I just learned that 50-70% of the population doesn’t have an internal monologue. I honestly can’t really comprehend this.

Replies (119)

Raven M's avatar
Raven M 1 year ago
I have a good imagination, but this is one I have difficulty comprehending.
graffiti's avatar
graffiti 1 year ago
Unbelievable. Do you have a source?
I’m not surprised in the slightest. If you agree that we live in a simulation, it only makes sense that a major part of the population are NPCs controlled by the simulation engine or AI, and why would those have internal monologue.
Default avatar
Rand 1 year ago
I'm always interrupting myself (>_<)
Wow... I had no idea there were THAT many public sector workers. 😉
Gerardo's avatar
Gerardo 1 year ago
So people just have no thoughts they speak in their heads
I was shocked so I read several separate sources. I don’t think it’s made up.
One of the main techniques of speed reading is NOT subvocalizing the words in your head. Basically just going to pure information without the stopover in virtualized speech. Point being: might not be a problem for reading (or may even be beneficial!)
I don’t remember dreams but definitely have an inner monologue. Not related.
That being said, I’m sure a good part of the population is more visually oriented than auditory oriented. That might have something to do with it. I work in sound, so I know where I stand, but I work with a lot of directors and picture editors.
Could be - or at least could be over-reported. I didn't go down the rabbit hole completely, just had a quick google to try and corroborate.
sowack's avatar
sowack 1 year ago
Seems high to me. More than likely the 50-70% of ppl do have internal monologue, but have been unconsciously trained to ignore it
I heard this maybe 10 years ago and had a coworker that claimed she was one of them, but I still cannot comprehend it
Bender's avatar
Bender 1 year ago
I just said to myself in my head “what’s an internal monologue?”
Mr Meadow's avatar
Mr Meadow 1 year ago
Makes sense. They identify themselves by wearing masks inside their cars…
I’ve been having a conversation about this topic in my head. Problem is I have multiple different personalities So they argue a lot
Same! I'm just thinking to myself, what exactly do you mean when you say "internal monologue?" Like, does it have an auditory component or is it just thinking about words minus the sound they make?
AJ2884's avatar
AJ2884 1 year ago
Based on how people are self reporting here, that number seems way too high. I wonder if it's wrong (I'm pretty sure I've heard lower numbers in the past), if this self reporting nostr group is a statistically anomaly, or if there are other relationships which lead nostr, at present, to be a non-representatives group.
Actually 80 percent DOES have an internal monologue and 20 percent do not. But BOTH groups do not know the other group exists.
Why do you think so many people are controlled by the MSM monologue they’re fed constantly?
I don't know a ton about speed reading, but one tip I had heard was you slowly count to 10 over and over again (just barely whispered) as you're reading the words. It's hard at first, but you kind of get used to it. Once you can get the meaning of the words just by looking at them (rather than "saying them in your head" - which is impossible while youre counting aloud), you can scan them faster and faster. The upper bound for how fast you can scan your eyes over words is much higher than the speed at which you can "say them".
The other thing is looking at batches of words at a time. Like divide the page into two or three columns and look at the batch of words in one column on the current line, then hop directly to the next column, wrapping around when needed. So rather than sliding your eyes slowly over every word, you instantly "hop" two or three times per line
I still don't grasp the concept of an internal monologue. Is it constant? Or is it just the ability to have a deductive logical conversation in the mind on demand? I can do the latter, but I don't have some annoying voice always talking or narrating life. That would suck. Sounds inefficient too.
Anarko 's avatar
Anarko 1 year ago
It blew my mind too when I first found out about this. It does explain a lot however, especially the proliferation of the NPC.
I thought the same for a while but you definitely do you just gotta make it your goal to think about it as soon as you wake up. As you become an adult you start to wake up and instantly think about your responsibilities, so you start to think oh I don't remember my dreams anymore but really if you just think about it right away after waking up like you did as a kid you will remember it I guarantee you.
Wow. That’s mad Can that be true? I thought we had 60k thoughts a day on average Why would 50% of people not have any? Maybe I am not understanding what you mean…
love it. Trying to move away from being a table. it reminds me of the phrasing Allen Farrington used in Wittgensteins money... what would it seem like if it seemed like...
The concept that a significant portion of the population does not have an internal monologue has gained attention in recent years, partly due to a study by the psychologist Russell T. Hurlburt. Hurlburt, who has conducted substantial research into people's inner experiences, including their internal dialogues, used a technique called Descriptive Experience Sampling (DES) to explore this phenomenon. Hurlburt's work, along with similar research, suggests that the presence of an internal monologue varies widely among individuals. Some people report having a constant verbal narrative in their heads, while others experience thinking in more abstract or sensory forms, like images or emotions rather than words. This suggests that 50-70% of people might either rarely or never experience the internal monologue as a continuous verbal stream. Instead, their thinking may involve non-verbal elements such as images, emotions, or pure, wordless concepts. While there isn't one singular study that definitively claims "50-70% of people don't have an internal monologue," this figure is often cited based on broader survey-based research and anecdotal reporting. It's also connected to popular psychology and informal discussions that reveal how diverse mental experiences can be. The DES method, used by Hurlburt, is particularly focused on capturing participants’ thoughts as they happen, using random beeps to prompt individuals to record their internal experiences. The findings revealed considerable diversity in inner experiences—some had frequent verbal monologues, while others did not. The method's data revealed that internal verbalization, or "talking to oneself," wasn't as ubiquitous as previously thought.
Satoji's avatar
Satoji 1 year ago
I couldn’t comprehend this either. Then, i started to meditate. Now, i am a meditation teacher. ❤️
Agreed. Sometimes 'Overthink' is a major obstacle to progress. To paraphrase John o Donahue... our inner selves need some mystery and shadow. they don't do well under the harsh spotlight.
Those who use internal monologues exclusively are unable to have awareness of ideas, beliefs, feelings, states, that don’t have the words to express them in the language they know. I don’t really know if this is true I just wanted to have a different take than, “the world is filled with NPCs”. maybe the NPCs are those that can only read their scripts.
The problem I have is many times, MY lips are moving while I am deep in discussion with myself. My wife calls me out and I laugh, when strangers do I simply say, "Do the voices inside my head bother you?" And they run away... ...and if I openly discuss Bitcoin with anyone, they run away. So, the moral here, is follow your own path and listen to your thoughts regardless what other people think, say, or feel.
Две трети популяции не ведут внутренний монолог, но в комментариях не нашлось ни одного такого человека. View quoted note →
Mine doesn't have a script thanks. Now stay away, that empty shit is dangerous & disturbing... 🤣
At the very least fill that void with screw that, nope, or that's BS. 🤣
Ah! that makes so much sense, because I can't see anything visible in my head, even if I try to imagine something "visual" I only can get the name of it. Like when I think about seeing or visualizing an apple, all I can "see" is thinking of the word apple. Though I have been training for years now to visualize things. I can now visualize a short 1-2 seconds video. almost like watching a video on your phone. but I can't hold it for longer than 1-2 seconds. yet.
Mine is often in different languages I’m learning. It’s like a drunken sailor who’s spent too much time at sea and on foreign excursions then returns home
I think you mean “🪛” , “🙂‍↔️”, or “🐂💩”. Haha.
On second thoughts... let's not do the emoji bot thing... 🤣
Wild right?? But once you start going about your day with this understanding things make a lot more sense. The only question is what is b