Mental Voice

[CoryJames]

I recently developed some curiosity into how people think.

That is to say, how does the voice(s) in your head work?

Maybe this is a stupid question. However, I simply mean to ask, when you think, do you have multiple voices who argue from different perspectives?, or is there one voice which argues with itself, or do you not have any self argument at all? Maybe you don't have any voices at all.

I myself have a single voice, and do not generally have any internal arguments, but rather experience the one voice that I occasionally "talk to myself" with. (One sided conversation, more of a narrative than anything).


Any different perspectives or ideas about this? (I am sorry for the the lack of clarity, I am very tired.)

 

[EvilScientist Trainee]

For me it works like said too. It's a single voice that keeps catching ideas from whatever I happen to see. It then goes off to a simulation and then comes back, as something else catches my eye. Wash, rinse and repeat.

I have some arguments sometimes, however. It's not like an active argument, but something like "you silly mind, go back to your healthy business".

It's cool when my mental voice gives me a vision that makes me grin.

 

[Bird]

I want to comment on this but I am wary.


In my head there are several "voices".
I do often have arguments with myself.
I usually only try to listen to one voice.
In order to focus solely on one voice in
order to consider all aspects logically I
give these other "voices" things to obsess
over and once some conclusion has been
reached, I then give it another task. I keep
the others busy so I can use this one voice
to talk myself through whatever I'm doing.

When I only have one dominant voice it's
really nice and I like it. There is no constant
pull of varying emotions in my head. No "you
are so fucking stupid what are you doing! you're
doing this wrong! DON'T DO THAT!" etc... etc...

 

[Dimensional Transition]

I usually have one voice in my head who is arguing with itself a lot.

 

[BigApplePi]

As far as I can tell when I go directly to do something, there is no voice. When I am pondering or writing there is one voice: mine. But that is when I'm awake. When I wake from a dream, that is a different matter. I believe I will hear the voices from whatever drama is going on. I would have to check that out though to verify.

 

[typus]

i don't like thinking in words.

 

[EyeSeeCold]

Only one, for arguing. My narratives are for myself, for rationalization.

 

[teleforce]

one voice that barely manages to agree with itself. i like it.

 

[CoryJames]

I am honored that your first post is on my thread.

 

[Cavallier]

The way I think is not unlike Bird's. I have various voices vying for attention. Though mostly I just analyze, analyze, analyze.

 

[warryer]

It depends on the situation. In places where I don't want to look (completely) crazy I will have a mental voice and then I will have my own voice (in my head) which I use to argue the mental voice.

In my privacy I will speak out loud for/against the mental voice.

It's kind of nice because I can quickly see the ups and downs going down 1 of 2 dichotomies and anything in between.

 

[kuranes]

Since my "voices" do not have compartmentalized memories that are separated from the others ( in contrary examples, with other people having MPS or whatever, perhaps they would only be joined at some subconscious primal "root" level ) I can choose to see the "arguments" between them as being just segments of the "one" voice or I can choose to see this process as "separate" voices, and so it is six of one and a half dozen of the other. The distinction between these would make no difference to very much of my infrastructure, that I can imagine. ( Unless I want to be playful and pretend to myself that it does. )

These "voices" are distinguished from "selves/consciousnesses", in that selves don't so much have opposing "points of view", but entirely different functions, corresponding loosely with what Antonio Damosio discusses in his books, such as "The Feeling of What Happens". http://www.amazon.com/Feeling-What-Happens-Emotion-Consciousness/dp/0156010755
One consciousness may be a repository of long term memory, in other words, like a hard drive; while another may be more involved in maintaining short term memory by constantly changing and reacting to input from both inside and outside the organism. Since these two are different in their function, it can explain why sometimes we see our "selves" as being unchanging and a "neutral observer" and sometimes we see "it" as constantly changing and.... not so neutral. ( The idea of there actually being an "it" ( singular ) being just an illusion. )

 

[Agent Intellect]

3 voices:

The expert: comes up with ideas, builds models, and runs through sensory/introspective data and advocates for them. This voice spends a great deal of time explicating various thoughts to myself, as if I am the one that needs to be convinced of whatever I'm thinking about. This bastard is insane.

The skeptic: questions the expert, trying to poke holes in ideas/models/thoughts. This is usually a projection of "the other" - a hypothetical person that, if I were an extravert, I would probably be explaining my thoughts to, but because I'm an introvert, it happens only in my head (I presume). This bastard is always looking for the expert to slip up.

