What kind of thinker are you?

[Hibrandenburg]

My thought process is mainly abstract and I only start to put my thoughts into words if I intend to express them either in writing or verbalise them. I must admit that the thought of constantly having a monologue going on in my head would drive me nuts. The different ways of thinking must have an effect on personality.

https://www.iflscience.com/brain/people-are-weirded-out-to-discover-that-some-people-dont-have-an-internal-monologue/

Apologies, link doesn't work on my phone.

[Smartie]

Obviously I don't know any other way, but I have a rampant chattering internal dialogue that goes at 100mph, can be intensely destructive and never stops.

Outwardly I'm quite a quiet chap.

This sort of stuff is really interesting and I remember being a bit creeped out the first time I consciously sat and thought hard about the fact that other people's thought processes might be entirely different to mine.

I'm having a few "issues" at present and I'm having to really open up to my partner. So far she's being very supportive, but I think there is a part of her that is quite surprised at what goes on in the head of an outwardly calm, quiet person who appears to have everything under control.

[JeMeSouviens]

I've been monitoring myself since I read this and I think I'm a mixture: non-verbal for simple things and a monologue (actually I think it can be a dialogue or more, I put multiple sides forward at times) for more complex thought*.

What I can't do but would love to be able to, is think in French (my only real attempt at a foreign language), I internally translate back and forward apart from the most simple stuff, which means my conversation is slow at best.



* hey, it's all relative!

[Pretty Boy]

That's amazing.

I just assumed everyone thought like me, my thoughts, in what I take to be my own voice, drone on and on in my head all the time.

Similarly to Smartie above I can often be quite quiet, at times introverted and shy, in company especially when I don't know people.

[RyeSloan]

Wow that would be great to have Patrick Stewart verbalising my thoughts in my head....it would be sure to make so much sense!

[Bangkok Hibby]

I'm possibly lucky in that I can sit quietly and have absolutely no thoughts whatsoever in my head for long periods of time. Also learning about Buddhism and meditation helps to accept then ignore intrusive thought. Still suffer from crappy songs I dont even like though 😂

[Hibrandenburg]

That's amazing.

I just assumed everyone thought like me, my thoughts, in what I take to be my own voice, drone on and on in my head all the time.

Similarly to Smartie above I can often be quite quiet, at times introverted and shy, in company especially when I don't know people.

Same with me, I'd just assumed that everyone else had the same thought process as me just maybe faster or slower with either more or less information available. Most of the time I'm probably running on something similar to autopilot, but when I'm making conscious decisions I'd describe the process as being similar to watching several scenes played out simultaneously based on the information available and trying to incorporate some possible unknowns that might effect the situation at hand with me then choosing the one that would appear to have the most favourable consequences. I'm having trouble imagining doing that with just voices.

[Jones28]

I never ****ing shut up in my own head.

[lord bunberry]

Absolute constant *****, which I try and convey on here

[Ozyhibby]

I think in sentences except when doing mundane tasks. Anyone that doesn’t think in sentences is weird.[emoji6]
I hadn’t realised there were different ways of thinking. I’m struggling to understand how anyone would function without thinking in sentences?


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[danhibees1875]

I find it hard to believe people don't have an inner monologue going on! What fills the silence?

Mine is bloody repetitive though. I'll run through a hypothetical scenario/conversation 100 times only for it to never happen.

[The_Exile]

My mind is usually completely silent and I don't really say much either. The only time I "hear" my mind working away is when I'm learning something new. I guess I'm on autopilot for most of my mundane daily tasks!

I have an eidetic memory so I'm not sure if that's got anything to do with my brain needing less time to waffle ***** to itself?

[Pretty Boy]

I find it hard to believe people don't have an inner monologue going on! What fills the silence?

Mine is bloody repetitive though. I'll run through a hypothetical scenario/conversation 100 times only for it to never happen.

I do that as well. I have given my own Gettysburg Address in my head a million times but often struggle when it comes to having an actual conversation.

I'm now curious as to whether there is a link between how you think, personality type and social interaction. As I've said I think in one long monologue and I have hypothetical conversations in my own head constantly. I'm fairly good at transferring my thoughts into the written word and I am a very good public speaker when I have prepared, it doesn't faze me either. However when I have to have a conversation off the cuff, particularly with strangers, I really struggle to get the words out, I get anxious and I come across as bordering on rude but it's just shyness. Whilst I'm not a loner I don't have a huge friendship group, probably because of my struggles with initial conversation, and I'm very happy in my own company. I'll often find myself with a contribution to a conversation in my head but there is a hesitancy or an unwillingness for it to actually come out of my mouth.

