In this insightful article, we delve into the intriguing realms of aphantasia and the absence of inner monologue and mental images in individuals. Join us as we explore the fascinating spectrum of cognitive styles and experiences related to inner thought processes
Having No Inner Monologue or Images
The video on this page was made by a young woman who has neither an inner monologue nor inner images. It will give you a perspective on what that means.
Aphantasia
Being able to visualize images in the Mind’s eye is a common ability, but not common to all people. People have a cognitive style of mental processing on a continuum from being a visualizer to being a verbalizer. A visualizer spends more time visualizing and is able to bring visual images into Awareness. A strong visualizer can experience colored, detailed images. A verbalizer processes verbal information and experiences indistinct images in the Mind.
Most people are somewhere on a continuum between the two extremes of the cognitive styles, seeing various degrees of distinct, indistinct, and gray images.
People with aphantasia have no experiences of mental images at all. You will be somewhere on the continuum of visualizer to verbalizer style and may have aphantasia. When the explanations refer to images, if you are a verbalizer or have aphantasia, interpret the explanation to refer to the impressions you have about an experience.
When someone with aphantasia is asked to remember the day they were married, they will bring to mind names of the people who were at the ceremony, incidents during the wedding and after, and even what the weather was that day, but they will not form mental images of what happened during the event.
People with aphantasia report less vivid memories, such as memories of events in their lives. They may also have fewer and less visual dreams, although some studies report that people with aphantasia do experience visual images in their dreams.
People from all walks of life experience aphantasia, including scientist, engineers, and other professionals.
People with Hyperphantasia See Vivid Images in the Mind
At the other end of the continuum from phantasia are people who have images in the mind that are hyper-realistic and vivid. People with hyperphantasia are more likely to also experience synaesthesia and work more frequently in creative professions.
Signs of Aphantasia
You can find out whether you or someone you know has aphantasia.
- Think of a person you know well, such as a family member. Do you see an image of them in your mind, or do you only know you’re thinking of the person but have no images in mind? Can you see features such as hair color, body shape, clothing, and facial features, or do you only know these features are present without having an image in your mind?
- Now imagine that person performing some activity. Do you see the person in your mind performing the activity, or do you just know the person is performing the activity without an image?
If you could not bring to mind the person’s features or actions, you likely have aphantasia. That doesn’t interfere with your life. You live normally without the inner images.
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People Without an Inner Monologue
You may be a person without an inner monologue. You will have lists and impressions that don’t involve a dialogue of words. As many as 50% of people in some reports have no inner monologue when they are thinking.
Much thought is not in words. We drive a car without thinking words to activate the movements of navigating the car and applying brakes. Most of our lives comprise strings of these senses and actions with no inner monologue. The inner monologue comes when a person is using words, with a feeling of speaking to oneself. A person with no inner monologue does not experience that inner speaking.
Having no inner monologue causes no problems for the person. Life goes on as normal. What would be inner monologue is just an afterthought from the sensory input and actions. In studies of inner speech, there are large differences in the amount of inner dialogue among people. Some never experience inner speech, some occasionally have inner speech, and some have long discourses of inner speech, often breaking into verbalized statements addressed to no one.
Dr Russell Hurlburt on Inner Monologue
Dr. Russell Hurlburt, a psychology professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, suggests that inner speech is not as common as people believe it to be and having no inner monologue is common.
If you have little inner monologue, substitute references to voicing words in conscious Awareness with visual imagery or impressions you have in your conscious awareness.
You can support this effort to give people the truth about the reality of the afterlife with your $6 contribution.
What It’s Like Having No Inner Monologue and Phantasia, February 9, 2020
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tQ2KcOhHiU
