What It Is Like To Not Have An Internal Monologue

[@ElineBlueEyes]

So funny to see that the brain of the woman in the middle is being continuously blown away by their answers, her expression is just priceless.. 🤯

[@ElineBlueEyes]

And i still can't wrap my mind about it either 😵😅

[@Leeoh949]

They need to watch the show “You” on Netflix like 60% of the show is internal monologue.

[@ralphrocky2404]

I've watched it and I'm one of those people with no inner monologue haha, I guess when I was watching that I was wondering why hes having a conversation with himself in his head 😂😂 for us it more of sense so when hes talking to himself and making his mind up and stuff, that information is already downloaded in our head automatically so we don't have to do that, that's the best I can describe it really. Very good watch btw

[@DushanChaciej]

@@ralphrocky2404 I have a question - how'd you go about coming up with a story for a book, like planning out the series of events, or if you'd have to come up with rules for a card game. How'd you do it? Do you ever do stuff like that?

[@ralphrocky2404]

@@DushanChaciej if I was planning out a story for a book or even planning out this anwser, it would just come from concepts, images and abstract ideas and than as I'm writing or talking they'd come out in words. The thing is we still have thoughts haha our minds are as busy or even more busy but we dont think in language or sentences, our brain automatically translates it into that as we are writing or talking. I'm guessing for yee it works the other way, do yee get thoughts in English language and sentences first and than can imagine or think abstractly about something from the thoughts you have ??

[@DushanChaciej]

@@ralphrocky2404 I think that the actual words in my brain are the upper layer after more abstract concepts / thoughts, or maybe they arise at the same time, but definitely not the other way around, as in from words to abstract thoughts. Thank you for your answer!

[@Roxjetlagged]

I watched it and just thought it was for the sake of letting us know his thoughts. Cuz how else can we know, only through words right. It's not like movies can show us thoughts abstractly or through concepts. So literally showing us his thoughts means we need to hear it. But I always figured that's just how it works in movies, didnt know people actually think like that. Always sounds so robotic and unnatural to me. Loved that series btw!

[@alexab2016]

I can’t believe I’m just hearing about this now. This is absolutely blowing my mind that I didn’t know this existed....I just assumed everyone had an internal dialogue...guess it’s true what they say when you assume, lol!!

[@corvuslight]

What about empathy? The ability to visualize the mindstate or emotional state of someone else? How about seeing yourself abstractly, or 3rd person visualization? Do they ever question their own motives or actions? Self analysis? Philosophy...do they think about what it means to be able to be aware that they are aware of their awareness?

[@Krista2882]

you don't need to talk to yourself to understand when people are going through something difficult. the same with all of your other questions. to me I think these questions are super weird because to me none of these things REQUIRE words.

[@alohabroward]

you just tend to think in feelings and concepts. like for me, i have maybe a 65-35 ratio of abstract thought to inner monologue. when i’m aware of it, it becomes a dialogue. but a lot of concepts are just a feeling, so i can feel it strongly, but the act of putting it into words is really hard and takes conscious decision. i’m an extremely self aware person too, like i’m very aware of how i feel

[@sydneyjackgarza5199]

I am actually hyper empathetic and incredibly curious. You dont need an internal monologye to feel. Feelings are feelings. Emotions.. so i wouldnt have to tell myself "oh that person is sad, thats sad, im sad too" i would just feel the sadness myself and wish to be able to help. And with life i still feel the emotions/feelings : awe, wonder, uncertainty, doubt. Etc. And i absolutely love words and language. I think i get the privilege of picking exactly which words i want to use to convey the concept/messages i am experiencing and wanting to convey. I write poetry, songs, sometimes i really dont know exactly what im thinking in words but i do know how i feel, im very in tune with myself. Writing helps me. Especially because then i can put the period at the end of a sentence because until i write it out i just feel this emotional swamp. And the words help clean up the murkiness and i gain clarity through my selected wordings.

[@sydneyjackgarza5199]

Hyper aware of my awareness

[@kamibaker5264]

@sydneyjackgarza I write as well, and your comment strongly resonates with me. My emotional state is best defined when I’m able to write about it, and often I find the clarity that writing lends to my emotional state sometimes even magnifies or enriches my feelings. My inner monologue has a part in this, but I cannot achieve this through merely that alone.

[@ziggygunz2447]

"Just read" ooooh so it's gonna be that kind of interview lol

[@Zuvie77]

I’m mind blown learning about this. My parents are from India but I have been raised in the U.S. and the bilingual and no internal monologue doesn’t apply to me. I can speak more than one language but I think in English and almost always have to convert what I’m trying to say in English before I say it. There definitely is a voice in my head. I don’t know how I would be without that voice. It’s a huge part of who I am.

