# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![Topologist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/topologist/32/3208_2.png) [@Topologist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Topologist)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2024, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-inner-voice/1011680/81 "2024-12-17T22:20:50Z")
I do have an inner voice, though not, I think, as insistent as some here describe. I (seem to) think in words and I do rehearse in my head what I’m going to say or write. I say “seem to think in words,” as I suspect that’s a high-level process organizing and self-justifying what lower-level parts of my brain have already produced and decided, bringing it to my “consciousness.” Something I’ve started to notice more recently, possibly related to not getting enough sleep: If I’m relaxing and nodding off, I’ll start to get an internal monologue that I don’t feel in control over, it just comes. When I’m fully conscious I’m in complete control, but not on the edge of sleep. When I read, I do sound out the words in my mind, but I also have, and feel I have to have, a strong visualization of what’s being described. When I’m doing math, I visualize what I’m doing at least as much as verbalize it; I have very strong internal visualization, which is possibly why I went into a field related to geometry. In fact, when I’m deep into working on math, I find I start to lose some of my verbal ability (start struggling for words, etc.), as if my mind is co-opting the verbal part of my brain to work on the math. My wife, on the other hand, is much weaker at visualization than I am, which I’ve always found an interesting contrast. She’s a much faster reader than I am as well, now I’ll have to ask her if she sounds out words as she’s reading them or not. Finally, I very often have musical earworms in my head. My mind is a very busy place sometimes. ---
**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 17, 2024, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-inner-voice/1011680/82 "2024-12-17T22:59:12Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > As one of my teachers said: “How do you expect me to know what I think before I say it?” Which would mean you’d have no filter at all, and would say whatever came into your head no matter how inappropriate to the situation (or inappropriate to any situation at all)? Seems an odd thing for a teacher to be saying. Don’t they expect students to say things on-topic for the class? > [@Topologist](#): > > I say “seem to think in words,” as I suspect that’s a high-level process organizing and self-justifying what lower-level parts of my brain have already produced and decided, bringing it to my “consciousness.” Yeah, I think that’s a lot of what’s going on. The back of my head communicates with the front of my head, which puts it into words. (This phrasing not to be taken for having very much to do with the actual anatomy of the brain.) ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2024, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-inner-voice/1011680/83 "2024-12-17T23:07:07Z")
> [@Happytree](#): > > I am constantly having a conversation with myself upstairs. I’m in the middle of a conversation that i can’t remember the beginning of the moment i wake up. It can be a tad frustrating. > I use this to my advantage at work. I set up industrial machinery. It can be tedious, and it’s easy to make stupid mistakes. So, every time i set up a job, i train an imaginary person in my head. It keeps me honest and thorough. I can’t believe I didn’t invent that idea. I do that on mornings when I’ve got a lot to do or if I’m not feeling 100%. It really helps me get sorted. ---
**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 18, 2024, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-inner-voice/1011680/84 "2024-12-18T00:06:01Z")
But the voice in my head is _me_. I _do_ know what I think before I say it. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2024, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-inner-voice/1011680/85 "2024-12-18T00:34:04Z")
I find something different happens when I am driving. I will often start talking out loud until I catch myself. I have also experienced that when walking but seldom around the house or when I am out. I don’t know how I could describe my inner dialogue. There is definitely a voice when reading unless it is some kind of instruction sheet, then it just seems black and white. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2024, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-inner-voice/1011680/86 "2024-12-18T04:21:24Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > consciousness is a misterious thing I disagree with this. Consciousness is no more mysterious (or misty) than the square root of negative one. It is complicated and a little difficult to suss, but the basis is logical and straightforward. I could easily go on at length on the matter, but it would be a hijack. ---
**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2024, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-inner-voice/1011680/87 "2024-12-18T10:51:10Z")
I tend to think that I have no verbal inner voice at all, which is why I am always puzzled when people refer to thinking or dreaming in a particular language. The concept of thinking in a language is alien to me. The only occasion when language is part of my thoughts is on the occasions when I am assembling a sentence or sentences in my mind, in preparation of a verbal or written utterance. When I remember something that someone said to me, or something I read, I recollect concepts and facts; I am very bad at remembering the actual words except when the choice of words is memorable in itself, i.e. a wordplay or strongly loaded terms. Otherwise, when the language used is not evident from context, I can confidently remember that someone expressed a certain view, but I cannot confidently remember what language (among those that I can understand) they used to say it. When I think about choices or contingencies, I do not (to my knowledge) think in language, but rather imagine what I’d feel, imagine sounds, smells, etc. For example on a hike I do not think to myself the words _I should be very careful walking on this slippery bank, or I will slide into the stream_ but rather I imagine the feeling of slipping on mud, sliding down in panic while getting mud all over me, then sliding with my lower body into cold water, hurting from stones, and frantically trying