Do you have a continuous monologue in your head? (w/POLL)

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This is extremely interesting, and I'm wondering how accurate this popular article is. Do you have an internal narrative (monologue) running in your head at all times? I'm not really understanding how someone could not have such a continuous voice, since it's the basis for thought as far as I can tell. The story doesn't say anything about autism, but I wonder if this is a phenomenon like aphantasia, or even synaesthesia, which are sometimes associated with autism.

Today I Learned That Not Everyone Has An Internal Monologue And It Has Ruined My Day.

My day was completely ruined yesterday when I stumbled upon a fun fact that absolutely obliterated my mind. I saw this tweet yesterday that said that not everyone has an internal monologue in their head. All my life, I could hear my voice in my head and speak in full sentences as if I was talking out loud. I thought everyone experienced this, so I did not believe that it could be true at that time.

Literally the first person I asked was a classmate of mine who said that she can not “hear” her voice in her mind. I asked her if she could have a conversation with herself in her head and she looked at me funny like I was the weird one in this situation. So I began to become more intrigued. Most people I asked said that they have this internal monologue that is running rampant throughout the day. However, every once in a while, someone would say that they don’t experience this.

My life began to slowly spiral out of control with millions of questions. How do they get through the day? How do they read? How do they make decisions between choice A and choice B? My friend described it as “concept maps” that she sees in her brain. Another friend says that she literally sees the words in her head if she is trying to think about something. 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 without realizing that people don’t think like me?

I posted a poll on instagram to get a more accurate assessment of the situation. Currently 91 people have responded that they have an internal monologue and 18 people reported that they do not have this. I began asking those people questions about the things that they experience and it is quite different from the majority.

https://ryanandrewlangdon.wordpress.com ... ed-my-day/

Yes, 100% -- and it's in colour because of synaesthesia.

I can't fathom how people can think, otherwise.

I do have "voiced" thoughts, but often with visual images as well. So it's more like a movie than an audiobook, if that makes sense. And sometimes my words don't keep up, or I can't remember the word for what I'm thinking, which to me indicates I don't just think in words. Maybe the images come first, then the words?

Yes, all my thought processes are conducted by means of an internal "discussion" in my head. There apparently exist people who think visually instead, and maybe some of them do not experience the "internal monologue" mode of thinking at all.

Visual thinking is incomprehensible to me, because I have aphantasia, meaning I never see or experience any mental imagery. I always assumed it was the same for everyone (and that those who spoke of mental images were hugely exaggerating) until I learned about aphantasia a couple of years ago.

Judging from the responses, however, it seems like many more people have a continuous internal dialogue than are likely to have aphantasia. So maybe quite a lot of people have the internal dialogue as well as being able to think visually?

I think both visually and with an internal monologue. My visual thoughts can either be unintentional or called upon. For instance, I might want to imagine an ice cream truck. So I do. However, I also get unwanted visuals such as when someone is describing to me in detail information about a horror film. I don't want to see those visuals but my mind shows them to me instantly, like someone just presented a photo of something I didn't want to see and I didn't realise until I'd already looked. Unfortunately, the same is true about imagined sounds, textures and smells. I can call upon them, but sometimes they are triggered in my mind randomly. So I might vividly recall a smell, texture or a sound even when I don't want to.

One time I remember saying to someone else "Ugh, I did not want to imagine that" and they replied "Well don't. No one asked you to". I then explained that my imagination isn't always voluntary.

The best way I can think to describe it is that it's like walking around with an audio-recorder. I go around talking in an internal monologue, but every so often the audio-recorder pauses without warning and I'm suddenly looking at a bunch of photos. There are certain visual memories I cannot recall without also experiencing the sounds, smells and textures of what happened in that moment. Similar to watching a video except with additional senses.

I've noticed that when my mind is in a creative mood, it tends to use photos and videos rather than the audio-recorder more often. Sometimes when I'm brainstorming I physically grab the air and move certain elements around interacting with the imagined holographic image in front of me. I act like I'm using a touch-screen computer and dragging/dropping certain designs to see what looks best. A habit I've picked up both from improv (where people might act out a scene with an imaginary prop) and graphic / web design (I'm used to fiddling with visuals in front of me). This is something I usually try not to do unless I'm alone, but I have been known to do this a little in class when I start hyper-focusing on my project. Doing the hand movement you'd making for zooming in or scroll on a mobile or laptop when I'm imaging interacting with it and how it might work. I also tend to draw out my ideas on paper. Using a whiteboard can be helpful when plotting concepts that aren't fully concrete yet.

Do you not? [/Archer]

The poll doesn't have any option that is true for me, even though I have a continuous inner monologue.

'Of course, doesn't everyone?' Implies that this is new information to me, but it isn't as there was a conversation about different thinking-styles on WP in the past and some people indicated that they think in pictures or concepts and don't have an internal monologue.

'Of course, and I wish it would shut up!' doesn't apply to me, as I do not wish it'd shut up. It can shut up if I replace it with daydreams. They're movie-like and the only words are the dialogues of the characters. It also ceases to be continuous, though doesn't shut up completely, if I'm doing something physically straining, or if I'm focused on someone else's words or on something else where internal monologue would be a distraction. Though I do sometimes wish it'd shut up if I'm supposed to listen or otherwise take in information and it's not interesting enough to keep my internal monologue from talking about something unrelated.

I can see my own words and the words other people say as if they were being printed down in scrolling teleprompter fashion.

This is probably where my fascination with typewriters (since the age of 5) started. Typewriters were like a desktop working model of my brain. And right now my good Remington, 1927 model, is still on my desk and makes writing that much easier because it is how thought works for me.

Not a monologue, but music playing constantly. But then I listen to my music almost every opportunity I get. It keeps my mind off other things.

I have an internal monologe but it is very repetitive.
The same sentence, the same thought, going over and over again in my head until I move on to the next.
I can see moving pictures in my head, but not still pictures.

Yes. I am always thinking about something in my mind. I assumed it was normal? How can one go without thinking? Ok, there are the odd occasions but they are rare. But how can one survive without thinking using ones minds voice?
To clarify, it is my internal minds voide thinking if that makes sense? And while I am awake I am always thinking unless I get the rare mind blank stare ahead moments where I just stare forward and somehow not think of anything.... Until someone speaks or moves in front of my view and my mind suddenly clicks back in. Other then that I am thinking and exploring all sorts of things.
Even in my sleep I am thinking. Everyone does?

From the original post, I identify the most with the "concept maps", but I also have an inner voice: not a continuous monologue though. Barely any images.

For those who do: do you also have an internal voice while reading? (as in can you hear the words you're reading in your head while doing it?)