Do you think out loud?
 

I am trying to break a rather annoying habit of sub-vocalization while reading (voicing the words in my head). Then a though occurred to me: I seem to vocalize my thoughts as well. This got me wondering if it would be possible to think without sub-vocalizing my thoughts.

I would like to hear about what’s going on in the heads of other people.

Cheers.

Even when by myself I voice my opinion.

It gets me into trouble alot and people look at me weird.

I find I sometimes talk to myself. Sounds strange, but it's not that bad!

Usually when I'm alone in the house.

Actually, maybe it IS a bit strange...


Mr Mephisto

Only when I am programming.
I curse and yell too.

I don't talk to myself the way most people do.

I have the unconscious thing I do that I never notice but people point it out to me. Sometimes, when I say something, I quietly repeat the last 3 or 4 words of what I just said. I have no idea what causes this.

Example "I don't know if I can make it, I have a lot of work to do today...work to do today "

I am never aware of the repeated portion. My girlfriend monitors me on this and has found that it generally only happens when I'm sleep deprived or stressed. It's not that common but sometimes it creeps people out so I try to stay well-rested and relaxed.

I talk to myself all the time, even when there are lots of other people around. Its the only sure fire way I know that I can keep my mind on a single strain of thought.

Yea..i only talk to myself when i stock shoes where i work...

Hehe, it helps straighten out my thoughts

i *never* have done it whilst reading...

but in general, yeah, i'm oft muttering to myself. :D

no.

chat w/ myself AND others in my head and outloud all the time. gets me in trouble when I think I talked with someon about something and it turns out i was just thinking about talking to someone about something. *blush*

That's what a lot of monks spend their whole lives trying to achieve. It's easier to eat cupcakes. *Yummmmmmmmm, cupcakes*

Inside thought person.... seeing as most people are allergic to honesty.

I listen to the voices in my head and often find myself vocalizing my thoughts :D

I think I have a pair of green little men inside my head talking to each other all the time. I talk to myself all the time as well...

shh...did you hear that?!

SHIT! They're coming!

*sound of running followed by MIB running*

I mostly don't vocalize my thoughts. Sometimes I think aloud when doing group projects because it is often helpful. However, one weird thing I noticed I do is think in my head with someone else's voice. This is probably because I'm so monotone that even my own thoughts wouldn't be convincing otherwise.

No. I don't do that. My thoughts are unrelated to my physical body - except in their hormonal, electro-chemical operation.

I don't usually do it, although there are some exceptions.

On a few occasoins, however, people have been looking at me, heard me say something out loud, yet not seen my mouth open. After the third time, some have concluded that I'm literally thinking too loudly.

I don't think out loud, but my thoughts are words. I think in complete sentences, sometime even paragraphs... That isn't to say that I visualize letters and words, but I just pace things in my head that way. No visualization, just words. More than once this has made me think about the ways that language limits our thoughts... But then, not everyone thinks in language.

Actually I've heard of this. I think I read somewhere that it's a disorder of some sort! Nothing serious, just kind of annoying! I remember I used to do it when I was younger. Went away as I got older, though. I'd look it up if I wasn't so damn tired! Maybe tomorrow :)


Anyway back to topic! I talk to myself a lot when I am alone. Sometimes even around other people without knowing it! Usually I will have a discussion back and forth with myself. Nothing like schizophrenia, but just like working through stuff with my own mind. Weighing my options! Not sure if it's strange, just how my mind works!

I actually usually talk to my self, but that option wasnt there.

Soooo I picked the first one.

And why do you make it sound like a bad thing? Completly natural, least I hope so :)

Usually no I don't put the thoughts in my head into words. The times that I do I'm either very angry about something or extremely tired. I also do it when I come to a final answer about something that I've been contemplating for a while. Once I reach that final answer I will put it into words in my head and sometimes vocally if no ones around. It prepares me to share it with someone when I want to do that.

I have a constant ongoing discussion with myself going in my head, it always stays in my head.

I experience it harder to think clearly if I speak out my thoughts.. don't know why.

