I just found out very recently that not everyone has an internal monologue, and I am still reeling… An article (or perhaps a tweet, I can’t find the original source) a week or two ago brought to the internet’s attention that some people have an “inner voice” and other people are strange, alien savages who, in place of inner monologue, have merely abstract thoughts they only verbalize externally.
I can’t even.
This isn’t really new news: apparently psychologists have been aware of this for many years, and its commonly understood that the degree to which people have an inner voice varies from person to person. Some people have an almost constant inner monologue, others may only experience one occasionally, and some people do not experience this phenomenon AT ALL.
This may not be new to psychologists, but it is certainly news to me and I can’t even fathom what it would be like to not have an inner monologue 24/7. For starters, it must be unbearably lonely. Also, imagine how many more poor decisions would be made on the regular without the voice of [relative] sanity and conscience holding you back? A token example of me and my inner dialogue traipsing through the store to buy something for a going-away party for a fellow coworker:
Me: Remember that time you ran into X at the grocery store and her cart was chock full of kitty litter? You should just buy her a giant bag of litter and tie a big pretty bow around it.
Inner Voice: After all these years of working together? And you’re probably never going to see her again? You need to do something nicer than that. That is not nice.
Me: It would be funny tho.
Inner Voice: Don’t be an asshole.
Me: *Pauses too long, gazes at bag of cat litter*
Inner voice: DON’T
To be fair, my inner voice is normally much more of an inner demon, but still—I’d hate to see her go. She cusses like a sailor but she keeps me in line.
I have no idea what the percentages are in the general population, but now I’m wondering how many of my friends and acquaintances fall into each camp. Judgy inner demon also just remarked that when you think about it, it kind of makes sense given some people you meet…. you know….the ones with seemingly no filter who blurt out wildly inane or inappropriate things and you wonder how the words made it through the selection process as fit for public consumption. Answer: there is no process. Just *boop* and there it is.
On the flip side, since the news has been more widely circulated, a few of these folks (I’ll call them the “others”) have expressed how bizarre they think it is to have that inner monologue constantly going, and how aggravating that must be. EGADS! Now they’ll all be judging me as harshly as I’m judging THEM! https://mymodernmet.com/inner-monologue/
The more you know…
mandymelodies.com 