4 ms·

There are also people who code-switch. I sometimes monologue and sometimes think abstractly.

by gshdg 7y ago

TacticalTable 7y ago
This is interesting, because this is close to how I'd describe my thoughts. Occasionally I can go fully abstract with good focus, but most of the time I'm monologuing. Do you ever find yourself struggling to switch over to abstract thought because the monologue is just a duplication of effort?
- gshdg 7y ago
  Yes. I find monologue useful for analysis, but abstraction necessary for creativity. Sometimes I have to distract the analytical part of my brain with a simple puzzle game or something in order to think abstractly/creatively.
doodpants 7y ago
Me too. Sometimes I notice my internal monologue is slowing me down, so I turn it off and let the thoughts flow without converting them into words. Other times, I feel like the abstract thoughts are coming too quickly, so I'm like "woah, slow down there!" and work my way through the same thought process again in words, to assure myself that I'm not skipping steps and jumping to conclusions.
- mikelevins 7y ago
  That sounds like my experience. Though the slow working-through doesn't always have to be in words. It can be in pictures or in orderly logical lumps of knowledge that I don't have a good name for.
jrauser 7y ago
I'm like this, but when I have too much caffeine I notice that it's harder to turn the monologue off. It becomes a little shouty in fact. Brains are weird.
- errantspark 7y ago
  Brains are so weird! When I get deep into thought sometimes my internal monologue doesn't turn off but it sort of spinlocks by repeating bits of songs that are tangentially related to whatever it is that I'm thinking of abstractly. I have a sense in general that there are two parts of my brain that are semi-independent. I play time-attack puzzle games; and some of my best times have been while I'm listening to an audiobook, music or deep in thought about some emotional problem. It feels like I actually perform both tasks better if I'm doing them simultaneously because my "vague processing" isn't interrupted by my "sharp processing" and vice versa.
- klondike_klive 7y ago
  When I have too much caffeine I've noticed that I have very strong ability to recall auditory information, specifically tunes. I get a sort of perfect-pitch effect where I can consistently recall music in the proper key and replay it in my mind. It also happens late at night.
  - ponyous 7y ago
    How do you remember music? Can you try to describe how you recall it? I have this problem with music/sound specifically. I cannot remember it at all. For example, I have favourite artist that I heard all of his albums 50+ times. If you play a random track of his to me I won't be able to identify it. Another example; My favourite all time soundtrack that I heard countless times, I cannot recall how it goes. If somebody asks me to "sing" the melody I will fail miserably. Oh and I don't know lyrics of any song. Any. I tried to learn though... I still get tired of listening to the same tracks over and over again :( .
caleb-allen 7y ago
I find that I primarily am in the abstract, and the way I think of it is "sub" language. If I want to, I can try to translate the abstract into language, but the more abstract the thought the more difficult that translation becomes, especially in considering what context is necessary for that communication
pvarangot 7y ago
I'm like that but when I go to thinking abstractly world I struggle with interacting socially and sometimes even with navigating physical space. I also sometimes need to voice my thoughts out loud if I'm in that state.
uvesten 7y ago
I agree. If preparing a talk or ”testing” sentence, I can turn on the internal monologue to do a quick check on how it sounds. My default is non-verbal, however.
mikelevins 7y ago
Agreed; I switch between them as well. When I have a monologue running, the most common content is trying out and editing drafts of sentences meant to express thoughts or feelings that have arisen without words. I've worked as a technical writer for somewhere around half of my career. I wonder if that career and my frequent self-editing are somehow causally related (in one direction or the other). Also, I occasionally seem to stop thinking entirely and just experience sensations, perceptions, and sometimes emotions. I rather like those intervals, and am prone to try to sort of savor them. They generally don't last very long before thoughts start popping up again. I went to a Buddhist college for a while, and the curriculum included quite a lot of meditation. I wonder sometimes if those episodes without apparent thought are related in some way to the many hours of sitting I did (and still sometimes do). I don't really know, though. Maybe all that sitting taught me how to allow thinking to peter out. Or maybe it taught me to notice when it does and not interfere with the process. Or maybe it's completely unrelated.

