Do you hear your own audible voice when you think?

[JacksBratt]

A colleague of mine was amazed at something she just found out. I had never heard of it either.
What she read was that some people, when they are thinking, hear their own voice, audibly just like they are actually talking. They can look in the mirror and have an internal conversation with themselves... while hearing their voice.

This colleague, and others so we have found, do just that. They were baffled that myself and others could think and make decisions in the silence of our mind.

So, are you one who can think and have thoughts in silence... Or... do you hear your own voice in a audible dialog?

 

[Cis.jd]

I am the type that hears my own. I also "hear" others audible voice when I read, even if I know them. They (including me) usually sound different though. I can't describe.

 

[JacksBratt]

I am the type that hears my own. I also "hear" others audible voice when I read, even if I know them. They (including me) usually sound different though. I can't describe.

I do read in other's voices.. Other than that... silence

 

[SavedByGrace3]

No... in fact the first time I heard my own voice on a recording I was shocked.
"Who is that?"
I did not speak for a week.
Need to take speech classes.

 

[Kaon]

A colleague of mine was amazed at something she just found out. I had never heard of it either.
What she read was that some people, when they are thinking, hear their own voice, audibly just like they are actually talking. They can look in the mirror and have an internal conversation with themselves... while hearing their voice.

This colleague, and others so we have found, do just that. They were baffled that myself and others could think and make decisions in the silence of our mind.

So, are you one who can think and have thoughts in silence... Or... do you hear your own voice in a audible dialog?

I think it would be dangerous to admit that one can hear one's audible voice - especially on these forums.

 

[SavedByGrace3]

When you read a book or even these posts, whose voice do you hear? I do not hear a voice.
It is a "toneless" "inflection-less" sounding "voice." Just words.

 

[JacksBratt]

When you read a book or even these posts, whose voice do you hear? I do not hear a voice.
It is a "toneless" "inflection-less" sounding "voice." Just words.

I don't hear a voice... when I read. If I am reading a quote that is indicated as being from a famous person.. say.... Morgan Freeman... I will hear his voice... but... otherwise.. nope.

 

[Kaon]

I don't hear a voice... when I read. If I am reading a quote that is indicated as being from a famous person.. say.... Morgan Freeman... I will hear his voice... but... otherwise.. nope.

This is amazing to me.

 

[RaymondG]

I do hear a voice while thinking most of the times.....yet not the same voice I hear when listening to a recording of my speaking voice.

An interesting thing to ponder, as well, would be: Who is hearing the voice, and how it is being heard? As this can not be happening via the normal sound waves hitting the ear drum...

 

[Kaon]

I do hear a voice while thinking most of the times.....yet not the same voice I hear when listening to a recording of my speaking voice.

An interesting thing to ponder, as well, would be: Who is hearing the voice, and how it is being heard? And this cant be happening via the normal sound waves hitting the ear drum...

This is where it becomes dangerous, because the individual will ultimately have to make a decision to succumb to the social stigma of "hearing voices" (even if it is your own), and believing that what s/he hears is natural, or even spiritual. If 100,000 neuroscientists say that hearing voices is a sign of psychosis, and with the way society follows academics, it could be a genuine problem for individual and society.

One person may say they can converse with themselves, another may say the person needs to be committed. Who is right?

 

[Cis.jd]

I do read in other's voices.. Other than that... silence

yes. Like when I read yours or anyone else's, I'm reading it with a voice talking. When I type, think of what to type, or read my own it's all with voice but I don't sound like I do IRL.

Interesting enough, when I hear my own voice I am shocked at how different it is when I hear it off a recorder. It's much deeper/flat in tone in actual recording, but in my own ears internally I sound much lighter and clae.

 

[RaymondG]

This is where it becomes dangerous, because the individual will ultimately have to make a decision to succumb to the social stigma of "hearing voices" (even if it is your own), and believing that what s/he hears is natural, or even spiritual. If 100,000 neuroscientists say that hearing voices is a sign of psychosis, and with the way society follows academics, it could be a genuine problem for individual and society.

One person may say they can converse with themselves, another may say the person needs to be committed. Who is right?

I believe that the "danger" comes when a person doesn't associate the voice they hear with their own voice or thoughts. As long as you do.....you wont have to fear persecution.

