How do your toughts work?

Inner monologue with commercial interruptions... No seriously, random commercial jingles pop into my thoughts randomly while I am going through my thoughts.

I treat my mind as a big great block. If something is disturbing me, I stop to put everything into place and move "all together" again. It works and I'm more productive this way.

I hold no capacity for mental imagery, so a 5 on the Aphantasia Scale. When I think of things I do not consciously ask a question or engage in an inner monologue, either internally or externally, but instead become aware of the information that I need. My information is all stored with like information, so if you asked me about a person, then I get all of the information I have on that person including our previous conversation as though no time had passed. This makes people uncomfortable though, so I try not to reference things to specifically.

Similar to another poster here, I also hear voices, which range from background murmuring like a crowded restaurant to focused 1:1 interactions, though these are usually very brief. Additionally, I will 'hear' various noises and have gotten pretty good at not reacting to stuff until I gauge other peoples' response.

I am not particularly creative. I cannot draw or create art, but I can recreate things that are in front of me.

I don't know if that makes sense, and I am happy to answer questions if I didn't describe it well.

I have no internal monologue but I do have a mind's eye. Ideas and thoughts appear to me in "splashes" or like a very quick flash. I can detect patterns in behavior and speech very accurately and quickly, and this abilty/quirk also makes me very tired rapidly. I love complicated stuff but get bored easily. Reading is one of my passions but I have to have different books for different times and places.

I think as if in duality at times. I've come to think of it like the subconscious or one brain half that doesn't know words injecting impressions, solutions, wants, into my conscious other brain half.

I think I can vaguely grasp how it can be that people have voices or other personalities in their head. I do not, though if my other brain half had developed a voice I'd be fucked. But that's just how I perceive it.

Well, I do very occasionally tell myself I'm an idiot verbally when a cringy social interaction flashback hits me again. I hate that.

In any case I can visualize memories easily, even if details are unreliable and gaps are often filled with most probable placeholders created by imagination. Similar to dreams perhaps.

I've wattched my mind go to different states of self perception which I find interesting and jarring. Sometimes it shows me self perception that I like, which motivates me and makes me happy about myself and confident. Sadly those shifts in perception are hard to keep alive for long, hard as I might try.

My thinking happens in words and images equally, depending on the task. While writing this the right words just come from an unknown source and what I want to say is a concept finding it's way with these words. As if one part is showing what message I want to deliver in words while a seperate process hands out the right words checking each word if it still conveys the intended meaning.

I analysed this while writing this and now feel like there is an type if LLM setup in my head as a component.

I have both voiced and unvoiced thoughts in my head, depending on what "level" the "thinking" is at. Like others in this thread, I heard every word of this comment as I typed it, as well as a few other times as I ideated and rephrased it before typing. However, some things, particularly practiced things, just happen without any "speaking", and I just get a notion of the end result. This sometimes leads to a weird thing where, when I'm concentrating on something, both the voiced and unvoiced "threads" will do the same thing, but the voiced thoughts move at the speed of speech, and so the unvoiced thoughts get there first, and then have to wait for the voiced thoughts to catch up. I then get to wonder why I just thought the same thing twice, and why I waited for the voiced thread to finish at all when I already knew the outcome. It's also not always just my own voice (though usually), I'll set up "straw-men" to represent a certain viewpoint or person if something needs that level of consideration, or I want to prepare for a difficult conversation (or reflect on one that went poorly) - I've seen memes about similar things, so I think that's pretty usual.

Similarly, when reading, I hear every word (not always in my own voice, characters and narrators sometimes get their own), but if I really get into the flow then parts will move into the unvoiced stream and I get much clearer images of what's going on (I'm a 1-2 on the aphantasia scale depending on concentration and familiarity) - that state is hard to get to, though.

No idea if any of that's normal or not, I've never really thought to talk to anyone about it.

