# In what ways do you talk to yourself? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 26, 2006, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-ways-do-you-talk-to-yourself/354260 "2006-04-26T05:57:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-ways-do-you-talk-to-yourself/354260/1 "2006-04-26T05:57:02Z")
Sometimes I’ll talk to myself while walking along on my way to somewhere. I’ll also talk to myself whenever I’m replying a conversation in my head or how I think one would go. Sometimes I talk to myself while looking in the mirror, just to see how I look when I say them. I’m notorious for typing out things in IM and then saying them outloud to myself as if I’m talking to the person actually IN person. And lastly, I talk to my cats all the time, which could be seen as talking to myself in a way, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f08c70/32.png) [@Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crowbar_of_Irony_3)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-ways-do-you-talk-to-yourself/354260/2 "2006-04-26T06:00:08Z")
I talk to myself all the times. I wonder why too. I just can’t seem to concentrate without talking out loud verbally. It’s get worse when I am concentrating hard, especially on algorithims or programming problem. “Hmm…Prim’s algo will ensure that I pick all the minimal weight, and so if that…”. Sometimes I exclaim to myself when reading books in the library, if I come across anything noteworthy. Sometimes I argue with myself. I adopt a tone for the ‘preposition’ and another tone for the ‘opposition’ and argue over issues like whether I shall get a XBox 360. Usually I do this when alone, but sometimes I just can’t help it. It’s a bad habit. I wish I can stop. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-ways-do-you-talk-to-yourself/354260/3 "2006-04-26T06:00:22Z")
Whenever you see me typing, “Must… Resist… Urge… To…” and imply that I’m self-censoring some hateful insult…? In real life I’m saying that insult aloud. Waste not. ---
**Author:** ![MizGrand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cdc98d/32.png) [@MizGrand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MizGrand)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-ways-do-you-talk-to-yourself/354260/4 "2006-04-26T11:58:25Z")
I speak just about everything I type. I’m mouthing the words as my fingers are hitting the keys right NOW. It seems to make things more clear as to how statements should be worded. It also seems to help me remember things better. I talk to myself all the time. Reminders, complaints, gripes, oooh gotta write that down, etc. If confronted with my self-conversations and I’m feeling snarky, I’ll respond that “it’s the only way to have an intelligent conversations around here”. I’ll also mention that I’ve been told I have a hereditary affliction that makes my mouth move with no sounds coming out while having heated discussions so it looks like I’m talking right through someone else’s rant. I’m not though. My mom does the same thing. I hate it when she does it and now I’m not even aware that I do it too. I’m lucky now though, since when I go out in public I typically have my baby in the cart/stroller so it _appears_ as though I’m talking to him. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-ways-do-you-talk-to-yourself/354260/5 "2006-04-26T12:12:31Z")
When I’m writing a report or important email I read it out loud to myself to make sure it reads well. Also, when I’m thinking about some task at hand , I always say ‘Alright’ kind of without knowing it. My wife has picked this one up and says it too. ---
**Author:** ![PapSett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@PapSett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PapSett)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-ways-do-you-talk-to-yourself/354260/6 "2006-04-26T12:43:41Z")
I talk to myself a lot. When I am writing, I often have the conversations I am about to write out loud, to see how they sond- do they flow, do they make sense? Are they in character? And it’s _not_ always when I am sitting here at the computer pecking away; no, these conversations often pop unbidden into my head when I am driving. I’m sure there are people all around Evansville that have looked over to see the fat lady in the van apparently having an argument with herself. :o I talk to my critters too. But I don’t think that counts, because they actually listen to me. Well… sometmes. The dogs more than the cats. And the frogs… well, they don’t listen at all. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-ways-do-you-talk-to-yourself/354260/7 "2006-04-26T13:50:47Z")
I’d like to know if there’s anyone around who _doesn’t_ talk to themselves. Sometimes I do it when I’m reasoning things out. Sometimes (warning, major dorkiness ahead), I do it as if I’m narrating my life. Like I’m the subject of some fascinating documentary or something (okay, I admit it; I’m pathetic). I also read to myself out loud. I enjoy the narrative more that way. I talk to my cat. Partly because it just seems natural, but partly because I read a thread here once with Dopers posting that some of their cats have learned simple words, and I’m hoping to teach my cat some, too. I also talk to my daughter’s gerbils. I don’t think they’ll ever learn any words, though. Also, don’t know if it’s a corrollary to talking to myself, or not, but sometimes when I’m talking to myself (or even just thinking about something), I’ll mentally “type” it, too. Imagining where all the characters on the keyboard are. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-ways-do-you-talk-to-yourself/354260/8 "2006-04-26T14:47:43Z")
Well, I for one, rarely if EVER talk out loud to myself. I catch my wife whispering to herself all the time and thought she was a little nuts for doing so. After reading the responses here though, apparently not. I do however read things, and think in actual words internally though. Does that make sense? ---
**Author:** ![Doom\_Slinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Doom\_Slinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doom_Slinger)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-ways-do-you-talk-to-yourself/354260/9 "2006-04-27T00:38:48Z")
> [@norinew](#): > > Sometimes (warning, major dorkiness ahead), I do it as if I’m narrating my life. Like I’m the subject of some fascinating documentary or something (okay, I admit it; I’m pathetic). I’m so relieved to find out I’m not the only one that does this. I’ll also sometimes catch myself recounting something interesting that just happened to me, or describing an interesting idea, out loud, to no one in particular. Very embarrassing to be caught doing that, let me tell you. I’ve found that I learn better if I “explain” a difficult to grasp concept out loud to myself, as opposed to reading it or hearing someone else explain it to me. So when I’m studying for an exam (I’m in grad school), I’ll often talk to myself as I go over the material. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-ways-do-you-talk-to-yourself/354260/10 "2006-04-27T00:53:50Z")
