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Not everyone has an internal monologue

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Re: Not everyone has an internal monologue

#661

Post by __s »

My internal monologue doesn't even stop when I'm dreaming. I don't lucid dream, but the internal monologue critiques how things don't make sense (pointing out discontinuity errors etc). It took awhile to find out this isn't ubiquitous

Previous HN threads have talked about how people notice a reduction in their verbal skills shortly after programming for awhile. There's a lot going on in programming that's non linear, so it's useful to not serialize your thoughts then. I've found that listening to music is often a good way to distract the monologue. When I was younger I only listened to instrumental music because I found I couldn't think with lyrics in the background

Re: Not everyone has an internal monologue

#662

Post by FeepingCreature »

ken wrote: post #513
rayiner wrote: post #384

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is a concept which cannot be put into words?

> When I was a kid growing up in Far Rockaway, I had a friend named Bernie Walker. We both had "labs" at home, and we would do various "experiments." One time, we were discussing something -- we must have been 11 or 12 at the time -- and I said, "But thinking is nothing but talking to yourself inside." > "Oh yeah?" Bernie said. "Do you know the crazy shape of the crankshaft in a car?" > "Yeah, what of it?" > "Good. N…

> "Good. Now tell me: how did you describe it when you were talking to yourself?"

> "'The crazy shape of the crankshaft in my car.' What's your point?"

> "Uh, I don't know. I didn't plan for you actually having an answer."

Re: Not everyone has an internal monologue

#663

Post by abathur »

mannykannot wrote: post #598
abathur wrote: post #319

This topic (comments here, the OP, and comments in threads elsewhere) exposes some conflicting definitions of what an "internal monologue" is or means. - Some people describe hearing their internal monologue, which I take to mean something like: they have an internal monologue, and it manifests as a voice that only they hear. These people are analogous to those who see things they picture in their mind's eye . - Some…

FWIW it does not seem like any of the above for me. It is more like I am rehearsing what I would say if I chose to do so. That does not come across as a voice to me.

Say to who, when, why?

I wouldn't include thinking through upcoming conversations, texts, tweets, emails, posts, presentations, or phone calls.

Let's say you need to run three errands and eat dinner on the way home. How do you decide what to do when, and make sure you have what you need?

Re: Not everyone has an internal monologue

#664

Post by joantorres »

Strom wrote: post #330
lqet wrote: post #314

I 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 with words, in multiple languages, but they're silent. I can't actually hear anything. Importantly though, the verbalizing is a later stage of thinking. First there is the thought, seemingly instant, non-verbalized, and fuzzy. If needed, I can already act based on that thought without verbalizing. However if I verbalize it in my head, then that allows for further analysis that may lead me to override the init…

My brain functions exactly like yours.

I wonder if learning multiple languages as a kid has any influence on the way we think (I was raised bilingual and now I can speak 4 languages quite fluently), but also if the way we think determines what we are good at and the path we choose to live. I'm an engineer and I always enjoyed doing math and science, whereas I'm not that pasionate about art and humanities. I know some people can be really great at both, but most of us will only shine on one of these fields.

Does this resonate with you too?

Re: Not everyone has an internal monologue

#665

Post by _y5hn »

friendlybus wrote: post #641
kaffeemitsahne wrote: post #519

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Has there been a deflation of the word "gaslighting" recently? I used to understand it as "making person X or others believe person X is crazy (in order to discredit them)" but I see it used much more widely nowadays and I don't really see what it has to do with the scenario in question.

It lost it's subtle manipulation element too. Gas lighting was causing doubt to spread, using manipulation tools the abuser thought were flying under the radar of the victim. The victim fell oblivious to the changes in worldview. It lost all connection to psychotherapy when it became a politicized term.

Humans are complex and social systems.

Re: Not everyone has an internal monologue

#666

Post by rsl7 »

caymanjim wrote: post #627
perl4ever wrote: post #376

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"interviewing myself in a variety of roles to navigate my thoughts on things" I used to from time to time imagine my half of a conversation in which I was showing around someone notable who had traveled through time to get to the present day. Maybe someone from 1,000 years ago or maybe from 50. That is, for entertainment, not to cope with anything. I never felt like my imagination was quite good enough to turn it int…

> I used to from time to time imagine my half of a conversation in which I was showing around someone notable who had traveled through time to get to the present day. Maybe someone from 1,000 years ago or maybe from 50. That is, for entertainment, not to cope with anything. I never felt like my imagination was quite good enough to turn it into fiction. I do this all the time. It's usually Ben Franklin, but sometimes…

I had no idea other people do this too. To me, it doesn't even feel intentional.

Re: Not everyone has an internal monologue

#667

Post by wilbo »

abathur wrote: post #319

This topic (comments here, the OP, and comments in threads elsewhere) exposes some conflicting definitions of what an "internal monologue" is or means. - Some people describe hearing their internal monologue, which I take to mean something like: they have an internal monologue, and it manifests as a voice that only they hear. These people are analogous to those who see things they picture in their mind's eye . - Some…

Anecdata to add to this: In the third grade I took the phrase "voices in your head mean you're crazy" so I actively suppressed my internal monologue (previously expressed in language) and now my thinking is mostly abstract and/or visual. There are two exceptions: imagining a hypothetical conversation or reviewing a previous conversation in my head. Those are the only cases of language in my head. When I read I experience a combination of the two.

Re: Not everyone has an internal monologue

#668

Post by _y5hn »

jaxn wrote: post #570
gowld wrote: post #539

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Gaslighting" now means having a different perspective and asserting it's the correct one or a valid one.

Which is inline with making someone feel they are crazy. Making person x second guess their own perspective.

Setting different standards for themselves, setting other people up, even boasting of sabotaging others openly, surrounded by gullible and oblivious people, limiting number of marks, snide remarks, running in packs and claiming all authority while victimizing themselves. Gaslighting is rare but part of the toolset.

Re: Not everyone has an internal monologue

#669

Post by ObsoleteNerd »

echelon wrote: post #65

I dream up movies and songs and all sorts of rich fantasies in my head, and I do this constantly. As a consequence of this, I never get bored as I've got an incredible imagination to lean on. I think about movies I want to make, startups I want to create, the change I want to put into the world. New songs on my commute, goals I want to accomplish, what I could do with time travel. I'm always working on the structures…

Same here. My “inner world” never stops unless I force it too (I like meditating occasionally for some mental-peace-and-quiet.)

Other than forcefully pausing it that way, it runs 24/7/365 and is incredibly vivid.

I can also have multiple “tracks” running at once internally, but I generally have one “in focus” and another 1 or 2 sort of there in the background dimly. I’m aware of what all tracks are currently up to though at any given point.

Generally it’s just brainstorming ideas, playing back memories, imagining fantastical worlds/stories for internal entertainment, or wondering about things.

It’s not always positive, and keeping it all under control can be difficult, but I definitely think the pros outweigh the cons.

Re: Not everyone has an internal monologue

#670

Post by leadingthenet »

Zamicol wrote: post #654
ip26 wrote: post #646

I would say I don't have an internal monologue. But that doesn't mean my mind isn't wandering all over the place. I don't talk to myself, I don't play out conversations in my head. Instead it's more like a collection of "thoughts", or "images", or visualizing myself "doing". I can get extremely caught up in this. There's also an awful lot of contemplating objects, observing features, visualizing how they interact. Ve…

I don't dream in words. If tell someone about a conversation I had in my dreams, I have to "translate" my dream into English.

That’s actually fascinating to me.
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