# 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:** 9\ **Page:** 7
**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:** [April 11, 2025, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-inner-voice/1011680/121 "2025-04-11T19:06:39Z")
> [@ewomack](#): > > A lot of my “inner voice” is non-syntactical or in “the language of thought.” Thought, whatever it is, has this strange penchant for delivering entire memories and complicated feelings all at once, often without words. I can recall an entire complicated event in a millisecond and it all appears and gets processed instantaneously. It can be jarring. Most of our thoughts and inner cranial workings seem to take this form. I certainly do not have that ability. ---
**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:** [April 11, 2025, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-inner-voice/1011680/122 "2025-04-11T19:27:25Z")
> [@ewomack](#): > > A lot of my “inner voice” is non-syntactical or in “the language of thought.” Thought, whatever it is, has this strange penchant for delivering entire memories and complicated feelings all at once, often without words. I can recall an entire complicated event in a millisecond and it all appears and gets processed instantaneously. Yep. Sometimes I’m quite aware of doing that intentionally — after half an hour of thinking about a topic, I’ll shift gears and treat that entire train of thought as a noun. The whole discursive thought process gets turned into a kind of token that I can then use in a sentence that references it, and my mind still holding on to the whole notion when I reference the token. Minds are amazing. ---
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2025, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-inner-voice/1011680/123 "2025-04-11T19:28:59Z")
> [@ewomack](#): > > I can recall an entire complicated event in a millisecond and it all appears and gets processed instantaneously. This is rather like dreams, I think. Sometimes in a dream I seem to have a complete understanding and memory of things that never happened in real life. It makes complete sense at the time, but if I remember it when I wake up, I realise it was just a dream. Of course there’s the famous poem: I dreamed I was a butterfly… or was I a butterfly dreaming I was a man… ? ---
**Author:** ![ewomack](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ewomack/32/19149_2.png) [@ewomack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ewomack)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2025, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-inner-voice/1011680/124 "2025-04-12T15:43:19Z")
I obviously know nothing of your inner life, but I have a feeling that you might do this without fully realizing it. If you ever have a “sudden recall” or other such type of feeling, that’s the ability. ---
**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:** [April 12, 2025, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-inner-voice/1011680/125 "2025-04-12T20:24:26Z")
I obviously have some version of it, but not the detail or the vividness that you report. I think it’s tied to my poor ability to visualize. ---
**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:** [April 13, 2025, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-inner-voice/1011680/128 "2025-04-13T03:47:53Z")
> [@ewomack](#): > > There doesn’t appear to be anything inside of us that we could call “a self,” but the multifarious workings of numerous mental processes appear to create the appearance of one. We have had a passel of threads on this topic. My personal opinion is that “self” arises not from the result of thought but out of the instinct for survival. It appears to be mostly a spectator to our thoughts and existence, but I believe it to be more organic rather than rational. ---
**Author:** ![ewomack](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ewomack/32/19149_2.png) [@ewomack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ewomack)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2025, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-inner-voice/1011680/129 "2025-04-13T14:24:18Z")
Yes, I can only imagine the amount of text spilled on this topic. It’s fascinating and usually fun to debate. Plus, it can reveal a lot about the preconceptions one has for one’s own individuality. On further analysis, the self seems fuzzier and less distinct than the western tradition would lead one to think. It seems to exist only functionally, not actually. One can easily say “the lungs are for breathing and if you remove the lungs you will no longer be a breathing entity.” What could get removed to make one lose a sense of self? The brain? That’s likely where the self emerges, but people can have pieces of their brains removed or damaged and still retain a sense of “self.” It’s such a bizarre, unlocatable thing, but it seems constantly real, indisputable, and almost tangible. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2025, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-inner-voice/1011680/130 "2025-04-14T03:12:27Z")
> [@ewomack](#): > > but people can have pieces of their brains removed or damaged and still retain a sense of “self.” Not understanding that argument. People can have portions of lungs removed and breathe, a kidney removed and excreted, a keg removed and ambulate … ---
**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:** [April 14, 2025, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-inner-voice/1011680/131 "2025-04-14T04:00:43Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > a keg removed and ambulate We tend to ambulate _better_ upon the removal of a keg. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-an-inner-voice/1011680.md?page=6)