How can I tell if I have an internal monologue?

[Barrol]

I learned recently from my teen that ~ 30 to 50% of people don't have an “inner voice.”

I’m sure I do. As I type I hear my voice in my head. But am I just assuming I can? I’m confused. So maybe I am in the minority of people who don’t have an inner monologue. When I read I say it a loud in my head I think.

Please can anyone familiar with this topic elaborate.

i have no internal monologue and when I read it’s kind of like watching a movie in my head.. except better than that, I’m
sort of there in it. I love reading, and it would actually drive me crazy if I could constantly ‘hear’ my own voice saying the words. I find this topic really interesting. I’m autistic and struggle with verbal communication (I’m a reluctant and clumsy talker - perhaps it’s lack of practice! - but a good writer), and even when I’m alone for hours I’m very content without an inner monologue - I was amazed to learn that others have one.

But but... When you're reading this thread say, can you hear the words in your head and different voices / tones depending on how you read it? And then my brain kinda has an imaginary conversation with your before I decide what to actually write and then my brain goes off imagining your response (your laughing)

It is apparently only a third of people who do have an internal monologue. I have a very active one and actually struggle to understand who someone can be conscious/self-aware without one. Perhaps they aren't!

As an aside, I remember literally word for word conversations with people and can replay them at will, what makes it awkward is that I've noticed quite a few people tell lots of 'white lies' about mostly inconsequential things.

I find this deeply irritating and distracting but cannot really confront them as it would be socially unacceptable to say, 'oh really, that isn't what you said 3 years ago!' 😂 so I just nod along...

I'm pretty good at design and quite creative but have sometimes embarrassed myself by not recognising people who aren't in context, such as seeing a colleague in the supermarket!

I think there are a lot of people on this thread who are readily embracing a "finking??! oh no I'm waay too pretty for that" narrative. And a few others who are pretending to have cognitive abilities which are plainly fantasy.

Wow I managed to 'think' that inside my head, all on my own. I must be special too. 🙄

This thread has me so confused. I definitely think in words but they're not in my own voice. I cannot identify the voice because if I try and think about it in that way I can't hear it.

Maybe it's less of a voice and more of an echo of a voice. It's also much faster than a normal voice. It doesn't sound like a person speaking quickly though. Its like the words all at once come to me. Thinking "she's unreasonable" definitely doesn't take the time it would take to say it aloud.

I also read very quickly. Again I am thinking the words when I read but I also imagine the scene in my head and it's much quicker than saying the words aloud would be.

I also have anxiety and very critical thoughts that are constant. I don't at all identity with the quietness that a lot of people without an internal monologue feel. It's definitely chaotic.

If I realise the bins need putting out I'm thinking of words rather than an image of a bin.

At the same time I don't know if I'm experiencing the same as someone who says that they hear their own voice narrating things.

Very difficult to explain and imagine how it could be different.

@Bumply

It's why I find meditation boring as the "empty your mind" step is instant and then I'm wondering what's supposed to come next.

I think this is how I am; I've already said on here I don't think I have an 'internal monologue'; when people say 'empty your mind' I (mentally!) wonder 'empty it of what?' (but not, obviously, in a monologue-voice!). Doesn't that imply unconsciousness? Or death?

I am aware of certain internal 'mind things', and the nature of thought intrigues me. For example, I might say 'the red thick rope on the floor that belongs to my mother looks about twice as long as the thin blue one on the table that is mine' but the mental process created that state in my head took a tiny instant, much, much, much shorter than the time needed to say that in words. In fact there must be a pause while I 'put the thought into words'. Isn't that the same for everybody? I do know that discussing one's internal mental workings can be peculiarly difficult, and some people find it very hard (or impossible!) to believe that others think differently from them.