I do it if I am reading something technical. I do it a lot with physics when I am thinking through something, a lot with my computer work, and a LOT in math class. It used to be a running joke to imitate me in math class mumbling to myself as I worked. :)

I'm usually thinking so much that it's hard to sleep, but I think as if there's a person in my head that I'm talking to. Mostly, it's one sided conversations. I don't really say what I'm thinking aloud, but it can converse an actual conversation when I'm not paying as much attention to it because I should.

I've been doing it more lately....like saying one or two words outload. Oddly enough, many times I'll find that I speak outload when I remember something particually embarresing. It's pretty hard to control but I'm working on stopping it because I do it in public sometimes.

Well, I usually will voice thoughts in my head. As for talking to myself aloud . . . well sometimes I do that to. Hmmm. Kind of odd actually.

Sometimes I do, but more often than not it's silent contemplation.

I sometimes have monologues. Literally just talking to myself.

Sometimes, I have dialogs. Often, the person I'm talking to is a model of another person I know. I rarely self identify with both sides of an internal dialog.

I sometimes speak in a non-verbal language. This happens when I'm thinking about math or computer science alot.

I sometimes think in shapes and flows. This happens alot when I'm doing mathematical analysis, or graph theory proofs.

I sometimes think in motion. The distinction between this and the last is subtle. When I'm thinking about how to do something physical, or thinking about how to do something in a game, or the like.

When reading, I don't think about how to pronounce words. The evidence I have of this is that there are words I can read and spell, but when I attempted to pronounce them, I was unable to even give a guess. Other times I'll be able to generate a completely wrong pronounciation. This gives me problems sometimes: I will have issues remembering which character has which name in a novel.

I have been known to speak aloud, I think quiety, when thinking to myself in a queit area. But I'm not certain. =)

now more than b4 do i talk to myself in my head, it gets kind of annoying but i am learning to do it less frequently.

i think the words as i read as well.

I have mastered the art of soliloquy. Sometimes my thoughts are too big not to let out of my head. I also hear a voice in my head reading when I read things. If alone I'll even start a coversation with myself...It's a lot easier to figure things out If I allow myself to respond as if I'm talking to another person tho it's just me the whole time.

I misunderstood the title -- I thought it meant do you talk out loud about what you're thinking accidently. I don't do that, but I do put voices to what I'm reading about. I do it sometimes when I think as well, but it's usually just my voice.

-Lasereth

I think a lot without saying anything. At times though, I feel I just need to release something and I say it to a wall or something, essentially talking to myself because hearing my thoughts somehow comforts me.

I generally keep my mouth shut. I say my thoughts in my head to cool me down or make me feel better. But if something needs to be said I will say it.

I wonder if this has to do with the fact that you need to remember whatever it is that you just said, and you're too tired to keep track of it the way you usually do when you're well-rested and relaxed. I remember reading somewhere that when we say our problems or feelings out loud (in your example: the feeling of dread about work that we have to do), it translates them from the right brain to the left brain, which is more equipped to solve problems. That's supposed to be why psychotherapy works--it forces us to use the logical part of our brain to synthesize emotional issues. Maybe you repeat the end of your sentences when you're tired and stressed because you're subconsciously afraid to forget what you just said.

I don't talk to myself!.. I'm merely thinking outloud! :D

I've never had much inner monologue, unless I'm writing. Any other task, programming, drawing, what have you, and my thoughts are pretty much nonverbal.

I think I read somewhere that most people are like this, anyway. I'm kinda disappointed by how normal I am... :P

sonetimes I think outlound, but most of the time I don't

I am sorry guys, I should have put more “thought” into wording my question. :D

What I was curious about was whether it’s possible to think without actually hearing your own thoughts in your head.

I was not talking about thinking out loud (as in muttering out loud or somthing).

I personally can’t think about anything without first hearing the words of the thought in my head.

The whole process is a bit odd.

- I think of a subject that needs to be processed.
- The though gets translated into words.
- The words get translated back into thought and interpreted.
- The thought is then processed and I have a response.
- The response gets translated into words.
- The words get translated into though again and interpreted.
- And the process starts all over.

So as you can see, it’s a bit odd that I need to hear my own thoughts as words in order to comprehend them, since the original though comes before the words. On one hand I can see that it slows down my thinking. But on the other hand it allows me to audit my thought process as it happens. It would be nice to be able to think both ways though.

I am going to start by learning to read without sub-vocalizing. Then I hope I will be able to work on my thought process.

