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The One Ring Forums: Off Topic: The Pollantir:
How loud is your brain?
Poll: How loud is your brain?
I think in sentences
I think in abstract
Kind of a mix of the two
A unique 'other' that I'll explain below
View Results (24 votes)
 

Ataahua
Forum Admin / Moderator


Jul 24 2020, 1:51am

Post #1 of 12 (12660 views)
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How loud is your brain? Can't Post

Did you know that some people have an internal narrative and some don't?

Some people's thoughts are like sentences that they 'hear', and others have abstract non-verbal thoughts that they have to make a conscious effort to verbalise. (I'm the latter, which might explain why I can get to the middle of a sentence and blank on the next word.)

What's it like in your brain? Do you think in sentences or in abstract?

And a bonus question for those who think in sentences: do you ever get a break from the voice?


(This post was edited by Ataahua on Jul 24 2020, 1:52am)


CuriousG
Half-elven


Jul 24 2020, 4:35pm

Post #2 of 12 (12572 views)
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I'm definitely a mix [In reply to] Can't Post

And I wonder if it also depends on where you are in life? When I was a teenager, for example, I could grasp abstract concepts in calculus without too much problem, but turning my thoughts into questions or even statements about what I was learning was a herculean struggle. So based on that and other experiences, I devoted a lot more energy to turning the churn in my head into sentences that could be spoken and understood. And I'm not sure I deal with many abstract issues these days, which leaves me a sentence guy.

What stirs up the soup even more for me is something completely involuntary that happens when I'm in doubt and trying to think through an issue, and then sentences I've read from literature just pop into my head with heavy duty symbolism. So for example, if I become privy to sensitive information about Person A and I have an internal debate about telling Person B, who will be affected by that information, but it of course feels like a violation of privacy to Person A, then, totally without me looking for it, up pops the line from Galadriel to Frodo about how she's kept one of the Three hidden: ‘Yes,’ she said, divining his thought, ‘it is not permitted to speak of it, and Elrond could not do so." That was an impactful scene on my first read, so somehow its significance about keeping secrets got burned into my inner hard drive. Other ethical dilemmas, and other quotes from other impactful book moments pop into my head. I definitely never set out to do that! It just happens.

Anyway, cool topic--thanks for the poll! Or should I say symbolically .


(This post was edited by CuriousG on Jul 24 2020, 4:37pm)


ElanorTX
Tol Eressea


Jul 27 2020, 3:23am

Post #3 of 12 (12388 views)
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ah yes, the "committee" [In reply to] Can't Post

that's how I've always though of my internal voice. Like Gollum, it keeps pattering on and doesn't stand still.


Ataahua
Forum Admin / Moderator


Aug 6 2020, 9:02pm

Post #4 of 12 (11875 views)
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A colleague who has an active brain [In reply to] Can't Post

wonders if that's once reason why music is so popular - as well as being fun and asking searching questions from time to time, perhaps it helps those with the inner voice to silence it for a while (which is why he listens to music at work).

It might also explain why I'm not much into music. I prefer silence around my home so that I can hear the wind and the birds (there's sod-all traffic around here).

It's an intriguing question. Do you think there might be something to that?


Alassëa Eruvande
Valinor


Aug 7 2020, 3:02pm

Post #5 of 12 (11805 views)
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I think in sentences. [In reply to] Can't Post

That's probably why I'm in the Grammar Police and Spelling Police. Smile
I really rein myself in, though, so I'm not constantly correcting people. But you folks are messing with my head!! Laugh
Right now, as I type, I'm saying the words in my head, along with the song "Mr. Brightside", by The Killers. There is no actual music playing in the room, though. Crazy


Ataahua
Forum Admin / Moderator


Aug 7 2020, 8:51pm

Post #6 of 12 (11787 views)
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Do you ever want to shut off the noise? [In reply to] Can't Post

Or would that be like asking if you ever want to type without using your hands?


dernwyn
Forum Admin / Moderator


Aug 8 2020, 11:33am

Post #7 of 12 (11701 views)
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I, also. [In reply to] Can't Post

And it hasn't changed over the years. I've often struggled with putting my nonverbal thoughts and ideas into words. (For my high school yearbook I quoted from Kahlil Gibran, "You would know in words that which you have always known in thought.")

