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When the article describes people as "hearing a voice inside their head", do they mean something that could be mistaken for an actual voice (identifiable speake

by nkurz 2y ago

When the article describes people as "hearing a voice inside their head", do they mean something that could be mistaken for an actual voice (identifiable speaker, cadence, accent, etc) or do they just mean that in some way specific words are put together to form thoughts? I'd describe myself as having an internal monologue, in that I think in words, but there's no "voice" involved. I don't "hear" anything, and it doesn't have any identifiable characteristics. For me, it's like silently reading: the words exist somehow, but aren't actualized. I'm a native English speaker, and it's definitely English, but there is no identifiable speaker. I ask because I'm mostly aphantasic (don't see pictures in my mind) and I'd always assumed that when people described "visual thinking" they were just being metaphoric. When people described "hearing a voice in their head", I had presumed this was also just a metaphor. But seeing as I was wrong about images, maybe I'm wrong about voices too, and people really hear them as voices?

upon_drumhead 2y ago
A friend of mine claims it's an actual voice and he has conversations with the voice in his head. He claims it's like having an internal editor. He's also super proficient with writing and speaking. I struggle with having anything in mine. I don't see pictures or really hear anything at all. I struggle explaining myself to folks, as the verbal/written expression is entirely different then my internal process which is largely around feelings.
- godelski 2y ago
  I hear my own voice. Even while typing this the words are "auditorily" echoed in my head. This is my voice. But there's also "other" voices. These are all of course also me, but they can have "different personalities." This happens when I'm arguing with myself. Think of like simulating other people or points of view to challenge yourself (self adversarial learning, if you will). > I struggle explaining myself to folks, as the verbal/written expression is entirely different then my internal process which is largely around feelings. I think this is normal. Despite having a strong internal monologue I still often struggle here. I think this is more the aspect that words are a (significant) compression of the ideas you're trying to convey and the people you talk to need to decompress this, but in a global society we can often be primed in very different ways so have grave miscommunications. I like to say verbal communication has 3 parts: what you intend to say, what you say, and what is heard; these don't need to be aligned, and they are never perfectly aligned. It's actually impressive that we communicate as well as we do!
nickthegreek 2y ago
I hear my voice. If I am thinking about a recent conversation, I will hear that persons voice. Sadly, I can no longer recall my deceased father's voice and wish I had a recording.
flowerbreeze 2y ago
When thinking more abstract or intense thoughts, for me it's probably more or less what you're describing? Sort of disembodied voice, at least when the focus is not on the qualities of the voice, but on the details of whatever the thought happens to be. Although, I can also choose to listen to any thought in a voice of my choosing, if I focus on it. Then it has "real" voice qualities such as accent, pitch and tone, but without differing volume. And it always seems a bit duller than real voices. I guess that's how I would describe it at least.
yencabulator 2y ago
There was an earlier article that made a couple of categories inside the "has internal voice" group. It went something something like: Can your internal voice - raise its voice to sound louder - change its expression, sound happy, sad, angry - sing - do you hear conversations with multiple participants, with separate voices I recall the article said some people had "singular, monotone" internal voices that are more streams of words than actual voices, and others heard it as if it was an actual sound. It's all a spectrum.

by nkurz 2y ago

upon_drumhead 2y ago

A friend of mine claims it's an actual voice and he has conversations with the voice in his head. He claims it's like having an internal editor. He's also super proficient with writing and speaking. I struggle with having anything in mine. I don't see pictures or really hear anything at all. I struggle explaining myself to folks, as the verbal/written expression is entirely different then my internal process which is largely around feelings.

godelski 2y ago
I hear my own voice. Even while typing this the words are "auditorily" echoed in my head. This is my voice. But there's also "other" voices. These are all of course also me, but they can have "different personalities." This happens when I'm arguing with myself. Think of like simulating other people or points of view to challenge yourself (self adversarial learning, if you will). > I struggle explaining myself to folks, as the verbal/written expression is entirely different then my internal process which is largely around feelings. I think this is normal. Despite having a strong internal monologue I still often struggle here. I think this is more the aspect that words are a (significant) compression of the ideas you're trying to convey and the people you talk to need to decompress this, but in a global society we can often be primed in very different ways so have grave miscommunications. I like to say verbal communication has 3 parts: what you intend to say, what you say, and what is heard; these don't need to be aligned, and they are never perfectly aligned. It's actually impressive that we communicate as well as we do!

nickthegreek 2y ago

I hear my voice. If I am thinking about a recent conversation, I will hear that persons voice. Sadly, I can no longer recall my deceased father's voice and wish I had a recording.

flowerbreeze 2y ago

When thinking more abstract or intense thoughts, for me it's probably more or less what you're describing? Sort of disembodied voice, at least when the focus is not on the qualities of the voice, but on the details of whatever the thought happens to be. Although, I can also choose to listen to any thought in a voice of my choosing, if I focus on it. Then it has "real" voice qualities such as accent, pitch and tone, but without differing volume. And it always seems a bit duller than real voices. I guess that's how I would describe it at least.

yencabulator 2y ago

There was an earlier article that made a couple of categories inside the "has internal voice" group. It went something something like: Can your internal voice - raise its voice to sound louder - change its expression, sound happy, sad, angry - sing - do you hear conversations with multiple participants, with separate voices I recall the article said some people had "singular, monotone" internal voices that are more streams of words than actual voices, and others heard it as if it was an actual sound. It's all a spectrum.