The internet is currently struggling to come to terms with news about internal narratives, and it’s so shocking that it’s making everyone lose their damn minds.
If you haven’t been on Twitter lately, you’re probably just learning now that some people don’t actually hear their own thoughts inside their heads. And apparently that’s one pill that the rest of us are having a very hard time swallowing.
It all started with a tweet from user @KylePlantEmoji who dropped a pretty huge truth-bomb on the poor internet.
As he explained, not everyone has an internal narrative that allows them to hear their thoughts inside their heads.
Instead, some people have “abstract non-verbal thoughts”, which they have to make the conscious effort to verbalize themselves.
Oh, and most people aren’t even aware there are other types of thinking than what they’re used to themselves. Yeah, you can say that again.
Suffice it to say, this news has been blowing people’s minds since it was first tweeted on January 27.
“I genuinely have full conversations with myself in my head,” this user wrote. “I’d get so bored if I didn’t have an internal monologue.”
Another added, “What? I thought everyone heard what they wanted to say before saying it. Maybe that’s what determines speaking speeds. I think people that hear what they’re about o say can speak faster than people who can’t.”
Then there were those with “non-verbal thoughts” who just found out they’re apparently thinking differently than other people.
“If I talk to myself, it’s all out loud,” Shelby Clarke told the New York Post . “If I’m concentrating on putting my thoughts into words, then they’ll manifest as words, but otherwise it’s abstract, like a cloud of feelings and thoughts with no definitive conscious words.”
One Twitter user commented on Kyle’s post and shared, “I’ve always been jealous of people who can hear their thoughts. Verbalizing abstract thought is so hard and makes me feel dumb. It’s a skill you have to learn.”
While people on Twitter struggle to come to terms with this phenomenon, scientists are joining in the discussion to help clear up any confusion.
Dr. Curtis Reisinger, a clinical psychologist with Northwell Health, Long Island, told the Post that a lot of people have both verbal and non-verbal brain settings.
Inner dialogue, he explained, is established during childhood, while we’re learning words and sentences, and can be impacted by such factors as your environment, genetics, upbringing, etc.
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As for whether it’s better to hear a voice inside your head or nothing at all, Reisinger said it all depends on what that voice is saying.
“Sometimes the inner dialogue is not your best friend,” he explained. “A lot of people like to use the scenario of your mother or father yelling at you and incorporate that as part of the internal monologue. But it’s all variable. Your inner voice can also be a coaching or mentoring one.”
“It’s not as black-and-white as the tweet would suggest,” Reisinger continued. “How do you know what you don’t know if you’ve never known it?”