[@MrChainsawFX]

I thought the same thing WOW! Many years ago I was at a party talking to a friend. I asked her what are you thinking about? She responded nothing. So then I was curious and ask her what did she mean by nothing? I can't remember exactly what her answer was but it was very similar to the two sitting on either side of you. Instantly my mind was boggled and I could never fathom such a thing. Now sometime after that I brought this up in conversation a few times to friends and my brother which everyone else seems to have an inner monologue that I've discussed this with. I've always wondered could there be such a ? However since then because my mind has been running Non-Stop and living everywhere in time at any given second I never bothered to look this up. I've been too busy inner monologuing. I forgot about looking into this phenomenon. Before I watched this video I had just watched some other guys 2 videos on the subject, now the intrigue is back on.

[@redskittlez12]

It's as if people who have an inner monologue get to see the inner hardware and the things going on behind the scenes that all brains have. , and the people without an inner monologue only experience what happens. . But when it comes down to it. Both people with and without inner monologues are doing the same thing. , just people with an inner monologue see what its like before it happens

[@lattemacchiato858]

Very interesting explanation :D

[@redskittlez12]

@@lattemacchiato858 thanks! Humans are so fascinating

[@AngieF8]

Yes that's what I think. But the other type seems so efficient, streamlined. They don't see or try to contemplate all the variables in any given situation and don't complicate things as we so often do. I wish I could turn the awareness of the processing off occasionally.

[@redskittlez12]

@@AngieF8 Very interesting. I wonder, though, if they are over complicating things like us but just don't know about it because their brain doesn't verbally communicate it with them?

[@anxietesocialesocialanxiet7761]

Inner monologue [e-mail] Russell T. Hurlburt Bianca Harleston actually it’s the other way around. The people with an inner monologue express in words what happened, after it happened. Without an inner monologue there is a direct processing of just knowing. This is something that neuroscientists are more and more observing. The mind only expresses the happening afterwards with words.

[@WinterWhiteWarriors]

I think that those with an internal monologue feel and experience the same thought process as those without an internal monologue, only their brain automatically puts it into actual language to make it easier to interpret. That's why we create alphabets and languages- to organize emotions and concepts. That's literally all words are, just symbols that we tie to an idea to make it easier to understand. The word "Mom" is literally just lines on a paper, but we connect it to an idea that's much greater. We all have feelings and instincts, just some brains prefer to organize it even more, while others don't necessarily need to.

[@helenamizera3807]

Very well expressed.

[@Ggeorge47]

Lol I just found out a week ago that people do actually hear their voice all day. To me, the two on the outside seem normal. The only difference we have is that I can force myself to speak in my head with vocalizing it, but it feels extremely unnatural, like, I don’t like it lol.

[@Javier-zw9sx]

It's the same for me but for imagining things. I actually just discovered that people see images in their heads. For example I know what a glass of water look like but I can't picture it and if I do it's almost uncomfortable like I'm really pushing into it, and I have to like act it to imagine it

[@hansgerman3437]

Now imagine you lose controll of that voice. And it hates you.

[@Ggeorge47]

General Grievous lol ya uhhh no thanks, that seems terrifying 😂

[@hansgerman3437]

@@Ggeorge47 And it's reality for thousands of people.

[@C.Hawkshaw]

General Grievous That’s schizophrenia.

[@niki3722]

I always thought those movies with them narrating their own thoughts were so unrealistic and I used to think no one thinks like that they are just doing it for the story telling

[@DeeSol28]

So you talked to yourself and thought “no one thinks like that they are just doing it for story telling” isn’t that your inner monologue saying that?

[@ricjovenjulian9416]

@@DeeSol28 Think of it as an instantaneous thought without processing of that info i.e. if someone asks you what 2+2 is, the answer would know the answer to it without counting 1-4 in ur head.

[@jonstark153]

@@DeeSol28 i feel u bt that's not it they too have thoughts bt they don't linger on it I mean they jst feel it and move on . Like if they are confused they take a minute to figure that out yes bt not like linger on it.

[@fibimusic]

Wait this interview is amazing. Thank you so much for this. I had no idea this existed till today! Amazing interviewer too, good job girl :)

[@niki3722]

Its kind of frustrating to watch because they aren't really explaining how they are thinking maybe it's easier for me because I used to have an inner monologue sometimes so I know what it's like and what the difference is. For me it's not just physical or instinctual I still make decisions by evaluating what to do but i don't put it in words. Instead of a verbal pro and contra it's more like them popping up and me feeling which ones weigh heavier and basing my decision on that. It feels like a whirlwind of different ways of looking at it and sometimes I try to put it in words so it gets clearer. But I prefer thinking without words because it feels like it captures my thoughts better words are restricting and can't really express the essence of what I'm thinking

[@AngieF8]

The one on the right that has to constantly talk and interact even at the gym is one of the ones I try so hard to avoid! 😆 I have my own internal conversation nonstop and don't need additional noise.

