Inner Monolouges & Though processes

For some time I have wondered if others think (functionally) as I do- and that is to often have an inner monologe - ie a voice in my mind that is my conciousness and quite often there is a second voice an alternate opinion with the occasional struggle within that usually leads to some turmoil.
A friend of mine descibed a much different mental makeup that being a more picture based thought process. Also points to consider:
-if say your first language was french and your speaking english would you think in french and translate?
-could the inner monolouge be a 'bridge' between a smart brain that does not require the monologe and a dumb brain that is in control and that requires an internal monologue?
-I wonder how people who are deaf from birth think would there process be more image driven rather than auditory?

Its all a mystery as I cannot step into anyone elses brain.

Any thoughts? am I alone in how I think?
also give a description of your thought process.

i have actually thought about this a lot myself, ive tried to get people to explain their thought process but it seems to be a very difficult thing for people to do.

the way mine works is very much picture based when i am recalling events or imagining the future. as for when i am "in the now" whether it be alone or in a discussion with others, i often argue with myself, as if there are two people, or perhaps three or more depending on how many sides of the topic there are. i try to see as many sides as possible and jump back and forth from one to another (these being the different voices) there is really no accent to these voices, nor gender, the only way to tell them apart is by the opinions. i only know english and have always been able to hear, so i have no input on the others, altho when i was taking spanish i often found myself coming across words and simply knowing that one word meant the other... sort of using both languages at once... im not sure if thats how others do it tho, its probably much more complicated when you speak more than one language fluently.

Good post, I was actually thinking about his is French class ealier today. I think when you have an inner monologue with yourself, you will use w/e form of comminication is most familiar to you. Like, if you were deaf, you probably wouldn't think in sign language, but by just pictures and smells and touch. If you spoke more than one language you would probably use the word most familiar to you, such as if you speak French and English, but you are more accustomed to using a French word for bunny, you would use that.

And my thought processes are a combination of all the senses, I see, hear, feel, smell (well only kinda) and taste (kinda again) everything I am thinking.

i personally think in words primarily, but i have a book that describes other forms of thought-processing. in it is a letter from albert einstein, in which he describes his own method of thought:

"The words or the language, as they are written or spoken, do not seem to play any role in my mechanism of thought. the physical entities which seem to serve as elements of thought are certain signs and more or less clear images which can be 'voluntarily' reproduced and combined . . . the above mentioned elements are, in my case, of visual and some muscular type. conventional words or other signs have to be sought for laboriously only in a second stage, when the mentioned associative play is sufficiently established and can be reproduced at will."

crazy.

I see what your saying Windup- when I am writing I will compose sentences in my mind first and then write them out so they are deliberate and sometimes slow- however at work I have to speak to people all the time and spech is right there it is like I get a package idea/response and just say it without really thinking about it at all so yes there are different levels there As I took french as well in the earlier grades it was difficult and I do remember trying to translate everything in my mind it was very inneficient but as you go that diminishes.
Still how the minds of others work is a mystery and is impossible to explore first hand.

I know Multiple Languages, Polish, English, Little German and Little Jap
I Think in English and then Translate to another language because the others are rusty, if i spent a few months in Poland, it would be reversed as then english would be more rustier. Well at least thats how my brain operates

IR Me, my first language was not English, but I think in English. I've was born, raised, and educated in English-speaking countries. But when I visit my parents' country, I have so much trouble translating because no two words match. I think in English then translate, but it doesn't work that way because sentence structures differ, the meaning and connotations differ, maxims differ....it's very frustrating at times. You have to find the word that means strong without meaning sinuous, thick etc.

IR Me, I'm glad you know how it feels to have so many voices in your head or heart or soul or wherever they're speaking to you from. I'm actually thinking of names to give to these voices.

When we talk within our minds, we're trying to make sense of what's going on. You have the physical receiver and the mental sorter. The physical receiver sees things and feels them, the mental sorter organizes all that input and tries to reach a conclusion. This is how my thought process works. This is why I prefer not to answer a question right away. If I have an emotional connection to something, I can taste, hear, smell, see, or feel it. But what's interesting is that I can never picture eyes. I can see the body, but not the eyes...

you cant see eyes? can you elaborate on that a little?... that is really interesting!

No, I can't mentally picture eyes. I can see the eyelashes, eyebrows, but not the eyes.

I don't know when it started, but I've had difficulty looking people in the eye. There is this fear within me tht they would see some weakness or defect in me.

It may have started when I moved in eighth grade. It was one of the lonliest times of my life. I felt disconnected from people altogether and didn't really care about any of my classmates. Eye contact is a physical way of connecting with someone else but I couldn't do it.

Now, I'm looking into the eyes of people I care about, and it's becoming easier to picture their eyes.

you know... thinking back on people that i havent seen in a very long time (acquaintances)... eyes are rather difficult to recall.

actually, the thing i have the most trouble with is ears... i think its just because they arent important to me at all... i mean i recognize peoples ears but specific details are a bit blurry when i focus on them.

I seem to think mostly verbably, but also pictorially. I think that verbal thinking comes from humans being the only animals that do have speech. As infants we do not have words, so we must think in pictures and emotions. As we are socialized and learn the language of our culture, we begin to think mostly verbably. I think that is why we don't remember that part of our childhood (0 to 3? years) when we didn't have speech. Yet, our words also summon memory pictures and emotions.

I am now reading Quicksilver, an historical novel about the era that spawned Issac Newton, among other profound thinkers. How did he picture the Universe. Did he verbally think of his laws of motion or were they pictures in his mind?

Someone mentioned being raised in one language and learning another. You haven't learned another language until you start thinking in it. That is you must repeat the socialization experience of the infant, only in another culture.

To close this ramble. I am constrained to mostly verbal thought patterns, but maybe others can think pictorially, mathematically, emotionally. I wonder!

We all begin with images, then name the images. If anyone began thinking in words, then he/she wouldn't be able to learn a new language.

For me it begins with simple thought. No words or anything associated with it but at the same time both the image and all information on the thougth begin to form, assumin there is an image if not its just left out. However on another topic, what is visualizing like for all of you? IE when I try to come up with something to draw by the time i put my pencil down the image in my head has morphed and changed and its hard to get any exact outline to draw. Copying things I see is much easier but still.

we obviously do begin thinking in images, but after a while we begin to think in words. when we are considering actions we think in images, imagining ourselves or others doing an action. when speaking to someone, we think in words, there is no image in my mind as i am typing this, just a stream of words that i proceed to type out. as for the foreign language thing, when starting to learn a foreign language, we think in our own language and then translate the words, when we improve at that language we begin to be able to think in that language, and cosider what we will say in more detail.