Do most people not have inner monologue/voices? - I'm not a schizo am I?

[Just Another Apocalypse]

Yeeeeaaah. A lot of people would be reluctant to admit to 'voices' in their head.

However I prefer

6 Tips to Master Your Internal Dialogue

Our internal dialogue plays a vital role in shaping our perceptions of reality. Check out these six ways to master your internal dialogue and shape your life into one of happiness and fulfillment.

chopra.com

Stan and Ollie or Lou and Bud, you know pondering metaphysics.

Sometimes George and Mildred. that's the beauty of the imagination, and global authoritarian clampdown.

 

[Billy Beer]

My inner voice is the same as Karl Pilkington's. If you've seen Sick of it, you'll know what I mean.

 

[I (Don't) Have A Gun]

I tend to think in images rather than words, unless it's something like an internal debate regarding an issue.

I prefer thinking in words, since then there's only a single train of thought that I can direct.
Images are more unstructured and tends towards randomness.

 

[L50LasPak]

I think people are fucking retarded but I still don't believe this whole inner monologue thing is exactly as has been portrayed. People are probably misinterpreting the question, or not understanding how it works.

I'm fairly certain normies have an inner monologue, just one that consists of "You are the greatest. You can do anything you want. Don't listen to them. Do X horrible think you were thinking about right now, go ahead, you deserve it." Pretending it doesn't exist is probably another way they avoid feeling guilty about being absolute shitheels.

 

[It Burns]

Inner monologues are a funny thing, one that I've tried to discuss with some people over the years and only ever got responses along the lines of "so, you're schizophrenic" or "have you need diagnosed with a split personality?" I might just be crazy, but let's have at it regardless.

I do believe most people have them, internal monologues, conscience, internally voiced thoughts, soul, whatever you want to call it, but a lot don't really know what that internal monologue is and misidentify and/or ascribe unfounded meanings to it or are simply too stupid to put it to use (more on this in the spoiler) and ignore it as white noise. This is likely linked to things like head-mates and other similar nonsense.

I'd define my own as internally voiced thoughts and they cover just about everything I do throughout the day, mostly problem solving as I plot out plans for various projects, the exceptions being the very most basic functions (breathing, bathroom, etc.).

Spoiler: Lots of Sperging

What's most fascinating about all this to me is rooted in the relationship between cognition and language. Everyone has thoughts and ideas, some good and others bad, but they must be carefully played out in one's mind, considering the details, envisioning the consequences, and then coming to decisions on what actions to take to make what one imagined into reality. Language comes into play here because it is how we, well, communicate; it is vital to the transmission of those ideas to other people who can, in turn, engage with those ideas themselves. If there is a failure at any point of this process, we see these people making bad decisions and potentially influencing others who have similar weaknesses in their own capacities.

If one actually understands what they are thinking, then they ought to be able to at least create an approximate description of their thoughts in some form of language or other expression. This process usually requires a measure of intelligence and problem solving, and will tend to be done internally to some extent in order to cement one's own understand before expressing those ideas to others. People who are not retarded, such as Donald Knuth, may have a weakness in one respect or another, but have ways to overcome their weakness(es) and become successful in their own ways. On the opposite end you may have someone who has been taking various psychoactive drugs for years. While this person may also have profound thoughts which could potentially lead to technological or societal advances, those thoughts are in a mind which lacks the capacity to engage with them in an effective internal monologue due to chemical damage from drug abuse, and those ideas are therefore just as useless as the individual which hosts them.

Moreover, effective use of this entire process is a skill which must be learned, ideally at an early age, refined by practice through application, and maintained through life by continued use and good health. Media, social media especially, are retarding this aspect of development in children, and have been since kids have had easy access, by simply filling their heads with images and sounds as opposed to letting children imagine things instead. Looking at you, parents who buy smartphones for their toddlers. In this case we'd likely see more kids who were raised this way growing up to become adults who not only lack the capacity to engage with and criticize ideas, but they would have few, if any, of their own. As stupid as most people are today, I don't see it getting any better. What a bright future we have to look forward to, guys!

And some quick answers to things I didn't cover explicitly outside of the spoiler. God help you if you actually bothered to read that shit.

Are some people just born without one? Can it be taken away?

We are all born with the capacity for internal monologue, but making use of it is a skill which must be learned and it, the skill itself, can be lost.

Are people without one inherently more susceptible to being cattle for whatever people in charge want?

Yes, much more due to weaker critical thinking and general comprehension.

What is it like for people without one?

They probably live life as golems or livestock. They're just functional enough to fulfill the duties societies require of them, such as paying bills, getting to work, driving a car, etc. However, they would not be able to handle disruptions to anything which is required to fulfill those tasks without melting down.

 

[mr.moon1488]

Me, the contrarian envisioning a green apple

Lol I honestly tried to picture a red apple, but I could only picture a greenish-yellow one for some reason.

 

[teriyakiburns]

Op, you're talking about aphantasia, which is the inability to generate mental imagery and sensation. It's extremely rare. A lot of people either pretend they have it for some sort of weird clout, or think they have it, but really just lack imagination and have zero attention span.

Lol I honestly tried to picture a red apple, but I could only picture a greenish-yellow one for some reason.

That's because you're a dog on the internet and can't actually see red.

You thought nobody would know, but I figured you out!

 

[L50LasPak]

View attachment 2446892
7 billion people, you can't expect them all to be sentient can you?

See, that picture and the comments below it are way the fuck more terrifying than anything else in this thread. Its one thing to not have an inner monologue that you can use to constantly check what you're doing and thinking, that's kind of a complex thing to expect every single person to have, but I think its a whole other level to just not have a fucking imagination at all.