[@alphamarketingstrategies]

Angela F. I will say she is VERY good at reading people and has no problem identifying who wants to talk and who doesn’t! (But we know what kind of people you are talking about!)

[@mikepen0287]

I just think in sensation, emotions, shapes and colors. I can remember sounds but cant actively think with sound. It's like mentally mute. So I'll think in the other senses. I'll picture, smell, feel ,taste what someone is describing, and feel emotions. Writing and conversing just happens as I talk and write. And is normally for me a jumbled mess. Writing feels easy as im doing it, but it needs a lot ofnedits.and revisions to get my thoughts out there.

[@sydneyjackgarza5199]

Also id like to add that i have no "minds eye" no ability to visualize. And i still have memories. Without words or pictures attached.

[@SnowdropDaisy]

After watching a few of these inner monologue or lack there of videos on youtube I think I'm somewhere in between. Like the 2 women w/o monologues I can sometimes just "know" or get the feeling for something without "voicing it" but then when things need more attention or analysis I switch to my "voice". 🤔 it's hard to put into words, the moments where my voice is "silent" my thoughts feel even more clear if that makes sense? Like they've already been processed and ready for feeling? my head hurts 😂

[@kathiacruz9896]

karliflower23 I feel the same way!

[@MarcPrime]

My mind is freaking blown! Never realized these types of people exist (not in this way anyway).

[@ReadMr]

My inner voice helps me analyze and doubt my (gut) feelings. The end result is that either my gut feeling was right or my gut feeling was wrong. The latter means usually discovering a bias. I suspect that people without inner voice might be disadvantaged in critical thinking. I can think in visuals, patterns without any inner conversation I can also read without inner voice (I can just turn it off) but whenever it is helpful I "turn on" my inner voice to have a dialogue where one voice represents me and another one is my opponent who is questioning my decisions/assertions/believes.

[@elisaelisaa4523]

I don’t think these two women truly understand anything you’re asking them. They answer in a very literal and physical sense and I think them thinking of everything so literal is what is stoping them from realizing they do have an inner voice or what an inner voice even is. When you asked one girl how she gets anxiety she lists her physical symptoms without giving any indication of how she gets there which means she is overlooking the senses that get her to that frame of mind.

[@Mycenaea]

Maybe they think people mean an actual "physical" voice that they can hear in their head instead of just silent thoughts? Because that's what I thought people meant at first when they said that they have an inner monolog or a voice in their head. But, unless I'm mistaken, when people say they have an inner voice they don't mean that they hear their voice. I think it's miscommunication or interpreting things differently.

[@elisaelisaa4523]

anders damin she means what you just described. You’re over thinking her response. You think the same. 👍🏻

[@elisaelisaa4523]

anders damin Yes. The three of you are overthinking it. There is a stream of thoughts that is your inner voice. You can imagine that you hear those thoughts in your own voice or in someone else’s voice. It’s not an audible sound. It’s your brain interpreting your thoughts through what you imagine as a voice even though it’s not a an audible voice. That’s what she means by silent. That’s what you mean also by “because we don’t really ‘hear’ anything”.

[@noname-of2yl]

As someone with no internal monologue who gets panic attacks frequently, they are very physical just like these women explained. A lot of the time i will randomly get a panic attack (physical symptoms of shortness of breath, heart pounding, shaking, room closing in) and not even know what triggered it. But then sometimes there will be an obv trigger like the fear of not being able to leave a crowded mall easily (i have agoraphobia)..but im not literally thinking w a voice in my head about it, it’s just something I KNOW and feel intuitively after assessing the situation and then i feel the physical anxiety

[@EloquentlyEse]

@@elisaelisaa4523 I think your explanation is accurate. But I don't think these ladies have misunderstood at all. They are saying that they are completely missing any "voice" whatsoever (imagined or otherwise) and process information completely without any sort of internal vocalization at all.

[@nickjunes]

People need to start to make the distinction between inner audio and inner monologue. I have inner dialogue more often than monologue... or rather a one sided dialogue where I rehearse something I WILL say or how I would put something.

[@jenniferballinger4350]

Like this is blowing my mind!?! No wonder we are so different!!!!

[@noraq8794]

Thank you for this video, this interview thing has the most questions I’ve found on KZbin.