I'd really like to know if there is a link between what goes on in my head when I'm thinking and my behaviour socially.

[Bristolhibby]

I've been monitoring myself since I read this and I think I'm a mixture: non-verbal for simple things and a monologue (actually I think it can be a dialogue or more, I put multiple sides forward at times) for more complex thought*.

What I can't do but would love to be able to, is think in French (my only real attempt at a foreign language), I internally translate back and forward apart from the most simple stuff, which means my conversation is slow at best.



* hey, it's all relative!

Interesting point about translation. My Father in law is fluent in French.

Taught there in his youth and was in the travel business (basically spent half his time out in France).

He says that he doesn’t do what you do. His thoughts and words are in French. He doesn’t translate. It’s just French in his head. Then switches back to English when talking to us. Mental.

He had the greatest complement last time we were in France together. We had had dinner at a restaurant and he was chatting to the waiter, who seeing him change back to English could not believe that he wasn’t French. He genuinely believed he was a French guy with a British family. He even says “ba” instead of when we in English go “erm” while thinking.

J

[Frankhfc]

Interesting point about translation. My Father in law is fluent in French.

Taught there in his youth and was in the travel business (basically spent half his time out in France).

He says that he doesn’t do what you do. His thoughts and words are in French. He doesn’t translate. It’s just French in his head. Then switches back to English when talking to us. Mental.

He had the greatest complement last time we were in France together. We had had dinner at a restaurant and he was chatting to the waiter, who seeing him change back to English could not believe that he wasn’t French. He genuinely believed he was a French guy with a British family. He even says “ba” instead of when we in English go “erm” while thinking.

J

I think anyone who takes the time to learn different languages deserves credit.

I'm currently trying to learn Russian in my spare time and have only just about mastered the alphabet and understanding some basic words and sentences. I like nothing better than going for a nice walk with my earphones in and trying to learn what is a pretty challenging one.

[Peevemor]

I've been monitoring myself since I read this and I think I'm a mixture: non-verbal for simple things and a monologue (actually I think it can be a dialogue or more, I put multiple sides forward at times) for more complex thought*.

What I can't do but would love to be able to, is think in French (my only real attempt at a foreign language), I internally translate back and forward apart from the most simple stuff, which means my conversation is slow at best.



* hey, it's all relative!

I've lived in France for more than 15 years and find myself thinking in both languages. The thinking in French, I think, began when my thoughts involved words/things where there is no simple, direct translation and so it was easier to stick to one language instead of clumsily bouncing back and forward between English and French.


Interesting point about translation. My Father in law is fluent in French.

Taught there in his youth and was in the travel business (basically spent half his time out in France).

He says that he doesn’t do what you do. His thoughts and words are in French. He doesn’t translate. It’s just French in his head. Then switches back to English when talking to us. Mental.

He had the greatest complement last time we were in France together. We had had dinner at a restaurant and he was chatting to the waiter, who seeing him change back to English could not believe that he wasn’t French. He genuinely believed he was a French guy with a British family. He even says “ba” instead of when we in English go “erm” while thinking.

J

I've got to the stage where I don't notice what language someone is speaking (between English and French). For example, if I'm trying to work out who's singing a new song on the radio, firstly I have to double check what language it's in - I don't notice automatically.

Fairly regularly I have to translate for people in conversation in both professional and informal settings. I'm useless. Getting me to switch between 2 languages is like turning a steam ship through 180° and I'll invariably end up talking the wrong language to the wrong person.

I've never been mistaken for French either.

[Smartie]

Interesting point about translation. My Father in law is fluent in French.

Taught there in his youth and was in the travel business (basically spent half his time out in France).

He says that he doesn’t do what you do. His thoughts and words are in French. He doesn’t translate. It’s just French in his head. Then switches back to English when talking to us. Mental.

He had the greatest complement last time we were in France together. We had had dinner at a restaurant and he was chatting to the waiter, who seeing him change back to English could not believe that he wasn’t French. He genuinely believed he was a French guy with a British family. He even says “ba” instead of when we in English go “erm” while thinking.

J

The earlier you learn a language the easier it is to learn the wee flourishes I reckon.

Jan Molby was my favourite. Danish, but also a proper scouser.

[Fuzzywuzzy]

Interesting point about translation. My Father in law is fluent in French.