Thanks for the responses by the way.

sometimes i find myself just thinking out something for a little while, and all of the sudden realize that i might have been thinking outloud. its kinda embarrasing, but i dont really give a shit.

I wasn't even aware people could think without voicing their thoughts in their heads.... I've a question for those who do, how do you know what your thoughts are? What form do your thoughts take if not words? Do you think in images, impressions?

i tend to see things as they are and make plans around that. i dont need to hear myself think in my head, as i am capable of making quick and efficient decisions without having to plan them out in my head, which takes longer than necessary most of the time, imo.

I don't understand what you mean. What form do your plans take? Are then in a language or are they pictures or impressions?

All of my thoughts come from the little voices inside my head...so many of them...so many thoughts...always thinking...always listening to voices...
...what scares me is when all the voices shut up...:lol:

They say that people who think aloud can solve problems more quickly, see the solution more clearly, and execute the fix more efficiently.

I find myself thinking about something then wandering off in the thought....all the while my face is contorting slightly to the reactions of the thoughts.....I am unaware most of the time but occasionaly i will catch myself and become slightly embarrased..If I am left alone for long enough I will start to vocalize thoughts..

I talk to myself at times. Once or twice when my head goes into the clouds in public I find I'm accidently mouthing the words a little and getting weird looks. That is where the headphones come in handy...

"What, I was just singing?"

Wow, Mantus! I wish I had read that clarification sooner (like 2 months ago).

I'm a person who has trouble voicing the thoughts in my head. Ideas mostly come to me as different combinations of feelings, colors, shapes... basically, in amorphous blobs of I-don't-know-what-to-call-it. And that's just the problem that I have, which seems to be the complete opposite of what you experience. My ideas are all great for me to have in my head, but when it comes time to relate an idea to somebody else, I have a huge problem conveying the same idea without (a) butchering the thought by using words that change the meaning of it too much, or (b) spewing pseudo-organized gibberish as I try desperately to honor the integrity of the idea.

If only we could combine our powers!

i voice my thoughts for one reason: i find that it helps me focus better, and i can pretty much get what i'm trying to understand...mabye that's just me, but it works for the most part.

I do in work all the time but not in real life :D

I rarely do by accident. However, if people are looking at me in a confused daze or whatever and I know it, I'll say something out loud to let 'em know. Weird? Yes...but that's just how I work.

I usually run through things in my head first. I very rarely do things on the fly.

All the time. Especially with math. I used to catch so much shit in math in High School because Id be sitting there in class talking to myself as I worked through a problem.

thinking out loud is great.. but normally when i'm thinking.. i touch my upper lip to my nose :D

I pretty much just voice my thoughts in my head... but when I feel really strongly about something, thats when you can catch me saying something out loud to myself.

When do you find yourself thinking about things the most?
My problem is that when I'm lying in bed trying to go to sleep that's always when I think about everything that's been on my mind and sometimes it's hard to rest... eventually it feels like my thoughts become my dreams... and then I play them out while I sleep

Far too often. Kinda weirds out my friends, especially one, he always looks at me scared-like. hehe.

Same here. I do it alot right before bed or in the shower. Helps me get my ducks in a row. :crazy:

I have some training at speaking to large groups of people. A big part of that training has to do with shutting off conscious thought and just BEING with people in the moment. I find that when I do that, I'm more responsive, I listen better, and I'm clearer, more straightforward, and funnier than when I think hard and plan out what I'm going to say.

When I'm in that mode, there's not a scrap of verbalized thought happening in my head. Everything that happens is in the conversation, and my judgement-assessment-evaluation machine is simply switched off. It's a pretty amazing experience.

I mummble to myself all the time. I have to or ill forget things. It annoys my coworkers, but its something I have to do. :P

I think this poll would be better if there was more of a gradient between talking out loud and not talking out loud.


If I have to remember something then I intentionally vocalize it -as a mnemonic tool. For everyone who answered that they don’t talk to themselves –I recommend just trying this method for remember things.

I don't think I do.

There are times when I think I said stuff out loud. I'll be totally spaced out and say, in my mind, "Wow, that girl is really hot" or something. Then I wonder I actually whispered that out loud or if I just said it in my mind.

I'm weird.