[@siloPIRATE]

2:00 Me, I just know to be aware of person x. I don't talk myself through it. I go from no threat mode to high alert without needing to be mentally talked through it 2:35 Exactly, body language. Brain has already assessed you. Didn't need to talk me through it 7:55 My inner voice will speak when required, otherwise he's mute so getting to sleep is not a problem 9:45 For me, I go to bed when I'm tired unless I've got somewhere to be the next day. When I do need to sleep, a lot of the time there's no problem, sometimes it's like my brain just runs a killall command to stop any trains of thought and switch off. Anxiety is both mental and physical for me 14:03 Generally I get in the one and write what feels right and what the movie playing in my head says to do. It's when I come back and think about it again that things tend to mess up and my writing gets worse. So it's kind of a don't think, just go deal (with any planning having been done in the background many hours or days before) 18:30 If I have a song stuck in my head, any other thought processes largely stop

[@jenniferballinger4350]

Mind blown... I am still learning about this and I can't imagine not talking in my head or singing or imagining... Crazy

[@ThePinkUnderlord]

actually it seems its more rare to actually have an inner voice

[@tessthetimeless]

Extroverted feeling & thinking traits vs introverted

[@jakeschmell]

There’s a theory that introverts are introverts because they have a very rich (and taxing) internal world -> they steer away from having too much additional external stimulation (from other people) lest they be overstimulated and thus exhausted. Conversely, extroverts constantly seek out external social stimulation because they have no rich and stimulating internal world. I like this explanation because it’s kinda flattering to introverts. :) My internal voice never shuts up or even stops talking about what it’s analyzing. 100% of the time. I need to be alone a lot. Even though most people who know me would think I’m on the extrovert side. So by that analysis, the girl on the right is an extrovert (hates being alone) whereas the girl in the middle supposedly has some introverted traits for the sake of sanity.

[@ReadMr]

Brilliant conversation and top-notch questions! Thank you :)

[@jonstark153]

I love the interviewer i mean she's exactly asking what i wanna know and is very good in her job.😃

[@ianjameslake]

They process everything in their subconscious...

[@truthseeker2275]

It really makes you wonder if our 'normal' consciousness is purely epiphenomenal.

[@sydneyjackgarza5199]

I think people are forgetting that before you learned how to speak you were still a human being and wanted to crawl and so you learned how. And you wanted to play with this toy or that so you did. And if you dropped your toy while in the stroller you still cried.

[@sydneyjackgarza5199]

I understand that babies arent aware like we are as adults but what im saying is that we arent empty vessels just "humaning" around. We have souls that animate us too.

[@abbistantinely125]

Am I the only one who thinks nonverbally but can turn on an inner monologue if I’m bored or if I need to give myself a little extra focus. I can imagine a voice in my head when I want to but I usually have to consciously initiate it.

[@40JoCharles]

Absolutely fascinating. 🙂🙏🏼☯️

[@hukmai]

Have literally just been on this trip of "inner voice" For me reading in my head has dialog in my voice, almost as if everything is create is a cinematic movie but with me reading it

[@starrlaajay5926]

I suppose we were all like this before language came about??

[@helenamizera3807]

That makes a lot of sense.

[@BimmerWon]

I think of you can hear a voice in your head then that’s called “psychosis”. I can imagine a voice and how it would sound but I can’t hear it.

[@glstka5710]

I think the psychotic form is called schizophrenia. From what I've heard they can't distinguish "inner voice" from sounds in the room.

[@keezybanks]

I don’t think we can “hear” our voices . When I think I can hear it but it’s only me memorizing what my voice sounds like I don’t think it’s my actual voice if that makes sense

[@mycollegeshirt]

no for me its definitely my voice, because I can change it. like this sentence i wrote out in mickey mouse's sub vocalization.

[@davidnishikawa2293]

I think how everyone's describing this as some sort of audible or vocal monologue is misleading. The question is really more like, do you experience your thoughts through language? English, German, Hindi, whatever. Or when you think do just use the ideas, without having to also call up the words and grammar that you could use to frame them.

[@kat7047]

I can hear my own voice in my head.

[@trocarcat]

my inner voice sounds nothing like my actual voice. It reminds me of a child in a way, since it usually seems pretty repetitive and not very insightful or novel , almost like an annoying person repeating everything you say.. only in reverse order... on very rare occasions of insomnia, its like being really tired, but the people at the next table won't shut up.. sometimes I don't even know what's being said, its just constant and annoying. It'd be really great if it told me something I didn't already know.. Usually the intrusive word-thoughts, which are NEVER important, make it harder to stay focused on what I actually want to think about.

[@rafqueraf]

@@davidnishikawa2293 it is very similar to sounds. But no high volume can hurt. As in imaging, any strong light can hurt

[@taylorsv93]

They kept saying they think but like how do they think if they don't hear the thoughts

[@noname-of2yl]

hilomona exactly. great explanation!