Taught there in his youth and was in the travel business (basically spent half his time out in France).

He says that he doesn’t do what you do. His thoughts and words are in French. He doesn’t translate. It’s just French in his head. Then switches back to English when talking to us. Mental.

He had the greatest complement last time we were in France together. We had had dinner at a restaurant and he was chatting to the waiter, who seeing him change back to English could not believe that he wasn’t French. He genuinely believed he was a French guy with a British family. He even says “ba” instead of when we in English go “erm” while thinking.

J

I asked a Polish guy I used to work with if he translated what he said/read from polish and vice versa. He said he couldn't as it was too difficult.

[Hibrandenburg]

I've lived in France for more than 15 years and find myself thinking in both languages. The thinking in French, I think, began when my thoughts involved words/things where there is no simple, direct translation and so it was easier to stick to one language instead of clumsily bouncing back and forward between English and French.



I've got to the stage where I don't notice what language someone is speaking (between English and French). For example, if I'm trying to work out who's singing a new song on the radio, firstly I have to double check what language it's in - I don't notice automatically.

Fairly regularly I have to translate for people in conversation in both professional and informal settings. I'm useless. Getting me to switch between 2 languages is like turning a steam ship through 180° and I'll invariably end up talking the wrong language to the wrong person.

I've never been mistaken for French either.

Same here. When I put my thoughts into words nowadays, the default language is German. I also dream in German and sometimes have difficulty finding the English word for German ones but very rarely the other way round.

[Keyser Sauzee]

I’m constantly talking to myself in my head, it’s that bad I start mouthing the conversation as it’s happening in my head and been caught out by random folk 😂.

[Bristolhibby]

The earlier you learn a language the easier it is to learn the wee flourishes I reckon.

Jan Molby was my favourite. Danish, but also a proper scouser.

Gutted that he never talks to my boys in French. In fact he never speaks it, unless he’s in France!

J

[Peevemor]

Gutted that he never talks to my boys in French. In fact he never speaks it, unless he’s in France!

JI speak to my daughters in French whereas they'd probably be bilingual had I persevered with English. The problem being that when they were younger I'd only see them for 1-2 hours per day (between my getting in from work and them going to bed). It was more important to be understood rather than try to force a language on them that they didn't hear the rest of the day.

[barcahibs]

I think in sentences, thoughts to me are a stream of words passing like a river through the 'centre' of my mind.

Have we come across the concept of aphantasia in this thread? People with aphantasia can't 'see' images in their mind. I only came across this concept fairly recently and it amazed me that anyone could form images in their head. I can't really 'see' anything.

I thought phrases like picturing something in your imagination, or using your mind's eye were just sayings, I had no idea that many - most - people can actually do that!

Like most things it seems to be a spectrum and I'm at the 'lower' end of it.
For example if asked to picture something ike an apple... I'm aware that some people can construct a photo realistic image of a glossy red apple in their mind and hold it there. Even rotate it and examine it, zoom in and out...

I can just about come up with a fleeting 'bit' of an apple. I can picture its shape or its colour, for instance, but not both at the same time, and not in 3 dimensions - and I can only hold the image that I can create in my mind for a short time, no more than a second.

In picture terms probably the best I can do is a grainy black and white image, full of static, whilst I'm told others are watching it in 4kHD...

What I can do is form a 'word picture' of an apple, and the 'sensation' of an apple, the essence of what an apple is, which sort of floats behind my eyes.

It's hard to describe!

I often wonder if it's linked to the fact that I struggle to recognise faces. I was chatting with someone just last year when I realised for the first time that when watching Hibs they could recognise players during a game just by seeing their faces... I can't do that. I recognise players by their numbers, or where they're standing on the pitch, or sometimes by a distinctive hair cut, running style or boot colour... But not just by seeing their faces!

It genuinely blew my mind to discover this. Its amazing to suddenly realise that not everyone perceives the world in the same way

[danhibees1875]

Have we come across the concept of aphantasia in this thread? People with aphantasia can't 'see' images in their mind. I only came across this concept fairly recently and it amazed me that anyone could form images in their head. I can't really 'see' anything.



I'd never heard of that before and I think to some extent I might be in the same boat.

If I try to think about something/someone then I can briefly conjure up something similar to what I'm aiming for in my head, with limited detail but then after a second it's gone.

I'd never really thought about the fact I couldn't or the idea that others can... How very strange!

[One Day Soon]

One that sells pegs, obviously.