How do your toughts work?
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As per title, I am curious. How does your mind / your thoughts work? I only ever experienced my own thoughts, so I'm curious how it works for other people.
I for one feel like my thoughts sometimes are like me talking to myself silently. Sometimes I can even let out a random short sound, which I've come to start disguising by laughing kinda quietly or coughing or whatever. Like it was part of something, and not like an inner monologue almost leaking out.
So, how do your thoughts work?
wrote on last edited by [email protected]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.
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As per title, I am curious. How does your mind / your thoughts work? I only ever experienced my own thoughts, so I'm curious how it works for other people.
I for one feel like my thoughts sometimes are like me talking to myself silently. Sometimes I can even let out a random short sound, which I've come to start disguising by laughing kinda quietly or coughing or whatever. Like it was part of something, and not like an inner monologue almost leaking out.
So, how do your thoughts work?
There's three hamsters running on a wheel in shifts up in my skull.
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As per title, I am curious. How does your mind / your thoughts work? I only ever experienced my own thoughts, so I'm curious how it works for other people.
I for one feel like my thoughts sometimes are like me talking to myself silently. Sometimes I can even let out a random short sound, which I've come to start disguising by laughing kinda quietly or coughing or whatever. Like it was part of something, and not like an inner monologue almost leaking out.
So, how do your thoughts work?
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My thoughts are the bald guy from the six flags dancing 24/7 to the song from the commercial.
MISTER SIX!
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The way I explain it is: when you read, you don't read the words aloud in your head. You look at them and register their meaning. My thoughts are just those meanings. Usually in larger chunks than single words though. They don't have a language. I can 'picture' sounds I've heard before though, like getting a song stuck in my head. That one's more difficult with pictures.
This is not a good explanation because as someone already pointed out a lot of (most?) people do "read the words aloud in their head". For me, I often even make tiny moves of my tongue and larynx - see subvocalization.
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This is not a good explanation because as someone already pointed out a lot of (most?) people do "read the words aloud in their head". For me, I often even make tiny moves of my tongue and larynx - see subvocalization.
Interesting, everyone I've told this to said that is indeed how they read!
Does reading something quietly take as long as reading something out loud for you? It's hard to imagine!
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Interesting, everyone I've told this to said that is indeed how they read!
Does reading something quietly take as long as reading something out loud for you? It's hard to imagine!
Reading in my head certainly takes the same amount of time as reading out loud (occasionally with different voices for characters, as somebody else said).
If I read without doing that it's a lot quicker but it doesn't go in and I have to re-read it. My mind starts chatting away about something else rather than concentrating on the book.
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Reading in my head certainly takes the same amount of time as reading out loud (occasionally with different voices for characters, as somebody else said).
If I read without doing that it's a lot quicker but it doesn't go in and I have to re-read it. My mind starts chatting away about something else rather than concentrating on the book.
Super interesting, cause for me it's the opposite! If I try to read it out loud mentally, my mind is (I guess) understimulated and starts to wander, causing me to have to reread it.
Side question: if you give text a voice, what kind of a voice are you giving my comments here? Not just asking you specifically, but anyone who wants to answer!
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As per title, I am curious. How does your mind / your thoughts work? I only ever experienced my own thoughts, so I'm curious how it works for other people.
I for one feel like my thoughts sometimes are like me talking to myself silently. Sometimes I can even let out a random short sound, which I've come to start disguising by laughing kinda quietly or coughing or whatever. Like it was part of something, and not like an inner monologue almost leaking out.
So, how do your thoughts work?
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. When I'm really focus on something all those noise are gone.
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As per title, I am curious. How does your mind / your thoughts work? I only ever experienced my own thoughts, so I'm curious how it works for other people.
I for one feel like my thoughts sometimes are like me talking to myself silently. Sometimes I can even let out a random short sound, which I've come to start disguising by laughing kinda quietly or coughing or whatever. Like it was part of something, and not like an inner monologue almost leaking out.
So, how do your thoughts work?
wrote on last edited by [email protected]I'm in the "inner monologue" camp. Most of what I think materialises as thought words. I don't have to move anything in my throat to do that unlike OP though, I can think in words without mumbling to myself.
But I know the voice can't be all. It's difficult for me to think in words while actively saying something, but I can have new thoughts while speaking. Sometimes, I get interrupted in thinking mid-sentence, but then I return to that sentence to finish it because... it's just satisfying? It's not that I learn anything new.
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 and replay songs and quotes as I heard them, 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 thought to make different tf2 mercs sing "Oh Canada", that somehow worked despite me definitely not having heard that before. Brains are weird.