[@kerstinnorberg8323]

Have you ever been in a situation when you just know something without needing to verbalize it in your brain? Like when you're in school and the teacher asks a question and you just immediately know the answer. The way I understand it is that those of us WITH an inner monologue filter our "pure" thoughts through inner dialogue before saying them out loud while those WITHOUT an inner voice just skip that step.

[@Krista2882]

i think in pictures and emotions.

[@AngieF8]

It almost sounds like they are almost entirely intuitive and logical. They kept mentioning their gut and they don't waste much time on the past. This is interesting. I'm suspecting some of my friends and relatives that I have difficulty relating to are like that. They are always telling me I think too much.

[@Krista2882]

Angela F. Those of us without an inner monologue can think too much, too. It’s just not in words.

[@cheekothechiweenie]

Thanks for doing these vids! You are engaging and ask great questions!

[@jbeat66]

I enjoyed this... makes me think about how I will be able to better help my clients... thank you!

[@porousorificePilot]

Having an internal monologue I feel like I'm experiencing two separate worlds. Much more is going on in my internal world. My external world gets the renderings of my internal contemplations. I feel those without internal monologue are missing so much. It sounds like those without feel like those that do have too much going on and seems chaotic.

[@relicinn2119]

This is like being a CEO you never check in but the money keeps coming in. Everything is running in the background by your employees you deeply connected to your inner self. if it's a major problem it manifest in to a physical anxiety or you have to write it down which again is another form of physical manifestation to find the solution. Pretty cool

[@amandajackson4148]

I’m the chick in the middle. My boyfriend is the chick on the right. It’s not working out very well. Poor communication and understanding between us. This has helped me to understand him so much better. I just feel like he doesn’t really care to understand me and all my little nuances. Anyone else in a similar relationship?

[@chanellaDaboss]

How do you guys memorize things , for instance a number? Can u memorize a phone number? I love this conversation, i understand what you girls are saying but i don’t understand how it’s possible lol it’s crazy to look like you are thinking but you are not. They seriously look like they are thinking, that’s very interesting.

[@ClaireyTee]

My mind is blown by this 🤯

[@julianaroh5509]

Not me with no inner monologue laughing when the lady in the middle said so i talk to the voice about other people.im weak😭😂

[@scottsanett]

I'm bilingual and I do not have an ongoing internal monologue. I think those who do may have the most difficulty understanding how one's able to understand things without consciously thinking them in words. This leads to those without an internal monologue just simply "knowing" things and having an "instinct" for everything. I'm really curious to see what their MBTI types are. I am an ENTJ and my top functions are extraverted thinking (which explains my thinking out loud) and introverted intuition (me just knowing things without having separate voices telling me what to do or not to do and having an internal debate about it).

[@carolynelevin88]

I'm an ENFJ and have no internal monologue. YAY Fe and Ni! lol But yeah... The Fe is interesting because I keep coming back to the fact that I think in feelings... Weird, but true. Or rather... it's more so that I feel my thoughts??

[@bigfishbunny77]

I'm so glad the question about music was in this because I've been wondering about that. But when they say they do get songs stuck in their head's sometimes, do they mean they just want to listen to that song, or do they actually hear the song playing in their minds? And if they do, are they hearing the original vocals? My brain will play a song endlessly and my inner voice is singing along.

[@nataliesteiner]

I’m all about hearing people’s answers, but not about the interviewer saying things like “us normal people...”

[@glstka5710]

11:33 As a guy with an inner voice, I grew up with English as my native tongue and didn't study much of foreign language until adulthood. I find that my inner voice being English has a tendency to make studying other languages as studying something "out there". I find it hard to think in the new language. Instead I'm thinking "this equals that in English". I can't get conversational in a new language but can dissect it on a page.

[@bellag2702]

quarantine has made me found out these things and i’m trippin out

[@esselleanderic]

What I have concluded from all of this is that it is really difficult for anyone to describe how they think, whether they are thoughts in language, feeling or visual imagination. Maybe we all think differently, it’s just very difficult to describe thought processes!

[@valsotto27]

"I think I enjoy" she said lol

[@spirituallyyoujustbeenx185]

My mind talks alot but only when lm alone. When lm with people l dont think only if they give me reasons too. I never judge people in my head, that's terrible. I eill only judge them in my head from their actions. If we are in a group n a guy calls me names or say lm stupid, in my head l be luke "psss, some nerve thus guy has. Why would he say that?" Girl call me ugly In my head "well. I dont like u anyways" If lm neing trailed or followed Voices be saying "Is this guy following me? Should l test it and go the other way?" Sometimes I judge if I see someone too skinny "I wonder. Is this person hungry? Should l buy this person something to ear" If the person too fat My mind would say " Girl you are big n beautiful" If its a boy my mind think of nothing. If a stranger holds a knife my mind be like "Whats your plan? What are you going to do with that knife Mr? Hope not stab anyone" 😆 But my mind dont judge if people give no trason for it to judge. Even when it do judge it's not my thoughts nor what l feel. Mostly it stuff wat l heard people said or 📺. When it pops up l tell it to shut up 😆

