I saw a clip of the video below on Twitter a year or two ago, and was absolutely blown away that a significant portion of people do not have an internal monologue. After viewing it, I tried to think of a close friend that might "think" this way, an immediately thought of the wife of one of my best friends. I talked to him about it, and after some discussion within the family, he confirmed that his wife and teenage son do not have an internal monologue. My intention is not to be judgmental or negatively critical about it (shit, in many ways I'm jealous), but I think it can be an important revelation to understand people close to you or that you interact with on a consistent basis. My buddy and his wife have had typical marriage problems in the past, and I think this surprising fact has really helped them understand each other more and get in a better place relationship-wise.
Based on the limited information I've read, the most common traits of people without an internal monologue are:
- In their dreams, people don't speak
- Anxiety/depression are manifested physically, as they don't have an inner voice that amplifies or creates it.
- They see words/sentences when reading, but don't hear them.
I think this is an absolutely fascinating subject and I'm way more cognizant of it now. I think it can only be helpful if more people talked about it.