Then at other times I can't get my brain to shut up and stop talking - usually when I'm riled up about something! My brain argues with other people. But maybe that's just how I let off steam.

Don't you love it when those little quotes pop into your mind? They help to confirm an action - or non-action. It's as if you've gone straight to the author for advice! Smile


Alassëa Eruvande
Valinor


Aug 10 2020, 9:02pm

Post #8 of 12 (11450 views)
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LOL! There's an image! [In reply to] Can't Post

Laugh
I guess after a lifetime of it, I have learned to cope. I think it also helps me to be very organized. Someone on the outside of my head might not believe that previous statement, but, really, you should see my mental lists! The only time I have ever had to write things down was when I was planning my wedding and made two appointments at the same time on the same day. I finally got a planner to keep track of it all. Nowadays, it's still all in my head, but I have a paper backup. Cool


sevilodorf
Tol Eressea


Aug 15 2020, 4:20pm

Post #9 of 12 (11084 views)
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I hear voices all the time..... [In reply to] Can't Post

There's the conscience telling me to walk on past the chips and ice cream.

There's the "characters" who want me to write their story down ...

There's the 3 o'clock in the morning voice saying Are you sure you.....

words, sentences, paragraphs, complete dialogs...


Annael
Immortal


Aug 30 2020, 6:26pm

Post #10 of 12 (10114 views)
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a mix [In reply to] Can't Post

I think in partial sentences most of the time, unless I concentrate, but usually to make sense of what I'm thinking, I have to write it out or talk it out with someone! I love "morning pages" for that reason; I call them the "brain drain" that helps me stop circling around my incomplete thoughts and GET THEM OUT.

I also often have a soundtrack going. Almost anything can trigger a song. Usually this is silent but when I'm feeling good it overflows and I walk around singing.

And I also get images. I've learned that the best thing to do with images, like from dreams, is to NOT tell myself a story about them, but instead let them just float there until I have an insight into what they mean.

I rarely get a break from this. If I can get into a deep state of meditation, then yes. But that's rare. Sometimes when I'm out in the mountains I can get into a state of simply "being there" which is lovely.

I got hypnotized for fear of flying once (it worked) and I don't remember anything about it. What I remember is a strong experience of swimming through kelp fronds in a sunlight watery environment. Didn't have to breathe. So restful.


(This post was edited by Annael on Aug 30 2020, 6:29pm)


Annael
Immortal


Aug 30 2020, 6:37pm

Post #11 of 12 (10111 views)
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hmmm [In reply to] Can't Post

My sister has to have noise on all the time - the television, music, the radio. She is not an introspective person. I wonder: is she avoiding thinking about things? Do her own thoughts make her uncomfortable? When when she's in company she tends to monologue on and on, usually retelling incidents from her life that she didn't like, but if you ask her "how did you feel about that?" she looks at you like you are speaking gibberish and keeps on going.

I, on the other hand, prefer my own thoughts most of the time. I'm highly self-reflective: in fact, on the "multiple intelligences" test I come out highest on intrapersonal. I don't like background voices - I hate it when the TV is on in the other room. When I do watch TV, I'm totally focused on it. I can have classical music on in the background but not music with lyrics.


Ioreth
Rivendell

Oct 31 2020, 10:50am

Post #12 of 12 (8195 views)
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mix [In reply to] Can't Post

mix of feelings (always!), music, thoughts, images (nearly always).
daydreams - a lot of them!
Not that good at structuring though ... Sometimes it is a medley of everything.

Have worked hard to easier "find words for the feelings/images" - but it still takes effort ...

 
 

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