[@ameliaburgin4774]

Me with vs without my adhd medication

[@noraq8794]

If there’s a spectrum in this maybe I don’t fit in the deep end or someone is lying. Something I experienced that conflicts what they say even though I believe I don’t have inner monologue is that I’m not immune to insecurities or self criticism, I have negative thoughts but thoughts are not conversations. And I experience anxiety as a heavy feeling in my chest, I know something is wrong but I’m not having an inner conversation about it. I feel better talking things out loud or writing them down. Standing in front of a mirror I can only say things out loud, saying them in my head feels like I’m writing a sentence in my head rather than “hearing” it. It feels very forced and I have the urge to vocalise it. I’m also vulnerable to not sleeping well but I associate it with overthinking as I also get an overwhelming feeling of concern of what’s to come if I’m stressed about something and I can sometimes identify it and sometimes I can’t unless I write things down.

[@Krista2882]

from reading comments on all these videos about lack of inner monologue, and from what the peoole themselves say in the videos, it seems like it is a spectrum. Some people without an internal monologue seem to think very abstractly and in concepts. I think in pictures and emotions. So I process my thoughts through visualization in my mind. I can "talk" in my head when I plan a conversation, but I don't "hear" myself. Some people have said that they can't even speak to themselves in their heads. I can but it's a conscious effort and I don't hear a voice.

[@jenniferballinger4350]

I love this. I'm just like the "normal" girl and it's crazy to think about this. I think my 5 year old my have this. She cannot understand when I tell her to picture things...

[@laurenj432]

I don’t like how you phrased this because it’s not that people without inner monologues can’t hear an inner voice, it’s just that we don’t require it in order to function. Lol so as I’m typing this, I don’t need to hear it in my head beforehand, but if I decide to have a conversation with myself, I can lol

[@alphamarketingstrategies]

Lauren J the girls in the video cannot hear their voice in their head even if they want to

[@laurenj432]

Alpha Marketing Strategies oh ok that’s weird to me but that’s interesting thanks for replying!

[@SheBooksAndPoker]

I don't have an internal monologue so i was really shocked about the fact that the interviewer girl was so exciting about the answers)))) For me it's super easy to understand "When i read i just...read. Simple i see words and I know what the meaning' or 'i am just know that i said something right or wrong" - so funny to look at the interview blond girl)

[@alixwilson8550]

I cannot remember never having an internal voice,,,, though this will sound even more crazy probably to for at least 95% of people, I have been able to hear other people's internal monologues if the monologue is directed towards me directly... Sounds crazy right but no matter what you think you know we all have much to learn 🤯

[@christianbatt2626]

i often try to project thoughts to other people or animals, especially cats and birds, it seems to work most of the time, but i have never heard anyone say they were aware of it, they normally seem to react to it but aren't really aware of where it came from, as if it was from their subconscious mind or something.

[@carolynelevin88]

I believe you. I believe that I am telepathic because of my lack of inner monologue (think of the way animals communicate with one another). I am easily able to read all kinds of information about someone just by looking at them or hearing their voice. I cannot hear their inner monologues like you can, though. I might get random words pop in my head from people around me (if it's directed at me). Sometimes it's uncomfortable because people don't realize that I know EXACTLY what they think of me (positive and negative)... The "positive" thoughts (especially from the opposite sex or those sexually attracted to me) are REALLY annoying to feel (yes, I feel thoughts)...

[@hrcentral5662]

Having a consistent internal dialogue sounds exhausting. I maintain that children think without the monologue and then internalize their parental voices. I think it's just an intuitive way of existing. I think in terms of imagery and sounds. Kind of like a quick movie clip. And then pay attention to how it makes me feel. Empathy for me is paying attention to body language and harkening to when I once had a similar reaction to help me discern how they might feel. As for organizing thoughts I do have to throw it down on paper free association style and then look for patterns to be able to infer meaning or come upon a rationale.

[@echeblog]

I have aphantasia but I do have an inner monologue. I don't really use my inner monologue when I read. Using my inner monologue to read along would slow me WAY down. Similarly, usually when I write or talk I don't use my inner monologue to plan things out first. There are occasions when I need to hash things out before I speak or write, so I'll use my inner monologue to do that, but that's infrequent.

[@valeriesousa2771]

I see visual and hear a voice. Constantly. Sleeping. I dream a ton

[@kbeetison7831]

A friend who's first language was not English, said his eventually switched from Spanish to English after living in the US for many years.

[@xzaz2]

19:00 they are definitely thinking inside their head. It's just they don't experience the same 'voice' i guess.

