfunhappy wrote: post #26

Something I discovered within the past year is that if I know a song fairly well, I can "play it" silently in my head, and be entertained. The experience isn't quite as emotionally resonate as listening with headphones, but it's not so far off either. It's useful when I'm bored. ...can anyone else do this? I actually find it supremely weird.

I do the same, but unintentionally and the songs that seem to pop into my head are all songs I hate. It's incredibly rare that my favorites end up playing, but rather repetitive Pop crap. This isn't even a comment about Pop Music, as even though I don't really listen to Pop, I've heard plenty that I like. But not the songs that fly around in my head all day; Pure garbage. Edit: As I was typing this, "La Macarena" pop…

I once read that to get the loop out of your head, you have to "finish" the song, i.e. play it to the end, either in your head, sing it or play it on the stereo.

Works reasonably well for me.

Re: Not everyone has an internal monologue

#164

Post by n00b123 »

Interesting topic (and comments).

1. I do inner monologue. And I have to say, sometimes I get scared from what I "hear". I don't mean sometjing like "I hear voices telling me to kill everyone", but nasty, brutally cynical, sometimes outright violent thoughts. They feel alien to me, because on general level I consider myself "the good guy", but one the other hand they don't feel like someone else whispering me evil things.

2. Sometimes I feel like my mind has layers, where this monologue is the the most upper one with some lower, less verbalized layer which is only later formed into words. Doesn't happen often, but it feels like the lower layer is actually more capable because it's not constrained by language/words.

Re: Not everyone has an internal monologue

#165

Post by ghego1 »

friendlybus wrote: post #141

I had an internal monologue in my youth. Constantly searching for the next witticism in my mind before I said it and putting thought into structuring my words carefully for school. I later spent some time alone and developed a simulation of other people I could ask and have conversations with in my head. Then I went to therapy and they told me to stop doing that, so I did. I also worked with people who barely speak e…

Why did they tell you to stop doing that? What's wrong with it?

Re: Not everyone has an internal monologue

#167

Post by keiferski »

arcade79 wrote: post #143
keiferski wrote: post #38

I'd posit that the strength of the internal monologue is tied to one's propensity and skill in language. People that think primarily in linguistic terms probably have an easier time forming their thoughts into the structure of language, whereas a person who interprets the world in primarily in visual or spatial terms would see more mental images, maps, or connections. Unfortunately, we live in a society strongly domi…

And I'd posit that you're wrong. :-) The reason? I do neither. I do not have an internal monologue. I can construct one if I want to, but I do not have an "inner voice". When I type this, I do not prepare the sentences before I type them. They come to me as I type. I know exactly what I want to convey, but the sentence doesn't exist inside my head as a recognizable language or as any structure I can describe. The fun…

I was saying more that "language" is just one way of processing, along with "visual" and "spatial" and perhaps innumerable others. It sounds like you have a spatial method of processing the world.

> I can spin things and know exactly how things will "look" from a different angle

This is essentially the spatial equivalent to the inner monologue of the language-oriented processor.

Re: Not everyone has an internal monologue

#168

Post by klondike_klive »

jrauser wrote: post #25
gshdg wrote: post #3

There are also people who code-switch. I sometimes monologue and sometimes think abstractly.

I'm like this, but when I have too much caffeine I notice that it's harder to turn the monologue off. It becomes a little shouty in fact. Brains are weird.

When I have too much caffeine I've noticed that I have very strong ability to recall auditory information, specifically tunes. I get a sort of perfect-pitch effect where I can consistently recall music in the proper key and replay it in my mind. It also happens late at night.

Re: Not everyone has an internal monologue

#169

Post by zelly »

allovernow wrote: post #144
zelly wrote: post #128

The "inner dialogue" is called the default mode network in neuroscience. It doesn't have to be thinking in "words" necessarily; you could also skip the words and still be thinking in a resting state. It serves the purpose of ruminating, reflecting on memories, doing introspection. Paradoxically, your brain actually consumes more calories doing this type of resting thinking than you do in task-oriented thought, like w…

>I think it's maladaptive. You are better off having no default mode network activity. I vehemently disagree. Introspection from normal mode activity is a critical source for self improvement and creativity. Yes, it can be hyperactive, but some degree of introspection is one of the primary qualities that differentiate us from animals and make us decidedly human.

I'm not saying introspection is bad. Introspection should be siloed off into its own activity. Constantly doing it involuntarily makes you a slave to your own mind.

I'm pretty sure non-human animals can daydream too. It isn't what makes us special as humans. We are special because we have thumbs and can do math.

Granted, you will probably lose out on creativity (in the messy, artistic sense) by shutting off the default mode network. But again, you can silo creativity into its own brainstorming session.

Re: Not everyone has an internal monologue

#170

Post by airstrike »

Wowfunhappy wrote: post #26

Something I discovered within the past year is that if I know a song fairly well, I can "play it" silently in my head, and be entertained. The experience isn't quite as emotionally resonate as listening with headphones, but it's not so far off either. It's useful when I'm bored. ...can anyone else do this? I actually find it supremely weird.

Absolutely. I work extremely long hours, so I've noticed that when I'm particularly tired, my "mental iPod shuffle", as I call it, will go into extreme mode. Sometimes reading a single word or sentence is enough to remind me of a song, and BOOM it's immediately playing in my head.

I now basically have actual music on nearly 24/7 to drown that out otherwise it can get pretty annoying – especially if the song that's stuck in my head isn't one I actually enjoy.

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