Internal monologue, self-talk, inner critic–each is a name for the little voice in your head. Maybe that voice bashes someone’s outfit, is trying to process your notes, or is disgusted by the food you were served. At times, you feel guilty and wonder why you were even thinking about things you know you shouldn’t. It keeps you entertained while you’re sitting in class, and sometimes, it keeps you awake at night replaying what you said versus what you should have. That voice becomes a therapist, friend, teacher, motivator, and critic all at once. And through it all, you wonder: is what you say and hear—the critique, judgment, and impulsive thinking—really you? Is the voice that speaks, and you speak back to, another version of yourself, or is it a completely separate entity?

Your inner voice–a second mind that you, more than anybody else, understand, is one that leading neuroscientists have been battling to know for years. Surprisingly, recent research suggests the inner voice isn’t as universal as we once believed. Many people, including myself, assumed that everybody has these thoughts. That was, until research by Russell Hurlburt, a pioneering psychologist, challenged assumptions. In an interview by Giant’s Shoulder, Professor Hurlburt shared his estimate that only 2-10% of humans are walking around with constant inner dialogue. Additionally, an internationally renowned case study of his proved that many people who think they have an inner voice do not. For days on end, he interrogated the inner monologue of a woman named Lena, which she undoubtedly claimed she had. The research aimed to piece together the style of her inner voice: whether it was monotone, whispered, shouted, and what kind of vocabulary it tended to use. By the third or fourth day, Lena realized her ‘little voice’ didn’t have a real voice, and she couldn’t answer any of the questions. 

In another case, a CBS News Saskatchewan interview delves into the daily life of Olivia Rivera, a 22-year-old woman who doesn’t have an internal monologue at all. As a child, she struggled with the rule of “thinking before you speak.” Instead of a stream of thoughts, ideas pop up sporadically in her head, and she thinks while she speaks. In other words, the thoughts you keep in your head, she says out loud. Watching TV shows growing up, Olivia understood the inner dialogue given to characters as a Hollywood-esque way of conveying their minds. She never imagined that the voice she thought was imaginary and invented was really speaking to people. 

But this is not to say that lacking an internal monologue is a bad quality; in fact, it can be very useful. Inner voices are double-edged; they’re amazing until you can’t turn them off. Without them, there’s no annoying chatter that distracts you and reminds you of everything you’re worried or wondering about. Because you don’t have to internalize everything, thoughts don’t line up to pass your brain’s internal security system; they waltz right through. Losing the filter allows people to process things spontaneously on the spot. And most importantly, you can trust that a person without an inner voice will tell you the blunt truth.

You may wonder: why do some people have inner voices while others don’t? All humans think internally, but not everyone continually experiences or relies on verbal inner speech while thinking. “Having” or “not having” that voice in your head is up to your brain’s personal style of processing information. Many people learn better through visual and abstract information, while others need to speak, sing, or write things out their thoughts. Reading sentences as you are now, and the way you recognize and think through words, exists on a spectrum. 

In a sense, the little voice in your head has different personalities. Your mind seems to have a mind of its own, generating thoughts without your intention or permission. Sometimes, it’s an extroverted babbler who gossips and refuses to quiet down. Other times, it does not want to engage and gives you space. The monologue comes from you, but it’s not all of who you are. Just like a real dialogue, it’s a conversation. So, you’re looking down at a lumpy gray goop on your dinner plate. Different parts of the brain process different aspects of the situation all at once: I can’t eat that. Wait, my friend made it for me–she’s waiting for my reaction. What even is it? I have to be a good friend. No, this is too far. 

The ‘little’ voice in your head is your brain thinking out loud and helping you to process an idea–and, in this case, hopefully getting you out of eating that mystery of a meal. Even so, your inner voice can’t do everything for you. I call externalizing your thoughts your ‘big voice;’ one that, through writing, speaking, or action, becomes a universal language that anyone can understand. So whether your ‘little’ voice is loud or silent, it’s your ‘big’ voice that ensures your ideas reach the world.