[@carpetsnake83]

What did they think of the tv show scrubs

[@jenniferballinger4350]

I can read both ways actually

[@MalikBartholomew]

Soooo... I just found out a few days ago that I have aphantasia. Although a little surprising, most of the videos about it seemed clear on what it is. Looking into the "internal monologue" is a little more confusing for me. I can't tell if my mind works similarly to the women sitting on the ends of the video and it's just the terminology that's causing confusion, or I belong to a third separate category. When I first heard of the phrase "internal monologue" I thought it was specific to voices created by your imagination and/or outside spirits if you believe in those. Either way, these voices don't have to sound like you, you can have conversations back and forth with them, and you don't always have complete control over them. I don't have those types of voices, but I am able to think words in my head without speaking them. To me, it's the same as reading silently.... and it seems to be coming from the same part of the brain as speaking. I can just choose not to say the words aloud if I don't want to. This "voice" is always intentional and I have complete control over it. I don't know if the word "voice" is causing confusion, because you don't literally "hear" anything... But the women in the video weren't clear about the reading question. I can read "The dog is big" aloud or I can read it silently in my head. Similarly, I can stub my toe and say "ouch" aloud or just think the word "ouch" in my head. Can these women not do the same?

[@bunnyflying9659]

You know what's crazy I speak 3 languages my first is Arabic the second is fresh and the crazy part I think with my third English and I think you just have to find the right language

[@glstka5710]

When I'm doing something routine like taking a shower of shaving I tend to have my "nonverbal mind" do that and my inner voice is thinking about something complex like a book I've been reading or something deep that I've been studying. Can people with no inner voice think about complex subjects while doing routine things? If I'm thinking about something complex with my inner voice and I reach for the water cooler and reach for the hot tap when I want cold water or the cold tap when I want hot water then I need to break off the complex thought and have my inner voice say "No, you want the other tap". Do people with no inner voice ever accidentally get the wrong tap or at a meal grab the salt when they want the pepper or vice versa?

[@eastofeden13]

Please tell the lady on the right that ‘I could care less’ is not a thing. 🤣

[@glstka5710]

When reading a book, my nonverbal mind is attending to things like my eye scanning to the next line down when I finish the line or turning the page while my inner voice attends to the subject of the book. One thing that frustrates me about pages sticking together is having to break my concentration of my inner voice from the subject of the book to try to get to the right page because the pages stick together. also columns that are to wide so that my inner voice is interrupted while I try not to reread the same line. Do people with not inner voice have problems like this reading?

[@mycollegeshirt]

hmm I heard anxiety was like that feeling when you miss a step, but all the time, or when you pat yourself for your phone and wallet, and you cant find it for a second, but all the time.

[@karolinawalichiewicz4200]

so people with inner monologues do not experience feelings as strongly? they only experience words in their head narrating to them? maybe it was wrong of me to assume that everyone is aware of their feelings or that the feelings are the most prominent part of their experience...i would say, if you want to know what it's like not to have an inner monologue, just imagine having only the feelings and not the associated words. as an analogy, just imagine watching a video with and without the captions?

[@ChannelTenx]

NPCs with no higher self/soul, sounds horrible I know

[@BotfromChina]

Its 2023 and i just found out this is real its a mind fuck.

[@nanipanini]

PINEAL GLAND. this might be they key for this phenomenon

[@laudetango7052]

Are they content? I would think people without inner monologues would be more easily content.

[@carpetsnake83]

What did you think was meant when there was a lot of noise about and someone said “it’s sooo noisy I can’t hear myself think”

[@laudetango7052]

Ask them to repeat abcdefg in their head, what happens?

[@chanellaDaboss]

I am curious, how many of you guys experience that?

[@carolynelevin88]

Hmm... I don't have an internal monologue, but when I read, I DO hear a voice in my head... Come to think of it, sometimes I find reading annoying because I have to hear a voice in my head and that seems to be a very sloooooow and systematic way of processing information. When I read, though, it also feels like my tongue wants to shape itself to allow me to speak the words- it's actually kind of uncomfortable and I can't stop thinking about my motionless tongue, itching to move.

[@zummo61]

I wonder how deaf people would answer these questions. In the absence of speaking what form would their thoughts take?

[@glstka5710]

35:11 "I could care less"...which means you do care a little?

[@ldrnative8619]

I dont have internal dialogue and I also have aphantasia

[@deren2001]

We, the internal monologue'ers ( in words and images) are divided as following; Observers, mellow thinker, The Planners, medio thinker. The Analyst, high thinker, which is the worst! They have literally no shut-off switch.

[@helenamizera3807]

I'm the analyst! I wish I could turn it of!

[@user-rc1my2xc3s]

@@helenamizera3807 meditate :)

[@orangeblossom5362]

What about art?

