Ask Lemmy

I'm in the "inner monologue" camp. Most of what I think materialises as thought words.

But I know that can't be all. It's difficult for me to think in words while saying something, but can have new thoughts while speaking.

I feel like I don't have very much imagination any more. Its hard to produce images in my mind, not impossible but I do have to concentrate - remembering images is easier.

Weirdly, way harder to me: imagining a voice. Inner voice is what I sound like to myself, I can remember songs of course, but having any voice say anything is hard, especially female voices. Went through some examples in my head couldn't make anyone say anything - until I though to make different tf2 mercs sing "Oh Canada", that somehow worked despite me definitely not having heard that before.

I keep trying to make this comment, then deleting it and trying again because I'm not 100% sure I have a certain behavior, and thinking about thinking is very distracting

So, I have an inner monologue, mind's eye and I can change my inner monologue's voice if I want. I find it easier to organize my thoughts by speaking out loud, although I do not do that unless alone. Looking at a fixed point also helps me filter out whatever's going on outside to focus on my thoughts inside.

Imagine big ball of hair wound up tight as it can be . You try extracting stand of hair from this wad only for it to break half way through . This's what brain shit's like for me

's not even COUNTING the fact I hafta somehow translate that into words human beings can understand , bcus existing in human body means am forced to ⦅socialise|communicate) with|relate to) humans, then try stringing the words together into some thing only somewhat coherent)

My thoughts don't take form as a different persona or talk.

I guess they either arise automatically, or I consciously direct them? Both happen.

Even when I consciously direct them, I feel like most thoughts arise naturally from that, from the subconscious.

Either it's random flashes of images/videos or certain random memory from a long time ago, a certain tune/music being played on repeat, or inner mind just constantly asking questions. Though I do noticed I can zone out when I'm really focus on something perhaps that's what it feels like when your not thinking at all.

For me it is an internal monologue with a silent audience that contributes without a voice.

My internal monologue might say "is this thing I am about to do a good idea?" And a wordless thought will provide a second opinion which my internal monologue would interpret and possibly reply to.

The same as everyone else's. The "differences" in the way people think can be ascribed to many things:

• some people are describing active concentration
• others are describing subconscious thinking
• describing the way only some of their thoughts happen
• not inferring what was said the way the speaker intended
• etc et

Often my thoughts are so fucking fast, my inner voice really can't keep up. I try to sound them out in my head, but am aware of this, and my thoughts have already wandered on. So I really only monologue when I am thinking about a script/text or am analyzing/ problem-solving. Everything else feels like a mix of some short strings and feelings

A fun conversation starter is always "So do you have an internal monologue?"

You ever been in a crowded space with hundreds of people talking all at once? You can hear everyone, but not enough to really make out anything except once in a while when someone gets louder than everyone else.

That's what my thoughts are like when I am not high on weed.

When I am high, the crowd shuts the fuck up and I can actually focus on a single, complete thought.

My mind works by talking to itself, but it's more like I'm the wordless overseer of that voice. There is a lesser maybe faux alter ego's voice that's employed to bounce ideas off of or used for introspection, to humble myself, conceptualization, etcetera, but it can only talk to myself even out loud. If there's another person present they're only talking to primary.

Where I differ from many minds like other self talkers here it seems is that I have full control over the two voices employed by my ego, and if I stop talking it's silent in my skull. Since I also have Total Aphantasia it's a true void in here besides my emotions and hind brain/instincts unless I'm using the voice(s). No real distinction between thinking in my head and speaking out loud.

The unconscious mind passes stuff it processes to the voices to think about. More nuance is far more paragraphs than worth, so I'll leave it there.

There's three hamsters running on a wheel in shifts up in my skull.

I had a serious TBI when I was a kid and more than 15 concussions so my eggs are a bit scrambled.

I can’t sustain a mental image, I can only visualize flashes of things. If I try to hold on to a mental image, it’s just a series of flashes that quickly become warped until the image just kinda dissolves and I have to imagine a new one. I also kinda of can’t remember faces. I can recognize people, but I can’t describe anyone’s face or remember/visualize details. I can only describe my own face as a list of features I’m aware of, but I can’t visualize it nor do I recognize myself in photos.

Verbal thought usually comes in the form of a dialogue between myself and an imagined other person. There’s no one there and I knowingly come up with the question the other will ask, but I can’t just think to myself without quickly losing track.

I also have ADHD, OCD, and major depressive disorder, so I also have the symptoms and episodes of those rattling around up there. I’m not sure if I’d call them thoughts though, because they feel different.

My thoughts are like background noise that when I tune in my internal LLM it gets turned into coherent language(English and Polish). I have recently learned to switch off that LLM for a moment, and as a side effect I begun to have problems with verbal communication.

Edit: I also have a model that turns noise into 3d models and scenes

There was a bit of discussion about this on a podcast I listen to (Adrift) earlier in the year.

My mind is basically me taking to myself. As I write this I'm speaking all the words in my head. As I read it back I'm reading all the words in my head.

I believe there's a school of thought that you shouldn't read the words to yourself when you are reading, bit I have to do that otherwise it doesn't go in. I can read a page without the words being spoken in my head but I will then have no idea what any of the page said, v and have to re-read it. Same if my mind wanders while reading - anything I read whilst my internal voice is talking about something else will not go in.

I can't shut it up. If I think about nothing, my internal voice will literally be saying "I need to think about nothing. I should empty my mind. How do you think about nothing?".

I switch between having language based thoughts and more abstract thoughts that aren’t language based. I find that my thoughts that aren’t language based are usually more complex. I also can imagine objects, rotate them or walk around familiar places in my mind. Oh and my language based thoughts tend to match the language I am speaking at the moment (I am trilingual).

I have no sound, voice, or pictures in my head. I didn't know that other people did see/hear things until a couple of years ago. Thoughts just come in chunks.

I’ve definitely had the internal thoughts “leak” like you’re describing. I tend to think in almost another space outside of myself where sometimes I will forget my senses and have to actively return to them. Like I’m walking away briefly from the drivers seat to go take care of something in the back of the truck. I tend not to do this with others around as it can be rude. With others, I’m much more stream of consciousness.

My thoughts are the bald guy from the six flags dancing 24/7 to the song from the commercial.

I do have thoughts in words, language. I don't exactly hear or see it but it's definitely language based. Often two levels of thought, one superficial and another underneath, thinking about those superficial thoughts.

I'm at about level 2 on this scale:

My thoughts are a lot of imagery imagination. There are "words" to go along with it, but there certainly isn't an extensive monologue/narrative/conversation going on.

For me it's often like watching a movie and lots of 3rd person monolologue as well as one wierd idea after the other popping up and going.

I often alao have interviews with myself how I just killed it in certaim situations and do play by play analysis from these events.

When in public settings I often play in my mind some wierd social games: where I try to find the mood of others and react to what they do (kinda like a dating sim).

I also like to go back to past events and analyse what I could have done better and memorize what to do in a future convo.

Since I speak more than one language my thoughts change languages. When I consume or produce in a certain language my brain is basically in that language and all my thoughts are in that language.