Do You Have an Internal Monologue?
- Thread starter lfigueroa
- Start date
For those who are fortunate enough to be able to have that inner dialogue ; I would say that the key element in sports is to know where to limit that dialogue to staying on a very specific track that leads to your own peak performance. Experience and /or a great teacher will help you get to the key notes that one needs to follow. I think that my best performances however; occur when I have been able to completely let go of any inner dialogue because my mind and body are so in sync that everything just flows perfectly- "dead stroke"!
So if someone is born deaf, how could they have a voice in their head? How do the people in their dreams communicate, sign? Seriously curious.
I believe a lot of how you think and diagnose things comes down to how recognize and associate ideas/concepts.
I do have a dialogue in my head, and sometimes I even start vocalizing as I think and work things out. Drives my wife crazy because she thinks I am talking to her. however, I do that when I am trying to work something out that requires me to think in full sentences. My thoughts also bounce all over, something I hear will trigger something else, and so on until I am so far down a rabbit hole of associations I lose those around me.
For something like pool, I do not think in words. I think in patterns. I often swing my hand in the directions of what I want to do with the CB and OB. I see the pattern play out in my head, I don't talk about it in my head. I do have to remind myself to breathe, and that I do with an internal dialogue. I start thinking in a pattern, and I end up holding my breath until I realize it, and then I remind myself to breath.
I do have a dialogue in my head, and sometimes I even start vocalizing as I think and work things out. Drives my wife crazy because she thinks I am talking to her. however, I do that when I am trying to work something out that requires me to think in full sentences. My thoughts also bounce all over, something I hear will trigger something else, and so on until I am so far down a rabbit hole of associations I lose those around me.
For something like pool, I do not think in words. I think in patterns. I often swing my hand in the directions of what I want to do with the CB and OB. I see the pattern play out in my head, I don't talk about it in my head. I do have to remind myself to breathe, and that I do with an internal dialogue. I start thinking in a pattern, and I end up holding my breath until I realize it, and then I remind myself to breath.
My internal monologue is pretty active all day long, usually.
It gets pretty quiet when I'm playing pool and it's my inning. I believe sometimes when I'm playing well it actually stops during a run.
It absolutely won't shut up when I'm stuck in the chair though, particularly when I haven't been executing well. I'd pay lots of good money to anyone who could teach me how to get my inner monologue to chill the f*** out in that context.
It gets pretty quiet when I'm playing pool and it's my inning. I believe sometimes when I'm playing well it actually stops during a run.
It absolutely won't shut up when I'm stuck in the chair though, particularly when I haven't been executing well. I'd pay lots of good money to anyone who could teach me how to get my inner monologue to chill the f*** out in that context.
Yes i do....
All the live long day and during anything i do
Always
All the live long day and during anything i do
Always
Very interesting topic this, I too am someone with a lively voice in my head although I wouldn't say I actually "hear" it as if it made noise. It's just soundless sentences that pass by, as a monologue that's often in the form of a dialogue-with-myself, if that makes any sense.
I am currently reading a book about self-talk called "what to say when you talk to yourself" by Shad Helmstetter. I guess a lot of people would look at that title and think "What to say when you do what?!?!" Well, they wouldn't think that, they would say it out loud of course and then I and people like me would then think "one of those out-loud-thinkers again" and roll our eyes.
I am currently reading a book about self-talk called "what to say when you talk to yourself" by Shad Helmstetter. I guess a lot of people would look at that title and think "What to say when you do what?!?!" Well, they wouldn't think that, they would say it out loud of course and then I and people like me would then think "one of those out-loud-thinkers again" and roll our eyes.
And finish with "Why the HELL did I do that?"
When I was a child I remember sitting in the back seat of my father's car in downtown Ottawa. There was a lady walking up the street in the same direction as us shaking her head and forcefully stamping her feet. Without warning she stopped dead, turned around and screamed at the empty sidewalk behind her with, "Would you just shut the F up!"
I wondered about that and since we were close to the Royal Ottawa Hospital it is possible she was a patient there. But my question was more what was she hearing? Who was it? Where were they?
I didn't have that annoying nagging in my head. What I find I have are the thoughts without words. Short movie clips that I can feel, or smell, or touch, or taste. I often remind myself not to indulge them and instead I try to bring myself back to the present by concentrating on something like the feel of the cloth or the sensation of my feet. Since your mind can only concentrate on one thing at a time this works very well. Remembering to do it is the hard part.
Most of the time a person's internal monologue is negative and critical. It is supposedly a leftover of evolution designed to teach us fear and keep us safe by limiting our actions to the familiar. It is anything but fortunate to be tortured by your own mind and it seems that is its most common face.
The term has been around for a long time. Language is what is new, but your mind's internal communication, indeed all thought, is formed in pictures. Some people change those pictures into words or sentences, and some add a voice to it.
I wondered about that and since we were close to the Royal Ottawa Hospital it is possible she was a patient there. But my question was more what was she hearing? Who was it? Where were they?
I didn't have that annoying nagging in my head. What I find I have are the thoughts without words. Short movie clips that I can feel, or smell, or touch, or taste. I often remind myself not to indulge them and instead I try to bring myself back to the present by concentrating on something like the feel of the cloth or the sensation of my feet. Since your mind can only concentrate on one thing at a time this works very well. Remembering to do it is the hard part.
Most of the time a person's internal monologue is negative and critical. It is supposedly a leftover of evolution designed to teach us fear and keep us safe by limiting our actions to the familiar. It is anything but fortunate to be tortured by your own mind and it seems that is its most common face.
The term has been around for a long time. Language is what is new, but your mind's internal communication, indeed all thought, is formed in pictures. Some people change those pictures into words or sentences, and some add a voice to it.
Or maybe it's not always on.
At least in my case it's not always running.
Lou Figueroa
When I'm working through a problem, say something needs fixing at the house -- I'll often find myself talking it through out loud.
Not too long ago a neighbor needed help with her porch light burning out. So I went over with a couple of tools and I'm taking the light apart and I suddenly realize my IM ain't so internal anymore. And I turn to her, because she's watching me take the light apart and figuring "Lou's got a couple of screws loose" and I tell her, "Just ignore me. It's the way I work through a problem like this" and she laughed.
Lou Figueroa
fixed the light
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At the table I mostly "think" visually, but I sometimes (soundlessly) verbalize main points, decisions, etc. It's kinda like note taking for me.
pj
chgo
Is it really possible to have conscious thought that isn't in a human language?
I don't think it is.
I don't think it is.