Honestly I barely know anything about this topic. But I find it fascinating. I never thought much about it. But David Foster Wallace mentioned it in one of his stories. DFW was brilliant at giving us an insight in how it must be in another consciousness. Literature shall COMFORTING THE DISTURBED AND DISTURBING THE COMFORTABLE. I think someone else said that prior to him. Reading literature can comfort you because you can feel as if you were inside the mind of another conscious being. I am no expert this is why I won't elaborate more on the literature thing.
Here is an interesting article. Do we only think a certain language? Probably not.
"Stop and think for a moment, if you would, about the way you think. Maybe before leaving home this morning, you thought to yourself, Don't forget to turn off the oven! Or, perhaps, after leaving, you said to yourself, "Damn, I forgot my keys." It feels natural enough, but in his new book, The Voices Within, Durham University psychologist Charles Fernyhough asks us to consider something most of us take for granted: Why do we think in words at all?"
"He notes that roughly 20 to 25 percent of waking time is spent with thoughts like these, language directed at ourselves. Some people keep up a patter with themselves for even more time. But couldn't we just imagine those keys, or that knob on the oven being turned down? After all, the easy answer for why language exists is that it fosters communication between people"
"Fernyhough has an answer in mind, but he first runs down several functions of talking to oneself. The first is motivation and focusing"
"Words can, it seems, help regulate our mood and direct our attention. Another purpose of self-talk could be changing specific behavior, like telling yourself "Stop fidgeting" during a job interview, or "Remember to follow through on your serve"
"To Fernyhough, language is a special tool because it can be "dialogic" — that is, between different perspectives. Humans begin speaking as children in dialogue with their caregivers, and because, fundamentally, language begins as a conversation between two people, it retains some of the special traits of those dialogues even when it's in our own head"
I can only recommend to read the full article it is pretty informative.
I find this topic pretty interesting. But I don't have much sophisticated to say about it. I try to be rational and self-aware. And the insight that language is not the main tool to express inside myself was astonishing. I tried to supervise my thoughts more since. It is hard to talk about the way I think inside my head. Because the way is pretty abstract and can't be easily articulated in words. I often have racing thoughts. And sometimes the words/ sentences overwhelm me.
It is pouring down on me. Sometimes it is just too much to cope with. But these thoughts are extremely fast and often I only articulate a tiny part of a sentence and change to the next one. While being aware which would have been the next words. But another topic seems to be more striking or important. I worry a lot and I write her a lot about my sorrows. Some themes are pretty repetitive but everyday there are more nuances or details to talk about.
I can say that writing my post is kind of comforting. I am not lonely anymore with my thoughts. People can connect with me and give me feedback. I can connect to other minds and start an exchange. I realize that I am not the only one who is tormented my fears etc.
Articulating my thoughts can be helpful. I realized that when I talked to my therapist. In my head I do not really realize the pace of my thoughts often. It is really hard to estimate the pace of thoughts. When you express them aloud it is way different. When I am in a coversation with someone else I can learn a lot about my own mind. Social interactions have a certain effect on me and my brain. When I am paranoid (I had psychosis) I try to talk openly to friends who I trust which is often helpful. They can give me feedback which is essential to me. Some days ago I had kind of a delusional thought. Inside my mind it sounded very plausible. But when I sent them to my friends and explained it I realized this sounds completely like one of my overthinking paranoid thoughts. I am proud I realized that.
The place in our mind is probably pretty intimate. We are often the gatekeepers of it. Except maybe if you have a psychosis. We often censor which parts of our mind shall be seen by others. There are certain social expectations and forbidden thoughts. On the internet when one is anonymous it is easier to talk about them.
I will stop here. I need some sleep.
Here is an interesting article. Do we only think a certain language? Probably not.
"Stop and think for a moment, if you would, about the way you think. Maybe before leaving home this morning, you thought to yourself, Don't forget to turn off the oven! Or, perhaps, after leaving, you said to yourself, "Damn, I forgot my keys." It feels natural enough, but in his new book, The Voices Within, Durham University psychologist Charles Fernyhough asks us to consider something most of us take for granted: Why do we think in words at all?"
"He notes that roughly 20 to 25 percent of waking time is spent with thoughts like these, language directed at ourselves. Some people keep up a patter with themselves for even more time. But couldn't we just imagine those keys, or that knob on the oven being turned down? After all, the easy answer for why language exists is that it fosters communication between people"
"Fernyhough has an answer in mind, but he first runs down several functions of talking to oneself. The first is motivation and focusing"
"Words can, it seems, help regulate our mood and direct our attention. Another purpose of self-talk could be changing specific behavior, like telling yourself "Stop fidgeting" during a job interview, or "Remember to follow through on your serve"
"To Fernyhough, language is a special tool because it can be "dialogic" — that is, between different perspectives. Humans begin speaking as children in dialogue with their caregivers, and because, fundamentally, language begins as a conversation between two people, it retains some of the special traits of those dialogues even when it's in our own head"
I can only recommend to read the full article it is pretty informative.
I find this topic pretty interesting. But I don't have much sophisticated to say about it. I try to be rational and self-aware. And the insight that language is not the main tool to express inside myself was astonishing. I tried to supervise my thoughts more since. It is hard to talk about the way I think inside my head. Because the way is pretty abstract and can't be easily articulated in words. I often have racing thoughts. And sometimes the words/ sentences overwhelm me.
It is pouring down on me. Sometimes it is just too much to cope with. But these thoughts are extremely fast and often I only articulate a tiny part of a sentence and change to the next one. While being aware which would have been the next words. But another topic seems to be more striking or important. I worry a lot and I write her a lot about my sorrows. Some themes are pretty repetitive but everyday there are more nuances or details to talk about.
I can say that writing my post is kind of comforting. I am not lonely anymore with my thoughts. People can connect with me and give me feedback. I can connect to other minds and start an exchange. I realize that I am not the only one who is tormented my fears etc.
Articulating my thoughts can be helpful. I realized that when I talked to my therapist. In my head I do not really realize the pace of my thoughts often. It is really hard to estimate the pace of thoughts. When you express them aloud it is way different. When I am in a coversation with someone else I can learn a lot about my own mind. Social interactions have a certain effect on me and my brain. When I am paranoid (I had psychosis) I try to talk openly to friends who I trust which is often helpful. They can give me feedback which is essential to me. Some days ago I had kind of a delusional thought. Inside my mind it sounded very plausible. But when I sent them to my friends and explained it I realized this sounds completely like one of my overthinking paranoid thoughts. I am proud I realized that.
The place in our mind is probably pretty intimate. We are often the gatekeepers of it. Except maybe if you have a psychosis. We often censor which parts of our mind shall be seen by others. There are certain social expectations and forbidden thoughts. On the internet when one is anonymous it is easier to talk about them.
I will stop here. I need some sleep.