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I'm in the "inner monologue" camp. Most of what I think materialises as thought words. I don't have to move anything in my throat to do that unlike OP though, I can think in words without mumbling to myself.
But I know the voice can't be all. It's difficult for me to think in words while actively saying something, but I can have new thoughts while speaking. Sometimes, I get interrupted in thinking mid-sentence, but then I return to that sentence to finish it because... it's just satisfying? It's not that I learn anything new.
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 and replay songs and quotes as I heard them, 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 thought to make different tf2 mercs sing "Oh Canada", that somehow worked despite me definitely not having heard that before. Brains are weird.
If I've been listening to an audio book, or a tv series my inner monologue can take on the voice of the narrator or main character. I'm always afraid I'm going actually speak out loud like them, but it's never happened.
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As per title, I am curious. How does your mind / your thoughts work? I only ever experienced my own thoughts, so I'm curious how it works for other people.
I for one feel like my thoughts sometimes are like me talking to myself silently. Sometimes I can even let out a random short sound, which I've come to start disguising by laughing kinda quietly or coughing or whatever. Like it was part of something, and not like an inner monologue almost leaking out.
So, how do your thoughts work?
wrote on last edited by [email protected]I have both voiced and unvoiced thoughts in my head, depending on what "level" the "thinking" is at. Like others in this thread, I heard every word of this comment as I typed it, as well as a few other times as I ideated and rephrased it before typing. However, some things, particularly practiced things, just happen without any "speaking", and I just get a notion of the end result. This sometimes leads to a weird thing where, when I'm concentrating on something, both the voiced and unvoiced "threads" will do the same thing, but the voiced thoughts move at the speed of speech, and so the unvoiced thoughts get there first, and then have to wait for the voiced thoughts to catch up. I then get to wonder why I just thought the same thing twice, and why I waited for the voiced thread to finish at all when I already knew the outcome. It's also not always just my own voice (though usually), I'll set up "straw-men" to represent a certain viewpoint or person if something needs that level of consideration, or I want to prepare for a difficult conversation (or reflect on one that went poorly) - I've seen memes about similar things, so I think that's pretty usual.
Similarly, when reading, I hear every word (not always in my own voice, characters and narrators sometimes get their own), but if I really get into the flow then parts will move into the unvoiced stream and I get much clearer images of what's going on (I'm a 1-2 on the aphantasia scale depending on concentration and familiarity) - that state is hard to get to, though.
No idea if any of that's normal or not, I've never really thought to talk to anyone about it.
Also, I occasionally have a small part of the inner monologue slip out as whispered speech too, like you said, though I don't tend to cover it up, if people ask I just say "oh, sorry, just thinking out loud a bit".
Edit: added more detail
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Super interesting, cause for me it's the opposite! If I try to read it out loud mentally, my mind is (I guess) understimulated and starts to wander, causing me to have to reread it.
Side question: if you give text a voice, what kind of a voice are you giving my comments here? Not just asking you specifically, but anyone who wants to answer!
For me, there is kind of default neutral sounding voice for comments, but as soon as I get some kind of clue as to the speaker, either from language or punctuation patterns or if they say something about who they are- age, gender, nationality, etc., then the voice gets some more distinctive sound to it.
For instance, @[email protected], who is the main poster in several communities I subscribe to, has a picture of Leela from Futurama as her profile pic, and she has mentioned that she's a she. So obviously when I read a comment or a title she wrote, it's in Leela's voice.
Your comment seems energetic and friendly, so the voice is genderless and with a neutral (to me) accent, but with an energetic, friendly tone and cadence.
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As per title, I am curious. How does your mind / your thoughts work? I only ever experienced my own thoughts, so I'm curious how it works for other people.
I for one feel like my thoughts sometimes are like me talking to myself silently. Sometimes I can even let out a random short sound, which I've come to start disguising by laughing kinda quietly or coughing or whatever. Like it was part of something, and not like an inner monologue almost leaking out.
So, how do your thoughts work?
I hold no capacity for mental imagery, so a 5 on the Aphantasia Scale. When I think of things I do not consciously ask a question or engage in an inner monologue, either internally or externally, but instead become aware of the information that I need. My information is all stored with like information, so if you asked me about a person, then I get all of the information I have on that person including our previous conversation as though no time had passed. This makes people uncomfortable though, so I try not to reference things to specifically.
