Earlier quoted context omitted.
Can you try to dig that up and share it with us? It sounds a lot like some versions of meditation, but I'd be really interested to read it.
I dont know how to save my place to come back to a comment on mobile, but I too am curious about this.
Not everyone has an internal monologue
461–470 of 904 posts
Re: Not everyone has an internal monologue
#462I have a serious question to people here describing themselves (as I understand it) as thinking in words and whole sentences: How can you think about concepts which cannot be put into words or for which no words exist? Do you have to come up with elaborate verbal descriptions of abstract concepts in your head before you can think about them? If so, don't you think that any verbal description is essentially incomplete…
I use both modes. For speaking to people directly, I use an internal monologue. For coding or abstract though, I can feel the model.
Re: Not everyone has an internal monologue
#463> I was taking ibuprofen at this point in the day because my brain was literally unable to comprehend this revelation. How have I made it 25 years in life...
Re: Not everyone has an internal monologue
#464Yeah, this is crazy to me. (I'm hearing these words in my head as I'm typing them.) Like, what form do your shower thoughts take if you don't have an internal monologue?
Re: Not everyone has an internal monologue
#465It's called "visual thinking". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_thinking
I have the inner dialog myself. I've talked with my sister about it, and she says she is able to have multiple threads going at once. Like she can do mental math and have a conversation with herself at the same time. I can only do one at a time. I've tried by counting and saying the alphabet in my head simultaneously, I can't do it.
Re: Not everyone has an internal monologue
#466For those who do inner monologue - I worry about telling you about this. It might make you wish you didn't ever realize it. So.. spoiler in the next sentence. When you start talking in your head, pay attention to your vocal cords and the area around them... Notice anything? They're probably moving like they would if you were actually talking out loud. Have you ever noticed how you tried to talk really fast in your he…
Re: Not everyone has an internal monologue
#467Re: Not everyone has an internal monologue
#468I have a serious question to people here describing themselves (as I understand it) as thinking in words and whole sentences: How can you think about concepts which cannot be put into words or for which no words exist? Do you have to come up with elaborate verbal descriptions of abstract concepts in your head before you can think about them? If so, don't you think that any verbal description is essentially incomplete…
I think the way that this actually works is that we don't actually think in words and whole sentences, but that words and whole sentences flow from most of our thoughts. We've just become so used to this whole process that it feels like the words and sentences are driving the thoughts. I'm certainly a "think in whole words and sentences" person, but if I think of it, I also have had moments realization/emotion that I…
I think this can become a problem. Verbalising takes time, it acts as a brake on thought. I’m compensation I think it helps clarify and crystallise ideas and builds skills in expressing them into communicable form. There are definitely pros and cons.
Re: Not everyone has an internal monologue
#469> When I was a child and a teenager, I thought everybody thought in pictures. I had no idea that my thought processes were different. In fact, I did not realize the full extent of the differences until very recently.
> At meetings and at work I started asking other people detailed questions about how they accessed information from their memories. From their answers I learned that my visualization skills far exceeded those of most other people.
Re: Not everyone has an internal monologue
#470I do verbal thinking when I'm by myself and thinking through options. What should I have for dinner? What gift should I buy? That kind of thing.
Non-verbal thought is when I'm totally focused on something like a competitive game. When I'm 100% in the zen-like focus of moment to moment instinctive action, there's "no time" for monologuing.