# Do you have an inner voice? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 15, 2024, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-inner-voice/1011680 "2024-12-15T18:08:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2024, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-inner-voice/1011680/21 "2024-12-15T21:45:52Z")
What some people were describing wasn’t exactly like the ‘voices in your head’ thing that is supposedly/stereotypically used to describe schizophrenia, but rather, people were saying things like “my thoughts arrive in the form of words, from my brain” - which sounds different to my own experience where I live inside my head and speak to myself in there. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2024, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-inner-voice/1011680/22 "2024-12-15T21:54:59Z")
I certainly feel I have an inner voice. I often review mathematical proofs as part of the process of going to sleep. I am terrible at learning languages. I don’t think there’s any connection. ---
**Author:** ![Ellecram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellecram/32/18948_2.png) [@Ellecram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellecram)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2024, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-inner-voice/1011680/23 "2024-12-15T21:55:54Z")
I am often sad that my poetic inner voice has been stifled by years of tragedy and responsibilities (and OCD). But yesterday a wistful, sad poem just popped into the stream of consciousness to the point where I had to stop the laundry and write it down. Because old me has a habit of forgetting things far too quickly. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2024, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-inner-voice/1011680/24 "2024-12-15T21:57:06Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > I spoke with a guy a couple of months ago who claimed almost the opposite - that he could not form mental images That’s called Aphantasia, a remarkably common, but only recently discovered, phenomenon. It’s very weird to most of us who can visualise, and yet to them we are the weird ones. I do have an inner monologue. It basically is as the OP describes, where I consider everything I see or do, or is a conversation I have with myself. Sometimes those thoughts leak out as spoken words, which leads me to think I’m going to be one of those old folk who murmur to themselves on the train. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2024, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-inner-voice/1011680/25 "2024-12-15T22:00:41Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Sometimes those thoughts leak out as spoken words, which leads me to think I’m going to be one of those old folk who murmur to themselves on the train. I’m there already. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2024, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-inner-voice/1011680/26 "2024-12-15T23:23:50Z")
I have an “inner voice” as an occasional monologue that I sometimes use for self-discussion or analysis. I know what the words are, and do not obviously seem to control them, but there is no sound. No accent. No judgemental tone. No pitch. I speak several languages, and have no trouble visualizing things or with abstract concepts. I rarely “speak my thoughts” by accident. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2024, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-inner-voice/1011680/27 "2024-12-15T23:31:49Z")
Not when I’m reading, no. At least not unless there’s something about the way the passages are written that evokes a specific kind of voice. (Even then, it’s more like I imagine a fragment being spoken out loud in such a voice, with a sort of mental “et cetera” appended for the balance of what’s there). I tend to read to myself more rapidly than a typical read-out-loud voice, that’s part of it. I do have an inner voice in the sense of thinking partially in verbal terms though. Putting stuff into words in my head lets me turn an abstraction into a noun of sorts, if you know what I mean, and then it’s easier to hold into it. I don’t always do that either, sometimes the notions in my head are only represented by a sort of wave-of-the-hand “you know, that stuff” kind of gesture, where I think I know what it is that I’m thinking but I’d have to pause and consider if asked to put it into actual words. ---
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2024, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-inner-voice/1011680/28 "2024-12-15T23:33:27Z")
Can’t say that I do. I think about things a lot of the time, but it’s usually as concepts rather than words. When I read, the text seems to just translate into meaning without any obvious intermediate sonic verbal step. Music is different though: as a player and songwriter I do hear melodies and harmonies in my mind. My wife, on the other hand, talks out loud to herself a lot… especially in the shower…🙂 ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2024, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-inner-voice/1011680/29 "2024-12-16T00:07:42Z")
