How do the thoughts in your mind work? Do you hear them in your or someone else’s voice? Or do you not have a stream of sentences running through your mind at all times? Whichever question you answered affirmatively, you may be surprised that people in the other category exist.
Pointing out these differences has recently become a social media phenomenon. Doctors and researchers have no definitive explanation for someone having or not having an inner monologue. However, many different professionals have proposed theories.
Psychology professor Russel Hurlburt has been studying the brain and how the mind works for over 40 years. Through his research, he has found that people most likely think in five ways; inner monologue, visual imagery, feelings, unsymbolized thinking, and sensory awareness.
Hurlburt proposes that roughly 30 to 50 percent of people have an inner monologue.
Lenny Shedletsky, a professor of communication, argues that the voices or words we hear in our head aren’t thinking but rather communicating. He also believes that this inner monologue can sometimes be an unconscious process.
Dr. Helene Loevenbruck has found that those who are deaf have an inner voice that appears visually to them rather than verbally.
Interest in this phenomenon has also spread to Parkland College, as the Parkland Prospectus learned while asking students where they stood on the debate: Do you or do you not have an inner monologue?
One student, Janae Sparks, said that she doesn’t have an inner monologue; however, she says her fiancé does. Sparks noted that from her finance’s description, his thoughts are chaotic and sometimes noisy, while she describes hers as more matter-of-fact
On the other end of the spectrum, Xavier Geigner says that he does have an inner monologue. Part of him feels like his ADHD has something to do with the voice giving voice to his thoughts, he said.
Sam Laufenberg, another student at Parkland, said that he can have thoughts; they just aren’t coming from a voice. He describes it as his brain processing.
One student, Celia Mueller, indicated her inner voice will change accents depending on what she’s been watching recently.
The Prospectus’ questioning resulted in six of the eight students interviewed saying they have an inner monologue.
All in all, the brain is a mystery. It seems everyone has their own theory on the way their minds work. And it doesn’t seem like there’s one right answer.
Ask your friends and family about the way they think; their answers might surprise you.
To find more information on the theories mentioned earlier, go to the link listed next to the professional whose theory you are looking for.
Russel Hurlburt – 5 Ways of Thinking
Lenny Shedletsky – Inner Communication not Inner Thinking
Dr. Helene Loevenbruck – How the Deaf Think Versus The Hearing