[@hmg9194]

How do these people function? Holy cow

[@TawntheAtheist]

"How do you read?" "Just read"... pretty much this. Why on earth would you need to read a word, but convert it to an inner voice first in order to understand it? It would be like asking why you do not need to write down what a speaker is saying in order to understand it.

[@alphamarketingstrategies]

Tawn this is a good analogy!

[@trocarcat]

is there any known correlation between internal/no internal monologue & GPA, artistic/musical ability, math/logic concepts, political party affiliation, personality type or any other random "grouping" ? Can one still have "monkey mind" without words? what does it consist of?

[@PuffPets]

How do they pray??? How do they hear God? What do they do in the shower? Like is their mind just black and empty when they are trying to go to sleep?

[@hmshyperion]

This is fascinating. I've known two people who I thought were very nice but pretty tactless, and clueless, they would not pick up on a lot of things and were slow to understand, but were really good at languages. Likely they fit into this category.

[@-Bloomingtales]

How do they people watch and make up stories about them??? lol they don’t… they don’t know what that feels like. Wow.

[@diesockedeslebens6599]

I always thought the inner Monologe Was a Story telling device since my thoughts seem to unconsistent and fluctuating to express in words while thinking. And my reading answer is the same. The most things are just information we see,hear or otherwhise sense. Why talk about that

[@eastofeden13]

How do these people think about a concept in their head for example while listening to a lecture? Do they just stare blankly?

[@alphamarketingstrategies]

Veganwitch some people like this see things in their heads more often! Some actually see the words or an abstract form of them. Some are more focused on their physical experience

[@eastofeden13]

Alpha Marketing Strategies yeah i just cannot imagine how they think of every aspect of a concept. I usually debate with myself about it while i am listening to new ideas🙃

[@greeneyedmimibostian3013]

None of these girls on the ends are giving me adequate answers . Feelings and thoughts are different

[@C.Hawkshaw]

Maybe the brain doesn’t want to choose which language to use to think in, so it just doesn’t bother thinking. Do they talk to their pets? Also, I have a few friends who have schizophrenia. When their symptoms are florid, their minds are so full of voices, sometimes very loud, sometimes very persecutory, that they speak back to them. And of course feel drained and agitated. They cannot hold jobs because they cannot be productive when the inner monologue or dialogue or conversation overtakes their mind. I am going to try to quiet the inner voice (s). This is the goal of meditation. Well, one of them. 🙂 OK I have a lot more questions. Therapy. Have either of these two non-inner dialogue women ever been to psychotherapy? I feel like for me, that’s when inner psychological rumination kicked into high gear. What was their relationship like with their mother ? If they had to take their dog on an hour long walk and their friend had just told them that she didn’t want their boyfriend to come to her party this weekend, would they have a feeling of anger or annoyance or hurt, but no self dialogue or no pretend dialogue with the friend, in their head, for the entire hour? Just no thoughts at all, just a feeling like “oh well, Justin and I will just go see a movie instead “ - and just forget about it, or what? I tried not to think just now in the shower. I felt like I was going to explode, and maybe cry. (My dog just died a few days ago. I have cried a bunch but now I’m tired of it so I guess I’m suppressing it.) Also colors got brighter. To be like these two I think would be like heaven. Like being alive. Maybe we use inner dialogue to not feel. I think that people mostly turn to meditation to turn down negative rumination, but what if you also didn’t have to have constant inner verbalization about positive stuff too, what if you could just mostly feel and act? Yes I think that a person would be much more productive and happier. P.S. Great interview, great questions and Mackenzie you have beautiful eyes!

[@xolomartinez6036]

Why does my inner voice sound completely different from my external voice?

[@bobmalibaliyahmarley1551]

People having no internal monologue sounds strange, but it also sounds strange with people having aphantashia, where they cannot ''picture'' or ''visualize'' things in their minds... What blows my mind even more is that there are people with BOTH of these things, like... HOW DO YOU EVEN THINK WITHOUT BEING ABLE TO VISUALIZE NOR HAVE AN INTERNAL MONOLOGUE? Brains weird!

[@Leeoh949]

Nah it doesn’t add up how do they have a thought without it manifesting itself in any way. I get it just works and their brain works that way but it’s hard for them to explain something they always thought was normal, but their explanations don’t really help lol.

[@ReneCarmonaCaimito]

it must be like abstract shapes that are more precise than language! this is cool!

[@AsifMehedi]

I'm with you. I haven't much looked into it yet but so far it just seems a bunch of malarkey that people are running with, without giving a critical look. The whole thing might be due to some people's misunderstanding of the phrase "inner voice." Also, nobody is in a position to compare their thought processes with those of other people. So there's no way for one to know theirs is different from the others'.