Also, I occasionally have a small part of the inner monologue slip out as whispered speech too, like you said, though I don't tend to cover it up, if people ask I just say "oh, sorry, just thinking out loud a bit".

Edit: added more detail

I'm in the "inner monologue" camp. Most of what I think materialises as thought words. I don't have to move anything in my throat to do that unlike OP though, I can think in words without mumbling to myself.

But I know the voice can't be all. It's difficult for me to think in words while actively saying something, but I can have new thoughts while speaking. Sometimes, I get interrupted in thinking mid-sentence, but then I return to that sentence to finish it because... it's just satisfying? It's not that I learn anything new.

I feel like I don't have very much imagination any more. Its hard to produce images in my mind, not impossible but I do have to concentrate - remembering images is easier.

Weirdly, way harder to me: imagining a voice. Inner voice is what I sound like to myself, I can remember and replay songs and quotes as I heard them, but having any voice say anything is hard, especially female voices. Went through some examples in my head couldn't make anyone say anything - until I thought to make different tf2 mercs sing "Oh Canada", that somehow worked despite me definitely not having heard that before. Brains are weird.

I'm a 1 on the aphantasia scale with maladaptive daydreaming. I am suffering.

I keep trying to make this comment, then deleting it and trying again because I'm not 100% sure I have a certain behavior, and thinking about thinking is very distracting

So, I have an inner monologue, mind's eye and I can change my inner monologue's voice if I want. I find it easier to organize my thoughts by speaking out loud, although I do not do that unless alone. Looking at a fixed point also helps me filter out whatever's going on outside to focus on my thoughts inside.

There was a bit of discussion about this on a podcast I listen to (Adrift) earlier in the year.

My mind is basically me taking to myself. As I write this I'm speaking all the words in my head. As I read it back I'm reading all the words in my head.

I believe there's a school of thought that you shouldn't read the words to yourself when you are reading, bit I have to do that otherwise it doesn't go in. I can read a page without the words being spoken in my head but I will then have no idea what any of the page said, v and have to re-read it. Same if my mind wanders while reading - anything I read whilst my internal voice is talking about something else will not go in.

I can't shut it up. If I think about nothing, my internal voice will literally be saying "I need to think about nothing. I should empty my mind. How do you think about nothing?".

I have no sound, voice, or pictures in my head. I didn't know that other people did see/hear things until a couple of years ago. Thoughts just come in chunks.

The same as everyone else's. The "differences" in the way people think can be ascribed to many things:

• some people are describing active concentration
• others are describing subconscious thinking
• describing the way only some of their thoughts happen
• not inferring what was said the way the speaker intended
• etc et

Either it's random flashes of images/videos or certain random memory from a long time ago, a certain tune/music being played on repeat, or inner mind just constantly asking questions. Though I do noticed I can zone out when I'm really focus on something perhaps that's what it feels like when your not thinking at all.

A fun conversation starter is always "So do you have an internal monologue?"

Imagine big ball of hair wound up tight as it can be . You try extracting stand of hair from this wad only for it to break half way through . This's what brain shit's like for me

's not even COUNTING the fact I hafta somehow translate that into words human beings can understand , bcus existing in human body means am forced to ⦅socialise|communicate) with|relate to) humans, then try stringing the words together into some thing only somewhat coherent)

My mind works by talking to itself, but it's more like I'm the wordless overseer of that voice. There is a lesser maybe faux alter ego's voice that's employed to bounce ideas off of or used for introspection, to humble myself, conceptualization, etcetera, but it can only talk to myself even out loud. If there's another person present they're only talking to primary.

Where I differ from many minds like other self talkers here it seems is that I have full control over the two voices employed by my ego, and if I stop talking it's silent in my skull. Since I also have Total Aphantasia it's a true void in here besides my emotions and hind brain/instincts unless I'm using the voice(s). No real distinction between thinking in my head and speaking out loud.

