Question: Is the internal dialogue of the mind pointless?

I know this is short and sweet but I just want to throw this question out there and let people do what they want with it. The real question is "What can you tell yourself that you don't already know?"

reply to post by ErroneousDylan


Yes.

One should ask himself for a fit answer

reply to post by ErroneousDylan


As in the thought process? Can't speak for everyone but I don't ask mentally ask questions and then anwer them in my head. My internal dialogue consists more of a runninng commentary of my thoughts about situations I find myself in....

"Damn, jehovahs witnesses...."

"Nice, I might have that last slice of cake"

'What is that on the bottom of my shoe?"

But if thought process is what you mean then it is necessary to to work out how to act in every new situation we find ourselves in.....

Originally posted by Anttyk47
One should ask himself for a fit answer

I'm not sure if that was intentional irony or not..

If I ask myself, who is asking and to whom am I asking? Who answers?

I'm really just concerned as to whether or not someone thinks the internal dialogue actually servers a purpose? Obviously we have the ability to "think" or "talk to ourselves inside our head" (although I'm not sure how we hear something that makes no noise???) but is there ANY reason at all for it?

Originally posted by 1littlewolf
reply to post by ErroneousDylan

 

As in the thought process? Can't speak for everyone but I don't ask mentally ask questions and then anwer them in my head. My internal dialogue consists more of a runninng commentary of my thoughts about situations I find myself in....

"Damn, jehovahs witnesses...."

"Nice, I might have that last slice of cake"

'What is that on the bottom of my shoe?"

But if thought process is what you mean then it is necessary to to work out how to act in every new situation we find ourselves in.....

Surely, I am not talking about dissociated personalities (although some would claim that everyone with internal dialogue have that disorder). But, yes, the constant chatter of the mind and thought process, is what I am talking about. Of course, we use language to talk to each other but that is for convenience. Why do we talk to ourselves? If we ask the question "What is on the bottom of my shoe?" will it change our answer? We either know or we don't.

Originally posted by ErroneousDylan
Surely, I am not talking about dissociated personalities (although some would claim that everyone with internal dialogue have that disorder). But, yes, the constant chatter of the mind and thought process, is what I am talking about. Of course, we use language to talk to each other but that is for convenience. Why do we talk to ourselves? If we ask the question "What is on the bottom of my shoe?" will it change our answer? We either know or we don't.

This is ATS, I wouldn't be suprised....

But mind chatter I guess is simply the brain processes brought into conscious thought.

What they said.

But to be more specific, the heart speaks, and the mind decodes those frequencies as thoughts and dialogue. If you're having an inner dialogue with the mind only, then I'd say it's pointless and a bit insane without the heart's input. Take the military/police mentality for example.... not much heart involved in their dialogue.

reply to post by ErroneousDylan


Hi Err,

You originally asked the question "Is the dialogue on the mind pointless?"

That is why I answered "Yes".

reply to post by ErroneousDylan


WHAT CAN YOU TELL YOURSELF THAT YOU DON'T ALREADY KNOW?
Next weeks lottery numbers!

reply to post by ErroneousDylan


Not only pointless, but dangerous. For example:

www.abovetopsecret.com...

It's not useless, but it can produce a lot of wasted effort. I'm just speaking from experience, but I find it good for error checking. Other than that, it's almost like a form of procrastination from interacting will the real world, which requires a lot more doing than thinking. I'm just talking about internal dialog of course.

I'll give you your first flag. DOH! Should have thought that through.

It's not pointless, but I find it can be detrimental at times. Someone once told me that the internal dialogue is not who you are and you shouldn't follow your thoughts but rather realize and utilize your actions - because that's who you are. The internal dialogue can lead you to making rash choices, it can affect your anxiety and such. Personally, I'd love to 'think less' and 'act more' but the way my brain works means I will always be questioning internally and trying to find answers there too. Nice post though - not something I've read about here in the few years I've been using ATS. S&F!

reply to post by ErroneousDylan


I think the internal dialogue of the mind has a point. Like you can usually con yourself into hitting the snooze button three or four times before getting up in the morning.

