Skip to main content

Why some people don't have an inner monologue

2,937,766 Views

598 Questions Answered

Best of Web

Let’s Begin…

Do you always have an inner monologue? Can you imagine not having one? Or maybe you've never had an inner monologue and wondered what it would be like? Psychologists are beginning to study that voice inside your head— and it's much more complicated than you might think. Join Hank Green for a fascinating episode of SciShow, all about your inner voice.

Additional Resources for you to Explore

Being caught talking to yourself can feel embarrassing, and some people even stigmatize this behavior as a sign of mental instability. But decades of research show that talking to yourself is completely normal; most if not all of us engage in some form of self-talk every day. So why do we talk to ourselves? And does what we say matter? Dig into the psychological benefits of positive self-talk.

Dig into these studies about the phenomena of inner experience, self-reported functions of inner speech, and the effects of positive imagining.

The average 20-year-old knows between 27,000 and 52,000 different words. Spoken out loud, most of these words last less than a second. With every word, the brain has a quick decision to make: which of those thousands of options matches the signal? And about 98% of the time, the brain chooses the correct word. How is this possible? Gareth Gaskell digs into the complexities of speech comprehension.

Next Section »

About TED-Ed Best of Web

TED-Ed Best of Web are exceptional, user-created lessons that are carefully selected by volunteer teachers and TED-Ed staff.

Meet The Creators

More from Getting Under Our Skin