to get my footing. Another example: When deciding to eat lunch somewhere, I do not think the words: _This restaurant has Königsberger Klopse mit Salzkartoffeln today, I will go there even if it is a bit far_, but rather I imagine a long walk in a cold drizzle to the restaurant, then my mental image cuts to the dish being put before me, me inhaling the smell, then setting to eating, feeling the texture of the meatballs and potatoes first on knife and fork, then in my mouth, the taste of the dish on my tongue, the smell, the flavour of the sauce, the particular feeling of biting down on one of the capers in the sauce, then the taste of the crushed caper on my tongue. Language does not enter into it. Not thinking in language is a bit of a drawback in some situations. For example, my wife and have been going to dance school these last two years. We have difficulty communicating because I totally have memorized and plan steps and movement in terms of _motion_, not as a verbal description. **I cannot talk about dancing while dancing.** ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2024, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-inner-voice/1011680/88 "2024-12-18T11:44:38Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Consciousness is no more mysterious (or misty) than the square root of negative one. It is complicated and a little difficult to suss, but the basis is logical and straightforward. I could easily go on at length on the matter, but it would be a hijack. I think we’re due another thread on consciousness. FTR it’s a hard disagree from me and I would guess most others. There are aspects of things like self-awareness that we’re making good progress on. But things like the hard problem remain intractable, not merely adding complexity to something we already understand at a base level. ---
**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 18, 2024, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-inner-voice/1011680/89 "2024-12-18T11:54:55Z")
> [@Happytree](#): > > I am constantly having a conversation with myself upstairs. I’m in the middle of a conversation that i can’t remember the beginning of the moment i wake up. It can be a tad frustrating. > I use this to my advantage at work. I set up industrial machinery. It can be tedious, and it’s easy to make stupid mistakes. So, every time i set up a job, i train an imaginary person in my head. It keeps me honest and thorough… This is awesome. I thought I was the only person who still had imaginary people in their life when needed. Another tactic I use is to become an entirely different person (mentally) for the task. I have a job where I am required to testify in court and this works well for those situations. For this one I have to not only use & pay attention to the inner voice but also slightly change my speech patterns and body language. Such a fascinating topic of conversation - I really enjoy reading everyone’s experiences. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2024, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-inner-voice/1011680/90 "2024-12-18T12:02:38Z")
I have inner music. ---
**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 18, 2024, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-inner-voice/1011680/91 "2024-12-18T12:04:06Z")
> [@Mops](#): > > For example on a hike I do not think to myself the words _I should be very careful walking on this slippery bank, or I will slide into the stream_ but rather I imagine the feeling of slipping on mud, sliding down in panic while getting mud all over me, then sliding with my lower body into cold water, hurting from stones, and frantically trying to get my footing. That’s how a lot of thought processes work for me, but I do have an inner voice - it just doesn’t narrate every little fragment of thought. Mine might conclude that slippery footing thought process by internally announcing ‘gotta watch my step here’. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2024, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-inner-voice/1011680/92 "2024-12-18T14:22:36Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > I have inner music. I generally don’t. On rare occasions it seems to be there, and then it’s gone. That makes me sad, having experienced it and then losing it. ---
**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 18, 2024, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-inner-voice/1011680/93 "2024-12-18T14:39:43Z")
> [@Monstera\_deliciosa](#): > > At various times in my life I’ve tried make my mind blank, but I can’t. That’s the goal of meditation: quiet the mind, so it thinks of nothing. That is, be totally _in the moment_. It is incredibly hard to do when one is just sitting and breathing. I find it’s much easier when one is engaged in a more exhilarating pursuit (like skydiving, for example. When I tried jumping out of a plane, my mind was pretty keyed into my senses. No random thinking “I wonder what Tom Cruise is doing right this second”, which sometimes happens when I’m brushing my teeth.) > [@Mangetout](#): > > But the voice in my head is _me_. Then who is it talking _to_? And you mean to say that you have total autonomy over that voice? Does it ever try to tempt you, or make bad choices? Have you ever had it tell you to eat the chocolate cake even after you’ve decided that you want to start eating healthier? Does it ever get irrationally angry even when you know that you would regret lashing out? Does it ever get an ear worm? For me, that voice isn’t acting totally at my command. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2024, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-inner-voice/1011680/94 "2024-12-18T14:49:59Z")
This is fascinating, and utterly alien to my experience. I have never imagined a smell. ---
