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Not everyone has an internal monologue

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Re: Not everyone has an internal monologue

#231

Post by ASalazarMX »

thrwaway69 wrote: post #214
donatj wrote: post #107

For myself personally, it depends on what I'm thinking about. Thinking about writing this sentence, I hear each of the words I'm going to type in my head before I type them. However, if I'm working out how to assemble a table, I'm not hearing "And now I screw the leg on" I just abstractly know that's what I'm going to do. I have to imagine that's the case for at least most people. Thinking out complicated abstract co…

Now, I am super self conscious of the otherwise ignored voice which reads everything I type and see. It is much sexier though than irl. I wonder why is that ? On the other hand, I can speak much faster yay. Why? Is your voice reading this comment too? Maybe. Do you feel like you are conversing with an oddly being? Maybe. I am alive. Where is my mind reading tech?

> It is much sexier though than irl. I wonder why is that?

Well, now it is. Thank you (and me I guess for being so susceptible).

Re: Not everyone has an internal monologue

#232

Post by Tainnor »

munificent wrote: post #55
enobrev wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 specifically avoid viral earworm songs because I am very prone to getting them stuck in my head. I can have the same song playing "in the background" non-stop in my mind for days. I have songs in my dreams and I'll wake up with them still playing in my head. Sometimes it will just be a single bar of a song, or just a piece of it looping. To this day, I have never once listened to "Chocolate Rain" or Rebecca Black's…

Thank you for reminding me of Chocolate Rain... :/

Re: Not everyone has an internal monologue

#234

Post by clarry »

_0ffh wrote: post #96
echelon wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, I think that's pretty normal. I do it all the time. I can even "compose" my own music (it can be any genre, with any type of instruments, and even include voices), but I have no ability to play instruments myself. I'd love to get into music, but just don't have the time. My literature professor back in college said he "listened to" classical music in his head during his morning runs. I just assumed everyone did i…

>No, I think that's pretty normal. I do it all the time. [Edit: Currently I "listen" to a lot of Georgios Papadopoulos, heh!] >I can even "compose" my own music I can relate! Unfortunately, I'm totally untrained regarding music. I once tried to enter one of the melodies in my head (simplified) into a music program, and it took forever, because I had to find the correct notes by trial and error: "Not that one. Neither…

> I had to find the correct notes by trial and error: "Not that one. Neither that one. Still wrong. Not quite. This one is it! Next note..."

I've tried that and it's so slow and frustrating that the melody in my head just disappears.

Re: Not everyone has an internal monologue

#235

Post by _underfl0w_ »

Insanity wrote: post #177

For me, it's definitely the internal monologue. Worse is that I have a form of OCD (repetitive thoughts) so this monologue gets stuck in a 'loop' and I end up just repeating the same sentence, or part of sentences to myself. Drives me nuts. Makes me wonder if people without this 'internal monologue' experience this kind of OCD in the same way..

Similar experience here. I find that as my internal dialogue begins to loop, my frustration grows with being unable to break the cycle. I have an awful temper (see: anxiety disorder) that seems to stem from this. Often if I've just lost my temper, postmortem introspection/analysis indicates that I was thinking the same <5 thoughts in a row in quick, vicious succession until something "short circuited" and I quit thinking altogether - just angrily reacted.

Re: Not everyone has an internal monologue

#236

Post by _y5hn »

LordFast wrote: post #225
pazimzadeh wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to be like that, and it was helpful in many ways as I seemed to always be ready for wherever a conversation might go. But I wasn't living in the moment. Now I actively stop myself from simulating the various branches of potential conversations. It feels good to live in the moment (shaking my head a little when I feel it starting helps). The downside is that I don't have as many prepared responses and am more e…

Why is it a bad thing for your brain to be running DFS all the time? Is it a wasteful use of time? Does it cause behavioral issues? Is it a personal choice? Or...?

When you think less you may be open to more possibilities, be more spontaneous and even have some childlike fun. However, others can be taken aback and even suspect ulterior motives, until you harmonize better with others.

Re: Not everyone has an internal monologue

#237

Post by fapjacks »

I consider myself lucky in that I can do both of these things seemingly at the same time. The way I describe it is that while my "conscious mind" (i.e. my inner verbal thought train) is engaged in one thing, very often my "subconscious mind" will simultaneously and "spontaneously" provide me with sort of injections of unrelated ideas or solutions to unrelated problems. It's not unrelated to the feeling of waking up in the middle of the night with the answer to a programming problem. On the surface it seems (and can be) distracting, but I liken it to the way Geordi Laforge described the information he gets from his VISOR, sort of picking and choosing what to focus on and what to ignore (like recognizing your name at a cocktail party). Incidentally, I also have ADHD.

Re: Not everyone has an internal monologue

#238

Post by pazimzadeh »

LordFast wrote: post #225
pazimzadeh wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to be like that, and it was helpful in many ways as I seemed to always be ready for wherever a conversation might go. But I wasn't living in the moment. Now I actively stop myself from simulating the various branches of potential conversations. It feels good to live in the moment (shaking my head a little when I feel it starting helps). The downside is that I don't have as many prepared responses and am more e…

Why is it a bad thing for your brain to be running DFS all the time? Is it a wasteful use of time? Does it cause behavioral issues? Is it a personal choice? Or...?

I think it's a question of balance. I was too far on the side of not living in the moment, and spending lots of time on what-if scenarios. I think that I might have veered too far to the other extreme now, and my capacity for empathy is suffering a little.

Re: Not everyone has an internal monologue

#239

Post by drdeca »

nabla9 wrote: post #216

The classic: Thinking the Way Animals Do: Unique insights from a person with a singular understanding. By Temple Grandin, Ph.D. https://www.grandin.com/references/thinking.animals.html >I have no language-based thoughts at all. My thoughts are in pictures, like videotapes in my mind. When I recall something from my memory, I see only pictures. I used to think that everybody thought this way until I started talking to…

Does it count as “verbal thinking” if, when doing some math, I’m thinking of a sequence (or structure of some kind) of characters, but don’t have a distinct subvocalization for all the characters?

Like, if there are 3 different F symbols that refer to different things, I’ll be thinking of a way to manipulate these symbols, and I will subvocalize each f symbol as “eff”, but will have the specific symbol in mind.

Like, if I’m thinking about, say , “F(x)-f(x)” I might rearrange some expressions in my head, but I don’t necessarily subvocalize “small eff” or “big eff” so much as “eff”.

I guess this is still verbal, but the verbal thoughts might not capture the entirety of the thought?

Unless thinking in a sequence of symbols, even without any subvocalization, would still count as verbal?

Re: Not everyone has an internal monologue

#240

Post by daveslash »

donatj wrote: post #107

For myself personally, it depends on what I'm thinking about. Thinking about writing this sentence, I hear each of the words I'm going to type in my head before I type them. However, if I'm working out how to assemble a table, I'm not hearing "And now I screw the leg on" I just abstractly know that's what I'm going to do. I have to imagine that's the case for at least most people. Thinking out complicated abstract co…

Came to make the same comment. Normally, I avoid giving the "Me Too!" comments, but I think in this context it's appropriate. If I'm casually thinking about life, the universe, and everything then I typically have a monologue. I don't "hear" it, per say, but I am thinking in sentence structure. If I'm analyzing a problem, working on a project, or trying to digest a situation, then I do not think in such sentence like ways. If I'm performing a low-cognitive-load activity (like a long road-trip), then I've got an inner-monologue going on with words & sentences. If I'm really in need of my focus (driving in Manhattan), there's zero inner-monologue.
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