Similar to another poster here, I also hear voices, which range from background murmuring like a crowded restaurant to focused 1:1 interactions, though these are usually very brief. Additionally, I will 'hear' various noises and have gotten pretty good at not reacting to stuff until I gauge other peoples' response.
I am not particularly creative. I cannot draw or create art, but I can recreate things that are in front of me.
I don't know if that makes sense, and I am happy to answer questions if I didn't describe it well.
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As per title, I am curious. How does your mind / your thoughts work? I only ever experienced my own thoughts, so I'm curious how it works for other people.
I for one feel like my thoughts sometimes are like me talking to myself silently. Sometimes I can even let out a random short sound, which I've come to start disguising by laughing kinda quietly or coughing or whatever. Like it was part of something, and not like an inner monologue almost leaking out.
So, how do your thoughts work?
wrote on last edited by [email protected]I think as if in duality at times. I've come to think of it like the subconscious or one brain half that doesn't know words injecting impressions, solutions, wants, into my conscious other brain half.
I think I can vaguely grasp how it can be that people have voices or other personalities in their head. I do not, though if my other brain half had developed a voice I'd be fucked. But that's just how I perceive it.
Well, I do very occasionally tell myself I'm an idiot verbally when a cringy social interaction flashback hits me again. I hate that.
In any case I can visualize memories easily, even if details are unreliable and gaps are often filled with most probable placeholders created by imagination. Similar to dreams perhaps.
I've wattched my mind go to different states of self perception which I find interesting and jarring. Sometimes it shows me self perception that I like, which motivates me and makes me happy about myself and confident. Sadly those shifts in perception are hard to keep alive for long, hard as I might try.
My thinking happens in words and images equally, depending on the task. While writing this the right words just come from an unknown source and what I want to say is a concept finding it's way with these words. As if one part is showing what message I want to deliver in words while a seperate process hands out the right words checking each word if it still conveys the intended meaning.
I analysed this while writing this and now feel like there is an type if LLM setup in my head as a component.
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As per title, I am curious. How does your mind / your thoughts work? I only ever experienced my own thoughts, so I'm curious how it works for other people.
I for one feel like my thoughts sometimes are like me talking to myself silently. Sometimes I can even let out a random short sound, which I've come to start disguising by laughing kinda quietly or coughing or whatever. Like it was part of something, and not like an inner monologue almost leaking out.
So, how do your thoughts work?
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4538954/
Long read, talks about internal monologue. I have some undiagnosed issue, possibly ADD.
My monologue (sometimes dialog) keeps changing every other week and difficult to keep track of.
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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.
5 to me, but my thinking is talking to myself and reading is reading the words out loud in my mind. What am i?
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As per title, I am curious. How does your mind / your thoughts work? I only ever experienced my own thoughts, so I'm curious how it works for other people.
I for one feel like my thoughts sometimes are like me talking to myself silently. Sometimes I can even let out a random short sound, which I've come to start disguising by laughing kinda quietly or coughing or whatever. Like it was part of something, and not like an inner monologue almost leaking out.
So, how do your thoughts work?
I have no internal monologue but I do have a mind's eye. Ideas and thoughts appear to me in "splashes" or like a very quick flash. I can detect patterns in behavior and speech very accurately and quickly, and this abilty/quirk also makes me very tired rapidly.
I love complicated stuff but get bored easily.
Reading is one of my passions but I have to have different books for different times and places. -
For me, there is kind of default neutral sounding voice for comments, but as soon as I get some kind of clue as to the speaker, either from language or punctuation patterns or if they say something about who they are- age, gender, nationality, etc., then the voice gets some more distinctive sound to it.
For instance, @[email protected], who is the main poster in several communities I subscribe to, has a picture of Leela from Futurama as her profile pic, and she has mentioned that she's a she. So obviously when I read a comment or a title she wrote, it's in Leela's voice.
Your comment seems energetic and friendly, so the voice is genderless and with a neutral (to me) accent, but with an energetic, friendly tone and cadence.
That is very interesting and makes sense. And I feel honoured, lol. I'm a pretty genderless human, so I like that but.
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As per title, I am curious. How does your mind / your thoughts work? I only ever experienced my own thoughts, so I'm curious how it works for other people.
I for one feel like my thoughts sometimes are like me talking to myself silently. Sometimes I can even let out a random short sound, which I've come to start disguising by laughing kinda quietly or coughing or whatever. Like it was part of something, and not like an inner monologue almost leaking out.
So, how do your thoughts work?
I treat my mind as a big great block. If something is disturbing me, I stop to put everything into place and move "all together" again. It works and I'm more productive this way.
