Do you hear voices inside your head?
Readership: All
Theme: Constructs
Length: 600 words
Reading Time: 3 minutes
@ KylePlantEmoji
Fun fact: some people have an internal narrative and some don’t.
As in, some people’s thoughts are like sentences they “hear”, and some people just have abstract non-verbal thoughts, and have to consciously verbalize them.
And most people aren’t aware of the other type of person.
After seeing the above tweet, L. Allen White described his impressions in his post, Today I Learned That Not Everyone Has An Internal Monologue And It Has Ruined My Day. (2020 February 13). It drove him bonkers. He had to rethink his whole world perception.
He posted a poll on Instagram in order to collect data on how many people have an internal monologue. The results showed that 83% of people had an internal monologue, while 17% didn’t (N = 109).
Apparently, I am one of the few people who does not have a constantly running internal dialogue. Although I do hear the voice of my conscience, or my anger, or my desire, from time to time. I also hear God’s voice speaking to me when I pray. I know my father has the same experiences as me, because we have talked about this in the past.
In general, I think in terms of concepts which are rather complex and not easy to put into words. This usually requires a lot of words to accurately describe it and get my point across. Many people don’t have the will, the interest, or the attention span necessary to go through that. But if a person happens to be interested in the topic, I can talk for hours and never get tired. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve become better at identifying which kinds of topics people might be interested in.
You may find it interesting that I am a popular lecturer by profession. To do this, I just focus my mind on a concept and I start talking about it. I don’t spend a lot of time in preparation, but if I deliver the same speech many times, I will acquire supplementary materials to add to my presentation that enhance my delivery, such as better scientific words, figures, and graphs, which I will compile into a PowerPoint.
While I am speaking, I don’t think about what I’m going to say. Sometimes I don’t even know what I’m going to say. It just comes out of me. I have a general habit of speaking slowly, forcefully, and sometimes emotionally, which enhances my presentation. At times I fumble for the right words but it doesn’t seem to detract from the overall impact. Instead, it seems to grab people’s attention and it gets them thinking. Many people have described me as a motivational speaker.
President Woodrow Wilson and Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan (ca. 1914). Wildly popular among the commoners, Bryan was famed for his moral rectitude and his convincing and deeply moving speeches. He resigned from office upon learning that his exceptional skill as a motivational speaker was being used to promote political schemes of which he strongly disagreed. I have found that writing suits me very well. But I have to sit and think about it for a while to be able to put my ideas into words that another person could understand. I have to conscientiously construct sentences and choose my words. I use a thesaurus regularly. I have to write these words down whenever they come to me, or else the succinctness and eloquence will quickly be forgotten. I regard good writing as an artistic masterpiece of language, although whether others regard my own writings as masterpieces is subject to opinion.
Update: As of 2024/11/23, this poll shows that 2/3 of respondents have an internal monologue, and 1/3 do not (N = 21). Compared to White’s respondents, a larger proportion of the readers of this blog do not have an internal monologue.
Related
- Σ Frame: Confidence and Authenticity in Speech (2009/12/28)
- Σ Frame: The Magic of Instrospective Judgment and Authentic Confession (2020/5/8)
- X-Splat: I pass for neurotypical. (2020/10/6)