The unconscious mind passes stuff it processes to the voices to think about. More nuance is far more paragraphs than worth, so I'll leave it there.

My thoughts don't take form as a different persona or talk.

I guess they either arise automatically, or I consciously direct them? Both happen.

Even when I consciously direct them, I feel like most thoughts arise naturally from that, from the subconscious.

I switch between having language based thoughts and more abstract thoughts that aren’t language based. I find that my thoughts that aren’t language based are usually more complex. I also can imagine objects, rotate them or walk around familiar places in my mind. Oh and my language based thoughts tend to match the language I am speaking at the moment (I am trilingual).

I do have thoughts in words, language. I don't exactly hear or see it but it's definitely language based. Often two levels of thought, one superficial and another underneath, thinking about those superficial thoughts.

I'm at about level 2 on this scale:

My thoughts are a lot of imagery imagination. There are "words" to go along with it, but there certainly isn't an extensive monologue/narrative/conversation going on.

For me it's often like watching a movie and lots of 3rd person monolologue as well as one wierd idea after the other popping up and going.

I often alao have interviews with myself how I just killed it in certaim situations and do play by play analysis from these events.

When in public settings I often play in my mind some wierd social games: where I try to find the mood of others and react to what they do (kinda like a dating sim).

I also like to go back to past events and analyse what I could have done better and memorize what to do in a future convo.

Since I speak more than one language my thoughts change languages. When I consume or produce in a certain language my brain is basically in that language and all my thoughts are in that language.

I had a serious TBI when I was a kid and more than 15 concussions so my eggs are a bit scrambled.

I can’t sustain a mental image, I can only visualize flashes of things. If I try to hold on to a mental image, it’s just a series of flashes that quickly become warped until the image just kinda dissolves and I have to imagine a new one. I also kinda of can’t remember faces. I can recognize people, but I can’t describe anyone’s face or remember/visualize details. I can only describe my own face as a list of features I’m aware of, but I can’t visualize it nor do I recognize myself in photos.

Verbal thought usually comes in the form of a dialogue between myself and an imagined other person. There’s no one there and I knowingly come up with the question the other will ask, but I can’t just think to myself without quickly losing track.

I also have ADHD, OCD, and major depressive disorder, so I also have the symptoms and episodes of those rattling around up there. I’m not sure if I’d call them thoughts though, because they feel different.

Often my thoughts are so fucking fast, my inner voice really can't keep up. I try to sound them out in my head, but am aware of this, and my thoughts have already wandered on. So I really only monologue when I am thinking about a script/text or am analyzing/ problem-solving. Everything else feels like a mix of some short strings and feelings

I usually dont engage directly with my thoughts unless I am talking to myself out loud which I often do.

I think mostly on instinct, and rationalise/summarize my actions only if I have to.

It's a bit like waking up at night in a pitch black room and making your way to the toilet. You barely remember it the next morning, but if someone asks you about it you say "oh yeah maybe" and retrieve/fabricate a memory of you navigating around furniture in the dark (because you MUST have), but can't actually recall it.

My thoughts are like background noise that when I tune in my internal LLM it gets turned into coherent language(English and Polish). I have recently learned to switch off that LLM for a moment, and as a side effect I begun to have problems with verbal communication.

Edit: I also have a model that turns noise into 3d models and scenes

I’ve definitely had the internal thoughts “leak” like you’re describing. I tend to think in almost another space outside of myself where sometimes I will forget my senses and have to actively return to them. Like I’m walking away briefly from the drivers seat to go take care of something in the back of the truck. I tend not to do this with others around as it can be rude. With others, I’m much more stream of consciousness.

My thoughts are the bald guy from the six flags dancing 24/7 to the song from the commercial.

At any given time there's three functions going on in my head. There's a stream of calculations that constantly flow. There's my inner entertainment system that that translates those calculations to thoughts if they need to be translated. Then there's sorting room with the file cabinet and shredder to organize that flow of thoughts.