Put me in the strong inner voice category. I think “in English” and, in some corner of my brain, actually see/spell the words for the ideas I am thinking most of the time. If I’m right on the edge of sleep, the word part goes away but there is definitely still a strong inner monologue happening. Since it isn’t word-based it is very hard to describe, but it’s … motion, shapes, relationships among the stuff drifting in my brain, predictions. If I become alert while in that state, I quickly lose my non-verbal train of thought as it is replaced by words. I’ve often wondered if non-verbal creatures (babies, cats, etc.) think in the way I do when my brain is in non-verbal mode. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2024, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-inner-voice/1011680/30 "2024-12-16T00:16:29Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > I’ve often wondered if non-verbal creatures (babies, cats, etc.) think in the way I do when my brain is in non-verbal mode. I dunno but since cats and dogs and other animals have no formal language yet clearly “think” one would have to guess their thinking is non-verbal…whatever that means. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2024, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-inner-voice/1011680/31 "2024-12-16T00:35:52Z")
Maybe that’s why scientists insisted for so long that animals can’t think and only act on instinct - that have no capability of inner monologue, which is the form most of us experience thinking. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2024, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-inner-voice/1011680/32 "2024-12-16T00:51:42Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > one would have to guess their thinking is non-verbal Well, yeah. Maybe I should have phrased my remarks differently: I wonder if I think the way non-verbal creatures (babies, cats, etc.) do, when I am in _my_ non-verbal mode. Of course, cats and babies probably think very differently. I probably think more like a cat 🐈 ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2024, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-inner-voice/1011680/33 "2024-12-16T00:51:45Z")
I have an extremely strong inner monologue, and I have always connected this strongly to the fact that I don’t talk to myself out loud, ever. I don’t need to - I’m already hearing whatever words I want to hear inside my own skull, and with way more control over the output. I would be really interested to know if your wife outer-monologues as well as inner-monologuing or instead of ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2024, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-inner-voice/1011680/34 "2024-12-16T01:23:42Z")
I sometimes hear an inner voice, usually trying to get me to believe in the worst possible outcome for a given situation, and I tell it to STFU. Often that works. It may be related to what a character in one of the Matthew Scudder novels described as his reaction to an inner moment of blinding clarity when he realizes the harsh reality of his situation, and in response has a few drinks until the clouds roll back in. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2024, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-inner-voice/1011680/35 "2024-12-16T01:27:07Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Sometimes those thoughts leak out as spoken words, which leads me to think I’m going to be one of those old folk who murmur to themselves on the train. I’ve noticed that I do it at the grocery store. > [@Mangetout](#): > > some of them sound like they have a voice talking _to them_ in their head, dictating their thoughts _to them_; others sound like they have full control over what the inner voice says. I can control my inner voice: make it yell or whisper, for example. But I also deal with intrusive thoughts; that’s something I’m not necessarily in control over. Have you ever ruminated over some bad memory? I may randomly think of the death of a loved one, or some uncomfortable moment from my past, and now my inner monologue is distracted by something unpleasant. I also deal with pretty severe depression, which might explain the effect. The mind of a depressed person can get _really_ dark, and the inner voice might dwell on things that the person would prefer to avoid. Drugs (of which I’ve done many - perhaps explaining the depression) can also lead the inner voice astray. Ever take a hallucinogen? That inner monologue will go on a ride of its own. For those first smoking cannabis, they might experience what I’m describing; their mind will race to strange and unexpected places. It’s certainly not a situation where the conscious, deliberate mind is in control of the conversation. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2024, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-inner-voice/1011680/36 "2024-12-16T01:34:57Z")