> [@Doom Slinger](#): > > I’ll also sometimes catch myself recounting something interesting that just happened to me, or describing an interesting idea, out loud, to no one in particular. Ack! I do that, too! If something interesting, or frustrating, or maddening happens to me (some jerk cuts me off in traffic, I encounter a particularly difficult public employee somewhere, etc.), I rehearse how I’m going to tell my husband or one of my kids about it! ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-ways-do-you-talk-to-yourself/354260/11 "2006-04-27T03:09:15Z")
Most often I talk back to things: I’ll read an e-mail from someone, or a post here, and make some smart-ass comment out loud. I’ll cajole (and then swear at) the computer if it’s running slow or seems hung up, and if I’ve placed something precariously at the top of a pile I almost _always_ say “Stay!” If some radio or television ad exhorts me to “call now” or something similar, I usually say “Make me!” Stuff along those lines. > [@Doom Slinger](#): > > I’ve found that I learn better if I “explain” a difficult to grasp concept out loud to myself, as opposed to reading it or hearing someone else explain it to me. So when I’m studying for an exam (I’m in grad school), I’ll often talk to myself as I go over the material. I don’t do this with my coursework (I’m also in grad school), but I’ll do it with complex instructions. If I find myself starting to feel overwhelmed by an instruction manual or an assembly diagram, I force myself to stop and take it one sentence at a time and I “translate” out loud. ---
**Author:** ![Webner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/0ea827/32.png) [@Webner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Webner)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-ways-do-you-talk-to-yourself/354260/12 "2006-04-27T03:32:25Z")
I call myself stupid out loud when I do something dumb. If I’ve recently had an especially clever or funny conversation, sometimes when I’m walking around I repeat the best parts out loud and laugh at them. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-ways-do-you-talk-to-yourself/354260/13 "2006-04-27T05:31:24Z")
I’ve cut way down on talking to myself when I play tennis, but if I’m screwing up and finally get something right, I’ll often find myself saying “That’s the one.” I talk back to the TV a lot, but I’m figuring that doesn’t count. ---
**Author:** ![SSG\_Schwartz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SSG\_Schwartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SSG_Schwartz)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-ways-do-you-talk-to-yourself/354260/14 "2006-04-27T05:52:48Z")
I talk outloud and inside my head all the time. I never really noticed it until I had to start presenting training to other soldiers. Until I had to start teaching others in a classroom setting. As I would be preparing my sections to teach, I would ask and answer questions as part of my preparation. I would hear the questions that I thought the students would ask in my head and then answer them out loud. I would hear actual voices with different personalities. I thought that hearing voices in your head was a sign of schizophrenia, but most of the time it is a sign of a creative person. Too bad, I thought I would make a good crazy person. 😃 Sgt Schwartz ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-ways-do-you-talk-to-yourself/354260/15 "2006-04-27T14:50:29Z")
> [@Idle Thoughts](#): > > And lastly, I talk to my cats all the time, which could be seen as talking to myself in a way, I guess. I used to talk to my dogs in much the same way. Then one day, I caught myself saying, “What do you think?” to my pooch. I decided I had to break that habit, or wind up in the looney bin. ---
**Author:** ![Translucent\_Daydream](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/translucent_daydream/32/16170_2.png) [@Translucent\_Daydream](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Translucent_Daydream)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-ways-do-you-talk-to-yourself/354260/16 "2006-04-27T14:58:31Z")
I am been known to call myself a ‘dumbass’ out loud. ---
**Author:** ![dwc1970](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-ways-do-you-talk-to-yourself/354260/17 "2006-04-27T15:35:21Z")
I guess swearing at bad drivers in traffic counts as talking to oneself, even though you’d like for the bad drivers to hear you (then again, maybe not, road rage and all that). Most of the other times I talk to myself is when I am reading an email or something online and feel the need to comment out loud, as if someone else were there to hear me. ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-ways-do-you-talk-to-yourself/354260/18 "2006-04-27T15:53:22Z")
I never talk to myself out loud, but I do tell myself things that other people seem to write out in a list. For example, this morning I made a note inside my head of the things that need to be picked up from the store. I also write out things like papers in my head, and make revisions before writing/typing out the final draft. This caused me a bit of trouble in middle school when I had teachers who wanted us to hand in notes, outlines and rough drafts so they could monitor every step we took to create the final draft. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-ways-do-you-talk-to-yourself/354260/19 "2006-04-27T17:14:27Z")
I have done pretty much all of the above, though I wouldn’t say I do it frequently. For one thing, I’m hardly ever alone. One thing I like to do is work on what-I-should-have-saids and practice them out loud. I’m still fine-tuning conversations I had years ago! Also, when I have a serious problem and I just can’t work out my feelings or choose a course of action, it helps to take a long drive (about an hour is good) and just talk it all out. It forces me to articulate the vague concepts bubbling around in my mind. Also, bullshit which I might allow myself to get away with in the privacy of my own thoughts sounds so much bullshittier when I hear it right out loud. This method often puts a whole new face on the problem. (I have an idea that if I were religious, I’d call this praying, and feel that the resulting clarity was my answer from God.) ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-ways-do-you-talk-to-yourself/354260/20 "2006-04-27T17:45:27Z")
Two ways: 1. When I’m really deep in thought, I’ll start singing whatever tune is in my head, substituting newly improvised lyrics reflecting whatever is going on. Sometimes it’s my grocery list to the tune of “Another One Bites The Dust.” 2. If I’m IMing with someone, I’ll usually speak my responses as I type them. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-ways-do-you-talk-to-yourself/354260.md?page=2)