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How many people can't hear themselves in their head?

Inner monologue is a common occurrence, but some people have never experienced it. For those who are familiar with the experience, there's a big variation in the frequency with which it occurs. Psychology professor Russell Hurlburt reports that 30 to 50% of people have an inner voice.

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How Do I Know If I Have an Inner Monologue?

You can tell that you have an inner monologue when you experience signs like having songs stuck in your head, replaying a favorite podcast or movie in your mind, or having a conversation with yourself. Some people experience inner monologue in the form of hearing their voice going over the words when they read a book. The ability to have inner monologue develops during childhood. It has many different benefits for your working memory and other cognitive skills. But you may also experience negative impacts too. In this post, you’ll learn how to determine if you have an inner monologue. Read on to see why you have it and the benefits and demerits of having it.

What is an inner monologue?

Also known as internal dialogue, inner monologue is a voice inside your head. It occurs due to certain brain mechanisms that make you hear yourself talk without actually speaking. This “little voice in your head” is a common occurrence, but not everyone experiences it. Your inner monologue can be your greatest supporter and worst critic. It serves many different purposes, such as giving advice, helping with directions, rehearsing tough conversations, and much more. Inner monologue allows you to speak words in your head as you rehearse for a play or a job interview. It has many benefits but can also be bad in some cases. For example, inner monologue occurring as you read can hinder your speed reading. It is called subvocalization, a common occurrence among slow readers. Kids learn to read by reading aloud to their teachers. Once they achieve fluency, they start saying the words in their heads. Subvocalization is a bad reading habit that you should stop if you want to achieve speed reading. You must realize that the inner monologue is unnecessary when it comes to reading. Saying every word in your mind won’t help your reading comprehension. Your brain can process the information you read without the inner voice in your head. Having an inner monologue is like having an inner voice narrate your thoughts throughout the day. This inner voice is more frequent in some people and seems weird to those who don’t have it at all. People who experience inner monologue hear sentences in their heads when they think. For others, thoughts are abstract and non-verbal.

How common is inner monologue?

Inner monologue is a common occurrence, but some people have never experienced it. For those who are familiar with the experience, there’s a big variation in the frequency with which it occurs. Psychology professor Russell Hurlburt reports that 30 to 50% of people have an inner voice. Most people believe that inner speaking does not occur passively. It is something you do consciously. A study involving ten beeps a day for three days shows that some participants have no inner monologue. Others reported inner monologue for 75% of the beeps. The study involved 30 participants and reported inner monologue for 23% of the beeps on average. However, this doesn’t mean people are speaking to themselves 23% of the entire time.

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Inner monologue is common, but it’s not a part of being human. Some people do not process life in words and sentences. Studies show that children as young as 18 to 21 months of age can use some form of inner phonetics. Also, kids as young as 5 to 7 years can utilize an inner voice.

Why do people have an inner monologue?

Inner monologue occurs due to a brain signal called corollary discharge, a common occurrence among all humans. Everybody experiences it, but not everyone has inner speaking. This brain signal allows you to distinguish between internal and external stimuli. There’s still a lot that researchers are yet to discover about inner monologue. Corollary discharge helps you tell the difference between various sensory experiences, including those created internally or externally. It also helps your auditory system to process hearing speech. Corollary discharge explains why your voice sounds different on a recording from when you speak out loud to other people. Internal monologue helps you cancel out other external stimuli and focus on your own voice. It also allows you to organize your thoughts without speaking out loud. You can ask yourself questions and brainstorm the answers.

Pros and cons of having an inner monologue

An inner monologue offers many benefits such as enhanced problem-solving, productivity, self-reflection, and critical thinking skills. It can make you more resilient against setbacks and lower your stress levels. On the other hand, critical inner voices can affect confidence and self-esteem negatively. Internal monologue can help support your working memory. It helps you prepare better for a speech or a presentation as you can “play” what you want to say in your mind ahead of time. Inner speech allows you to replay instructions in your mind, which means you would always stay on track. According to a 2018 study, an inner monologue can help with self-motivation, performance, behavior, judgment, and criticism. It’s an excellent way to boost your resilience against setbacks, which means lower stress levels. People who experience internal monologue are likely to have excellent critical thinking skills. However, the downside of having an inner voice is that it can negatively affect self-esteem and confidence. While critical inner dialogue can help you achieve peak performance in terms of creativity and imagination, it may also cause neurosis, depression, and anxiety. Your inner voice allows you to connect everything you think about (your life experiences) from your past to your present and the future. It can produce all of your opinions and self-comparisons, which can affect you positively or negatively. Research shows that critical internal monologue is a result of one’s early life experiences. For example, if you have many negative memories with your siblings, parents, peers, or other people, it can influence how you see and think about yourself. It may have negative impacts on how you perform in school or at work. Negative childhood memories are no good for your mental health. A few examples of such thought patterns include “You’re unattractive,” “You’re not good enough,” and more.

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Do you have an inner monologue?

You can tell that you have inner monologue when you experience signs like talking to yourself, having songs stuck in your head, and more. If you’ve ever practiced for a speech by playing what you would say in your mind, you have an inner monologue. There are many different signs that show you have an inner monologue. Here are some:

1. You talk to yourself

The most common one is having a conversation with yourself. For instance, you can attempt to solve a problem by playing out a conversation in your mind. You’ll find that most people experience verbal forms of internal monologue. Many people find themselves making internal lists of the things they want to accomplish or talking to themselves about issues on their minds.

2. Songs get stuck in your head

Sometimes songs involuntarily pop up and stick in your head. 98% of people experience this and tunes that tend to pop up without warning are triggered by associations your mind makes or by emotions.

3. You replay a favorite podcast or movie in your mind

Just like with the songs, this happens due to mental associations that flow through our minds. It could be a scene that impressed you or even the entire movie or podcast.

4. You rehearse in front of imaginary audience.

If you talk to yourself when preparing a presentation or a speech and “play” what you want to say in your mind ahead of time, you certainly have inner monologue.

5. You read to yourself

People with inner monologue hear their own voice going over the words when they read a book.

Conclusion

Inner monologue is a common occurrence among many people. If you catch yourself talking to yourself or can hear your voice in your mind as you read, you have it too. Critical inner dialogue is not a bad thing, as it can help you achieve peak performance. It allows you to enhance your problem-solving, self-reflection, and critical thinking skills.

It gets even better when you take an Iris Reading course. With many high-quality instructional videos, the Iris Personal Productivity course will help you achieve peak performance at work or at home. Why not learn from an expert?

Take this Iris Reading course today!

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