The majority of chatter going on in the mind is either about the past or the future - ie., past hurts/lessons learned/conversations had/regrets etc or future planned events/things we are dreading or looking forward to/things we intend saying or doing - and very little is in the NOW and that is the secret.

To live in the NOW is more difficult than we think but when accomplished we can ask ourselves - where am I? am I happy (at the moment)? Do I feel well? What surrounds me at this very moment in time. Because in truth - the NOW is all that matters and any decisions made in the NOW may well effect your future! The past is gone and the future is not here so allow yourself the beauty and freedom of living in the NOW - It's not about the destination, it's about the journey and you are only ever on the first step because there is only the NOW in reality.

All the rest is worthless internal chatter and creates all the stress you ever suffer and this is the stress that leads to illness. Give your body a rest by giving your mind a rest.

As I say - easier said than done but with practice it becomes easier and easier!

reply to post by ErroneousDylan


this subject has racked my brains for many years too, i often wonder if the inner dialogue is with us all our lives as i remember having long conversations with my dad about thought and how the mind works, i remember him telling me about a voice in his head(meaning inner dialoge he wasnt crazy), and we had a long discussion about it as i was sure there was no inner dialogue going through my mind. this maybe because i was too young at the time to understand fully what he was trying to explain??

I like what Socrates said: The unexamined life isn't worth living. Which also reminds me of something Einstein Said: I have no unique qualities, I am merely extremely inquisitive. Now I do think there is a sort of static chatter in most, if not everyone's conscious, but its purpose I believe is to instigate us to move forward. Sometimes it fails, or we get distracted, as an earlier post pointed out. Now is the only real reality. Our thoughts are constantly dwelling on things either of the past or the future, but I personally believe this is a natural phenomenon and necissary for growth. Ironically, all of us had to 'think' about this post, even though it was a short one, it did stimulate my mind. Even for the humorous responses, you probably have a thought process that leads to something funny and witty rather quickly.
I 'think' we all would benefit if we stopped and asked ourselves if what we spent most of our time pondering is benefiting our long term goals or our present happiness. Thank you for the mental stimulation.

reply to post by ErroneousDylan


The chatter in the head is as pointless as everything else. Really, what is the point to anything?
However, you make a very good point!! If you tell yourself something then obviously it was already known. It makes me laugh when people say 'i thought to myself', because that's not really what happened, what really happens is, thoughts arise. No one 'thinks'. Thoughts appear, if it was you doing it you could choose to only think nice thoughts. Can anyone tell me what their next thought is going to be?
Thoughts arise like a cloud appears in the sky. However because those thoughts seem so much closer than a cloud in the sky, the hearer of the thought thinks it is them doing it, that it is inside them and a cloud isn't.
A thought is no closer to you than a cloud. Neither are personal.

reply to post by ErroneousDylan

Question: Is the internal dialogue of the mind pointless?

No! It is not pointless! Internal dialogue is part of how we communicate and reason with our subconscious, and vice versa. It only becomes pointless when you don't consciously participate in the discussion, and reason out the information available to you. Your subconscious is a very powerful part of your mind. Learn to work with it.

ETA: Note that you asked about internal dialogue, as opposed to internal chatter. These two are different.

reply to post by ErroneousDylan


I believe that internal dialogue is not pointless. Actually it can have certain effects in you physical body.
How? you say. Well, you know that your body replies external stimulation. Exposure makes you body
adapt and the same is true about perception. Perception and thought process can have good and/or
adverse effects on your body. A good example is the fight or flight response. Watch a scary movie and
your adrenaline levels will shoot up and make the blood vessels in and around you vital organs contract and
shut down your immune system by sending the needed blood to you muscles. The same for you brain.
Blood vessels contract in effect making a person "dumber" by sending more blood to the reflex part of you brain. But the effects on your body can be so much more profound.

I had read a couple of articles about this process that also extends to DNA. A couple of months ago I found a video that explains the whole thing very well. The video is called The Dangers of Nanotechnology and it very interesting. Check it out,