When I say entertainment system I mean my inner voice and the ability to visualize just by thinking. Is the voice what's traditionally considered a monologue? I don't know. It's nothing like Al Pacino giving a speech. It's some of the worst narration imaginable. What I think is happening is my mind is doing calculations then using my voice to put those calculations into my consciousness for me to understand. The amount of time my mind shuts the fuck up is almost nonexistent. It does happen but, for it to switch from monologue to nothing requires intervention. I'm either filling my head with something to occupy it like music, or reading, or video games which in that case my head voice focuses on whatever I'm throwing at my brain with a little spillage. Or I'm seeking out a purposefully quiet environment where I can just go and ignore my thoughts. Almost like meditation but I'm no monk. I'm not sitting in some room with my legs crossed and my arms out falling asleep. I usually just find some place quiet outside and take in the world around me.

What really grinds my gears is the sorting room. I imagine it as each thought going to a room with a few filing cabinets and a shredder in it. That room can probably be broken up into bodily function operations, everyday needs operations, and emotional operations. The first two are functioning, it's the emotional one that's backed the fuck up and overflowing. There's some shit that should have been shredded a long time ago. Some thoughts keep popping up because that particular filing cabinet is overflowing. It manifests itself as depression and anxiety. When my inner voice is concentrating on that, then I know I'm in for a tizzy. The narration goes from quiet nothings to fucking full blown yelling and screaming matches in my head. The dangerous part is resisting the urge...

I have an internal voice/monologue day-to-day but visual when engaging in recall.

Easiest way to describe it is when I read a novel it's all going in as words but if I think about a specific part later it's recalled as a picture my mind created out of the words. I read the book but recall the movie.

Nice try, Christopher Nolan

I go back and forth between having an internal monologue. Generally day to day I might not hear the voice though.

I’m multilingual so if I’m in another country surrounded by people speaking in another language the monologue will be constant as my brain is focused on being immersed in the language.

Edit: Fixed typo monolingual → multilingual

I have an internal narrator that doesn't sound like a specific voice that is like a pseudo auditory representation of my thoughts. This mostly applies to reading or troubleshooting where I'm consciously working through stuff. It also means that something which stands out as incorrect is massively annoying, like people confusing lose and loose because I 'hear' it. Homophones are fine!

I can't really picture things unless it is something I have seen many, many times. So no picturing something in my mind that I haven't seen before. Most things I have seen before are mostly vague ideas and with minimal detail. Like I know a baseball has the stitching and it curves in a certain way, but probably couldn't draw it. I know what my wife's face looks like, but can't quite picture it in my head because I don't look at a singular photo of her over and over.

But I can hold relational information like many to one combinations and 3d space relative positioning but without the ability to see it. So I can generally figure out if things will fit together even though I can't really 'see' them, I know they fill a certain volume relative to other things of a similar volume and that is generally good enough. Most things are measured relative to each other now that I'm thinking about it.

My thoughts are an absolute mess, and a combination of auditory and "visual" representations. My partner says when I am thinking really hard it looks like I am reading a book and talking to myself.

There's an internal dialogue, usually. Might even basically be a copy of someone else. That's most of my conversations anyway. I am pretty social, it just doesn't extend far outside my mind. I often re-use bits from these imagined conversations when actually talking with those people, but that usually doesn't work out.
One on one conversations are ok-ish, but 3 or more people, are just a mess. Often I get no response. Either I wasn't heard, or I talked at the wrong time, or whatever else. I'll wait for minutes for the right moment to say something, and it's still badly timed, or the conversation has moved on.

But anyway, I can have fairly rich conversations, even with multiple people inside my mind.
Also, my thinking works better when walking.

Imagined sounds, especially music can be enriched with light tapping of teeth, sucking around saliva and rumbling from tensor tympani.

My brain is like having 100 apps and tabs open and my brain constantly hitting alt-tab some random number of times.