There are also people who code-switch. I sometimes monologue and sometimes think abstractly.

by gshdg 7y ago

There are also people who code-switch. I sometimes monologue and sometimes think abstractly.

This is interesting, because this is close to how I'd describe my thoughts. Occasionally I can go fully abstract with good focus, but most of the time I'm monologuing. Do you ever find yourself struggling to switch over to abstract thought because the monologue is just a duplication of effort?

gshdg 7y ago
Yes. I find monologue useful for analysis, but abstraction necessary for creativity. Sometimes I have to distract the analytical part of my brain with a simple puzzle game or something in order to think abstractly/creatively.

doodpants 7y ago

Me too. Sometimes I notice my internal monologue is slowing me down, so I turn it off and let the thoughts flow without converting them into words. Other times, I feel like the abstract thoughts are coming too quickly, so I'm like "woah, slow down there!" and work my way through the same thought process again in words, to assure myself that I'm not skipping steps and jumping to conclusions.

mikelevins 7y ago
That sounds like my experience. Though the slow working-through doesn't always have to be in words. It can be in pictures or in orderly logical lumps of knowledge that I don't have a good name for.

jrauser 7y ago

I'm like this, but when I have too much caffeine I notice that it's harder to turn the monologue off. It becomes a little shouty in fact. Brains are weird.

errantspark 7y ago
Brains are so weird! When I get deep into thought sometimes my internal monologue doesn't turn off but it sort of spinlocks by repeating bits of songs that are tangentially related to whatever it is that I'm thinking of abstractly. I have a sense in general that there are two parts of my brain that are semi-independent. I play time-attack puzzle games; and some of my best times have been while I'm listening to an audiobook, music or deep in thought about some emotional problem. It feels like I actually perform both tasks better if I'm doing them simultaneously because my "vague processing" isn't interrupted by my "sharp processing" and vice versa.
klondike_klive 7y ago
When I have too much caffeine I've noticed that I have very strong ability to recall auditory information, specifically tunes. I get a sort of perfect-pitch effect where I can consistently recall music in the proper key and replay it in my mind. It also happens late at night.
- ponyous 7y ago
  How do you remember music? Can you try to describe how you recall it? I have this problem with music/sound specifically. I cannot remember it at all. For example, I have favourite artist that I heard all of his albums 50+ times. If you play a random track of his to me I won't be able to identify it. Another example; My favourite all time soundtrack that I heard countless times, I cannot recall how it goes. If somebody asks me to "sing" the melody I will fail miserably. Oh and I don't know lyrics of any song. Any. I tried to learn though... I still get tired of listening to the same tracks over and over again :( .

caleb-allen 7y ago

I find that I primarily am in the abstract, and the way I think of it is "sub" language. If I want to, I can try to translate the abstract into language, but the more abstract the thought the more difficult that translation becomes, especially in considering what context is necessary for that communication

pvarangot 7y ago

I'm like that but when I go to thinking abstractly world I struggle with interacting socially and sometimes even with navigating physical space. I also sometimes need to voice my thoughts out loud if I'm in that state.

uvesten 7y ago

I agree. If preparing a talk or ”testing” sentence, I can turn on the internal monologue to do a quick check on how it sounds. My default is non-verbal, however.

mikelevins 7y ago

Agreed; I switch between them as well. When I have a monologue running, the most common content is trying out and editing drafts of sentences meant to express thoughts or feelings that have arisen without words. I've worked as a technical writer for somewhere around half of my career. I wonder if that career and my frequent self-editing are somehow causally related (in one direction or the other). Also, I occasionally seem to stop thinking entirely and just experience sensations, perceptions, and sometimes emotions. I rather like those intervals, and am prone to try to sort of savor them. They generally don't last very long before thoughts start popping up again. I went to a Buddhist college for a while, and the curriculum included quite a lot of meditation. I wonder sometimes if those episodes without apparent thought are related in some way to the many hours of sitting I did (and still sometimes do). I don't really know, though. Maybe all that sitting taught me how to allow thinking to peter out. Or maybe it taught me to notice when it does and not interfere with the process. Or maybe it's completely unrelated.