I cannot imagine formulating a thought, or even typing these words, without saying them to myself, in my mind, before or while typing them.

I would imagine that most people talk in their heads non-stop....leaving little time to listen.... Which is why meditation is popular.....for it teaches one to quite the mind......

 

[Chesterton]

A colleague of mine was amazed at something she just found out. I had never heard of it either.
What she read was that some people, when they are thinking, hear their own voice, audibly just like they are actually talking. They can look in the mirror and have an internal conversation with themselves... while hearing their voice.

This colleague, and others so we have found, do just that. They were baffled that myself and others could think and make decisions in the silence of our mind.

So, are you one who can think and have thoughts in silence... Or... do you hear your own voice in a audible dialog?

This is a very interesting question. I do not hear my voice while thinking. It's never occurred to me that anyone does.

 

[Kaon]

I believe that the "danger" comes when a person doesn't associate the voice they hear with their own voice or thoughts. As long as you do.....you wont have to fear persecution.

I cannot imagine formulating a thought, or even typing these words, without saying them to myself, in my mind, before or while typing them.

Right, but I think this thread is highlighting that, perhaps, many people do formulate thoughts or type words without saying them to themselves in mind before or while typing.

To your former point: you may be grounded enough to have a boundary for distinguishing psychosis from thoughts. But, I wouldn't say that about the majority of laypersons or even academics. Of course there are sympathetic platitudes that would suggest most people are reasonable with respect to what psychosis is. But, we (humans) have a special talent for wanting to do the right thing, and failing to do so: I doubt the majority of people would be able to entertain the idea that someone they know "hears voices" - no matter how it is rationalized - because all that is heard is, "I hear voices..."

I used to be that person (ignorantly calling things that are tangent to "hearing voices" psychosis), which is why I am going on about it.

I would imagine that most people talk in their heads non-stop....leaving little time to listen.... Which is why meditation is popular.....for it teaches one to quite the mind......

But, it sounds like the OP is suggesting a decent number of people already have a quiet mind - with the context of continual noise (as others have said, they do hear voices when reading and such). Which is worse: stubbornness because of the din of the mind, or stubbornness because of emptiness in the mind? I was able to get some experience that changed my mind, but some people don't respond to life that way.

 

[Kaon]

This is a very interesting question. I do not hear my voice while thinking. It's never occurred to me that anyone does.

This is fascinating. I - like @RaymondG - thought nearly everyone converses with themselves. Not in a psychotic way, but in a, "Did I leave the stove on today? Nah, because I remember turning it off..." way - clear, audible and in one's unique voice.

 

[Chesterton]

This is fascinating. I - like @RaymondG - thought nearly everyone converses with themselves. Not in a psychotic way, but in a, "Did I leave the stove on today? Nah, because I remember turning it off..." way - clear, audible and in one's unique voice.

Well I do converse with myself, I just don't hear anything. If anything, my thoughts seem more like written text running through my mind.

 

[renniks]

"You know how they do that in the movies? You see the train, the bus, the train, the bus, Have you ever noticed, when someone gets a letter in a movie, you hear the voice of the person who wrote it? That happens to me, except with menus." ( Steven Wright)

No, I don't hear my voice, but I do argue with myself sometimes.

 

[SkyWriting]

A colleague of mine was amazed at something she just found out. I had never heard of it either.What she read was that some people, when they are thinking, hear their own voice, audibly just like they are actually talking. They can look in the mirror and have an internal conversation with themselves... while hearing their voice.This colleague, and others so we have found, do just that. They were baffled that myself and others could think and make decisions in the silence of our mind.So, are you one who can think and have thoughts in silence... Or... do you hear your own voice in a audible dialog?

People have different "modes".
Some more visual, some touch, some audible. I have great memory for music, but poor motor memory. I can "see" a keyboard for example but which finger I use to hit the key depend on how close it happens to be to the key. I have very little motor memory. My fingers can fly over the keys at times, but they are not trained to any particular pattern. This make my handwriting sad.

 

[pleinmont]

I only hear my voice if I am talking aloud.

 

[Kaon]

Well I do converse with myself, I just don't hear anything. If anything, my thoughts seem more like written text running through my mind.

Yes, this is fascinating to me. I imagine people *always* hear their audible voice conversing with them about minutia and serious things.