There are people who don’t have internal monologues?
Most of us probably have our own little voice in our head, narrating our everyday lives, helping us with our decision-making, and telling us how stupid/clever we are.
But it turns out not everyone has this endless internal monologue going on.
One person revealed what it’s like to live like this, and people struggled to get their heads round it.
In a post on Reddit, user Vadermaulkylo wrote: “Today, I told my mom that I have no internal monologue and she stared at me like I have three heads. Is having one common?”
They revealed that they thought having an inside voice was a fictional concept made up by the creators of the TV show Dexter.
Plenty of people were baffled by the revelation, with some comparing them to a non-playable character in a video game.
Meanwhile, others tried to explain to the user what it’s like to have an inner monologue.
One person penned: “I would consider it a miracle if I ever had a single moment where just one thought was happening. It’s like a beehive up in here.”
A second said: “I can tell you right now I spend more time in my head than in any other place, conversations, etc. I live in my head. Me and my brain are best friends.”
Another simply asked: “What is a ‘thought’ without an inner voice?”
The original poster wasn’t alone though, and some shared their own non-monologued lives.
“I’m the same way. I don’t have any conscious thought about what I’m feeling, or any stream of dialogue describing it to myself,” one person shared.
“I just feel it. It’s like the inner dialogue is the middle man in my head, who just isn’t there.”
Others explained that the lack of an internal monologue actually made their everyday life a bit more difficult.
One person said: “I don’t have an inner monologue either. Any time I have to communicate outside my head with words, I have to ‘translate’ what I’m thinking.
“That takes time and effort. It’s why I vastly prefer written communication over verbal, since you can take more time than the instant response a verbal conversation requires.”
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