**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 18, 2024, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-inner-voice/1011680/95 "2024-12-18T15:32:16Z")
> [@Ellecram](#): > > > [@Happytree](#): > > > > I set up industrial machinery. It can be tedious, and it’s easy to make stupid mistakes. So, every time i set up a job, i train an imaginary person in my head. It keeps me honest and thorough… > > This is awesome. I thought I was the only person who still had imaginary people in their life when needed. Sometimes when I’m coming home on a fairly long drive I’ll imagine someone from another reality sitting next to me who I’m trying to explain this world to. I also make up stories set in other realities in my head. Some of the people in some of these stories I’ve known for a long time; though over the years, as I change, they may also. Years ago, I said to a group of people at, I think, a farm meeting, something along the lines of “Yeah, I’ve got imaginary societies in my head. Don’t most people?” At which point, from the looks on their faces, I figured out that the answer was probably no, most people don’t. > [@Moriarty](#): > > That’s the goal of meditation: quiet the mind, so it thinks of nothing. That is, be totally _in the moment_. Those feel like a contradiction to me. How can I be totally in the moment without thinking about the moment? Trying to think of nothing feels to me like rejecting the moment. I know well a state I think of as “the weeding trance”, though I can sometimes get into it while doing other things; hours can go by without my noticing, because I’m so much “in the moment.” But I’m thinking all the time about the moment – about the specific weed I’m reaching for, the specific crop plant from around which I’m working out the weeds, the sunlight or lack of it, the cat inserting themselves under my hand, the scent of the wild chamomile I’ve got my hand on, the earthworm I’m shaking back onto the ground from the roots, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera – > [@Moriarty](#): > > Then who is it talking _to_? > > And you mean to say that you have total autonomy over that voice? > > Does it ever try to tempt you, or make bad choices? Have you ever had it tell you to eat the chocolate cake even after you’ve decided that you want to start eating healthier? Does it ever get irrationally angry even when you know that you would regret lashing out? Does it ever get an ear worm? > > For me, that voice isn’t acting totally at my command. It’s not totally at the command of my conscious mind. But it’s all me. The running chain of words also isn’t what’s tempting me to eat the chocolate cake. That’s my tastebuds and my stomach. Which are also me. There are multiple parts of me, but they’re all me, and “me” is the combination of all of them. “Me” isn’t only the bit that uses words. That part of me can take charge of what the words are when it wants, and sometimes does; but it isn’t the source of everything the words come up with when I’m not holding it under that sort of control, which I’m usually not; though I am while I’m, for instance, writing this, which involves choosing the specific words to try to communicate to somebody else with. Anger isn’t in words at all. Anger can influence what the words are, and can be caused by others’ words, but anger itself comes from parts of me that don’t use words. Thinking about it in words, and trying to clarify the causes of it in words, can be useful in figuring out what to do about it. > [@Dr.Drake](#): > > I have never imagined a smell. When I imagine pulling the wild chamomile or harvesting mint, I’m not smelling their scent; but I know the experience of smelling their scent, and the differences of their scents, if that means anything. This is all hard to describe. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2024, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-inner-voice/1011680/96 "2024-12-18T15:39:08Z")
Inner voices can be great at times. Nothing like a cheerleader in the background that believes in you. Unfortunately they can seem to be rooting for the other team and discouraging you. Sometimes the inner voices work together to find solutions, other times they fight for dominance and don’t care about anything else. ---
**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 18, 2024, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-inner-voice/1011680/97 "2024-12-18T15:56:16Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > Then who is it talking _to_? It’s me, talking to myself. > [@Moriarty](#): > > And you mean to say that you have total autonomy over that voice? > > Does it ever try to tempt you, or make bad choices? Have you ever had it tell you to eat the chocolate cake even after you’ve decided that you want to start eating healthier? Does it ever get irrationally angry even when you know that you would regret lashing out? Does it ever get an ear worm? Most of the time, my inner voice is me, speaking my thoughts, intent, ideas etc, to myself under my control (so I suppose there must always be some non-verbal thoughts going on that are the precursor of the verbal thoughts, or it seems that way. I do also sometimes get the ‘dark passenger’ thing where my thoughts ask me “what if you just jump off?” or some such. > [@Moriarty](#): > > For me, that voice isn’t acting totally at my command. This is what I mentioned upthread - I don’t think everyone is even talking about the same internal experience as each other when we all get lumped into the ‘has inner monologue’ category. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2024, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-inner-voice/1011680/98 "2024-12-18T16:19:54Z")
Had a long conversation with **Mr. Mallard** about imagining smells. He said yes, it’s a thing: he can describe smells he remembers, like hearing sounds in one’s head. He asked me to think of vanilla: I know I know what vanilla smells like, but I can’t imagine it at all. Fascinating. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2024, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-inner-voice/1011680/99 "2024-12-18T16:26:33Z")
Similarly, and actually interconnectedly, I can’t imagine flavors and tastes in the same way I can imagine an image or imagine spoken words. I still have a sensitive nose and tongue and can identify the constituents of complex flavors when I sense them. I can even describe them a little, but it’s from memory of experiences. I can’t recreate taste, flavor, or aroma in my head. ---
**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 18, 2024, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-inner-voice/1011680/100 "2024-12-18T17:51:27Z")
I just have Spotify. It isn’t as good, but the selection is better. _But I keep cruisin’ Can’t stop, won’t stop movin’ It’s like I got this music in my mind Sayin’ it’s gonna be alright_ _'Cause the players gonna play, play, play, play, play And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate Baby, I’m just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake_ (Never shake a baby!!) If consciousness is so straightforward, where does it live? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-inner-voice/1011680.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-inner-voice/1011680.md?page=6)