When it comes to my own thoughts: I’m not sure, but I _think_ I’m pretty similar to what @Mangetout described: > [@Mangetout](#): > > I can think in words in my head (like I might talk through a problem out loud, but just _not_ out loud) - I can do this to the extent that I can practice a vocal performance (for example if I want to put on an accent or if I want to say something in a specific way). I can _sing_ in my head if I need to. > I do also have thought processes that are not beholden to a narrative mechanism and consist of pictures, concepts, etc or just _thoughts_ that fit together in their own way. I _can_ put my thoughts into words in my mind, and I generally do if I’m preparing to write or speak them (for example, when composing this reply), but it’s not something that necessarily happens automatically. When it comes to _hearing_ the words in my head when I read: sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t. It depends on how slowly and deliberately I’m reading. Although, while I’m reading something quickly where I don’t _think_ I’m hearing the words in my head, maybe I actually am at a subconscious level, because sometimes typos will jump out at me (like “where” for “were,” for example) because I “hear” the word that is actually written rather than the word that was obviously meant. ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2024, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-inner-voice/1011680/37 "2024-12-16T02:33:06Z")
My inner voice _is_ me. Sometimes I simulate others to discuss things with. My kid though, I’m not sure they have an inner voice at all. They’ve always talked out loud to themselves. Once, when trying to quiet them after bedtime, I suggested they say the things silently in their head, and they had no idea what I was talking about. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2024, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-inner-voice/1011680/38 "2024-12-16T03:01:30Z")
All of the above. Mostly when I read there’s no inner monologue since I’m reading too quickly, plus I mostly don’t need to “hear” it to understand. But I can also slow down and use my monologue, or even give everyone individual voices/accents (occasionally I’ll run across [usually badly written] dialogue that this helps with). When I’m doing math or 3D modeling or something there’s no monologue. The type of thought is just not conducive to it. On the other hand, sometimes I practice various arguments and I do have one or more voices. Is there anyone that’s seen Futurama for which this meme _doesn’t_ work? [![](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQJ3ufxJeikkrSbn-bL2sJSrEBMX8KrPrI7G_C6-phqMdkHdYT9vzcKR8sNA09LzUQjmNo&usqp=CAU) ](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQJ3ufxJeikkrSbn-bL2sJSrEBMX8KrPrI7G_C6-phqMdkHdYT9vzcKR8sNA09LzUQjmNo&usqp=CAU) ---
**Author:** ![Ellecram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellecram/32/18948_2.png) [@Ellecram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellecram)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2024, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-inner-voice/1011680/39 "2024-12-16T03:05:04Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > I sometimes hear an inner voice, usually trying to get me to believe in the worst possible outcome for a given situation, and I tell it to STFU. Often that works. I battle with this daily. The only thing that sometimes works is distraction in whatever form is available. It’s a real curse. Once in awhile I can tell myself not to think about it until later but there are times when I need a chemical intervention. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2024, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-inner-voice/1011680/40 "2024-12-16T03:07:40Z")
I’ve had a continuous running monologue, a chain of words running in my head, since I was about maybe three years old. I remember the night when I was going to shut it off so I could go to sleep and it wouldn’t stop. Freaked me out at the time – not the monologue, which I was apparently already used to, but the inability to shut it up – but I’ve learned to live with it. I wouldn’t say I hear the words, though – there isn’t any sound involved, and no sense of accents. There’s some sense of pronunciation, but it’s not complete. There’s also a sense of spelling, but I’m not seeing the words, either. I can consciously control what I’m thinking about, but if I don’t bother to do so the words will rattle on about whatever. If I’m reading something, the words I’m reading are the monologue. I don’t visualize things. There’s some proprioceptive sense involved instead. > [@CairoCarol](#): > > If I’m right on the edge of sleep, the word part goes away but there is definitely still a strong inner monologue happening. Since it isn’t word-based it is very hard to describe, but it’s … motion, shapes, relationships among the stuff drifting in my brain, predictions. If I become alert while in that state, I quickly lose my non-verbal train of thought as it is replaced by words. > > I’ve often wondered if non-verbal creatures (babies, cats, etc.) think in the way I do when my brain is in non-verbal mode. I took LSD once, many years ago. The part of me that thinks in words went out of gear, and let a part of me that doesn’t think in words be in charge. The words were still there, rattling along as usual, but they were sidelined; they weren’t what “I” was thinking, if that makes any sense, they were just there. Like the part of me that doesn’t think in words is there all the time, even when the conscious mind is in charge. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-inner-voice/1011680.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-inner-voice/1011680.md?page=3)