I think with words, in multiple languages, but they're silent. I can't actually hear anything. Importantly though, the verbalizing is a later stage of thinking. First there is the thought, seemingly instant, non-verbalized, and fuzzy. If needed, I can already act based on that thought without verbalizing. However if I verbalize it in my head, then that allows for further analysis that may lead me to override the initial guessed value of the thought. Not everything can be verbalized easily though. I also heavily think in pictures. Pretty much exclusively scenes/objects from my memories. Sometimes remixed a bit, but nothing completely novel.
I understand thinking in concepts but not words, and I understand having an internal monolog, but it seems like you're describing a third option, unless I'm just misunderstanding. Obviously everyone's internal monolog is literally silent, as they're not speaking out loud, but it's most naturally described as 'hearing' the words in your head. (As opposed to literally hearing with your ears.)
It sounds like you're saying you will 'verbalize' your conceptual thoughts, ie put them into words, but not actually process the sounds of those words in your head? In what way do you think of the words then? As text? Or do you somehow think of words themselves using, like, the concept of each word, without mentally hearing their sounds?
If so, that is unfamiliar to me. Maybe I do it, but it's not something I recall being consciously aware of.
> Obviously everyone's internal monolog is literally silent, as they're not speaking out loud, but it's most naturally described as 'hearing' the words in your head.
I'm not sure it is that clear cut and universally same. So in my case, when I do the verbalization I do imagine the actual sounds, as opposed to written text or something like that. However those sounds are silent in the sense that they are clearly conjured up via some other pathways than what would be used to hear external voices of other people.
When thinking about images from my memories, they are extremely vivid and colorful. I can remember visiting a local supermarket and in this memory I have an immense amount of detail. I can remember individual small shapes and colors that were playing on some random advertisement TV screen hanging from the ceiling, I can remember walking past the shoe isle and I can still see the individual shoes and their texture and variation of colors in a single shoe. When I think of friends, I can see their faces with rather extreme precision. I can see individual facial hairs, birthmarks, wrinkles. This type of visual memory isn't limited in time either. I still have extremely vivid memories of at least a hundred events from when I was around 7.
When thinking of these visual memories I have, they appear in my mind's eye. It feels as if I'm at several places at once. I'm in the present, seeing whatever is in front of me. At the same time I'm also in the past, in my memory, and I can see these memories with great precision. To me, thinking and seeing these memories seems to use the same area of the brain. It feels very similar to see something in the present vs. seeing something in my past.
When I've talked to friends, I've found that the kind of precision I have in my memories isn't that common. However others still can visualize things pretty well. However there are also people who can't visualize anything. You tell them to think of their mom's face and they only see blur, perhaps making out the color of hair at best. There have been some studies into this mind's eye capability. [1]
Coming back to me saying I can't actually hear the verbalization in my head. When I say this, I'm thinking that it wouldn't surprise me at all if there are people out there for whom the verbalization seems like an actual sound. Very vivid and clear. While for me it's rather muted and feels nothing like hearing.
Interesting! Thanks, that analogy is really helpful. I definitely don't have that level of photo realistic mind's eye. As you say, I can visualize things, but it's not remotely like seeing things in the real world. The way I hear things in my mind is much more like hearing the real words. So I guess by analogy I can kind of understand what it might be like to have a similar internal auditory experience to my visual one.
FWIW reading other comments here I also realized that a better way to describe my internal monolog than internal hearing would be internal speech. It's really more like 'saying' something in my head than 'hearing' it. Even if what I'm remembering is someone else talking, it's kind of a mix between hearing them in my head and.. something like me doing an impression of them to myself.
I wonder if learning multiple languages as a kid has any influence on the way we think (I was raised bilingual and now I can speak 4 languages quite fluently), but also if the way we think determines what we are good at and the path we choose to live. I'm an engineer and I always enjoyed doing math and science, whereas I'm not that pasionate about art and humanities. I know some people can be really great at both, but most of us will only shine on one of these fields.
I think in words out loud by default, but I can intentionally interrupt my narration to get access to the instant, non-verbalized fuzzy representation. It feels weird.