The pessimist: tells me that what I'm going to do is probably a bad idea; reminds me of all the bad things that could result from doing something; has two oft repeated motto's: "better safe than sorry" and "better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it." Lives by Murphy's Law. This bastard is probably the biggest source of my anxiety and social awkwardness.

 

[EyeSeeCold]

^ Add instigator/motivator and you got the full package of my one.

 

[crippli]

^^and add the bad joker, and you got my package.

 

[typus]

^^^and add my package.

 

[kuranes]

This voice spends a great deal of time explicating various thoughts to myself, as if I am the one that needs to be convinced of whatever I'm thinking about.

Perhaps the same "voice" that concocts nightmares for one of the other two voices to be thrilled or scared by when sleeping. ;-)

"better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it."

My internal critic is the opposite, since my "mainstream' or default behavior is to save things ( for that very reason ) but then...not be able to find them when needed. Or have too many cluttering up my space- such as containers for leftovers and sack lunches etc. Or notes for projects that I may never get around to starting. Etc. So he's always telling me to throw stuff out more diligently.

 

[James Black]

I only have one voice but would have to say the end result seems similar to those who mention multiple voices: I don't have multiple voices questioning each other so much as one voice aware that it should question everything: it comes up with the ideas, it questions its own ideas, it considers the realistic application of said idea, and then tries to come up with better ideas than the first, repeating a cycle of suggestion, question, applicability, and comparison... Until of course, the inevitable point when it forgets the cycle completely and gets sidetracked with some other train of thought.

 

[EyeSeeCold]

^^and add the bad joker, and you got my package.

^^^and add my package.

Too many packages.

 

[Ermine]

It's just me and my inner critic.

 

[Auburn]

..everything starts out fuzzy, indistinguishable. I think mostly in vague impressions that gradually coagulate into words. sorta like this..



.............crunch.. ..crunch... candy.... .....breathe... ....think... ....oh.. right... post... ....think... ....mmm... ..distractions.... ........thoughts form... ...mm.. thoughts don't form instantaneously.... .............cold.. my eyes hurt... ..... ..why am I using so many dots..? ...dots are awesome, don't diss the dots..... .....yay dots! ......dotdotdot....... dot hack! ..... ...crap, focus dammit! ........elefant smilies, lol..... ....okay, concentrate... ..... yes... I don't divide my voices into people...... well no.... I mean I do divide my voice into people..... ....it happens in my mind, but it is not the innate way my mind functions............... ...I do it myself, for creativity's sake and to make it easier to for arguments......... ...to separate the mental soup..... to compartmentalize the..... er...... ...stuff..... crap......... what am I saying......................... ......characters don't exist in my head...... but I assign characters to certain strands of thoughts................ .....................yes.......... my mind is like the screen on the matrix........... .........little green words falling................ .........those words/letters are my thoughts............... ........some are readable... some are not............. ........and ....sometimes two or more words come together.........they make a strand.......... a readable sentence.......or fragment of a sentence............ ........then maybe another fragment nearby .........will..........er......... gravitate to it and then they combine and form a full sentence or thought............. ...............otherwise keep swinning away in the mental space............ ......waiting to come to the front again.......... ............and when they come back to the front, i'm like oh hey! .........forgot about that thought, i should do something with this one............ ......not just forget about it again............. so i write it down on a paper....... ..or something............ then y... hmmm........... ..............blarh...... ......tired..... .......need more candy............ ....-cough- .....okay...... ...so..... hmm...... god candy's so loud when you crunch....... .....and this post sounds so....... ....elementary........... i guess my mind thinks at a very elementary level.............. ........in reality.. ..........hm. is this just me..? i wonder..... ......oh look, this is my 1000th post!! ........wait, must refresh new posts page.......... .....maybe someone ninja'd me by now............ bastards............. forum moves so fast....... .......or maybe i'm just too slow... .....-shrug- ....relativity........... oh god, einstein is so sketchy.......... ......i don't get how he could consider speed to be a relative thing........... ....... .....wait, ah.... poem updated -reads- ...........-comes back- ............ ...........er... << .............hm...... ...phhh............ sh.... .........train..... loud............ ......rawr............. and this is why i take so long to post.......... ....distractions..... yes... i usually keep a tab open with a post in the making .......and another 3 to 5 threads open in other tabs..........and I just browse those other tabs as my points for the post I'm making solidify/coagulate...... because......... .....because..... it takes a while to happen, like right now. ha! there, i said it.......... good, i win......... ....took me like 10 minutes of semi-idle thinking time..........for the words to come into palce themselves.......... and form a cohesive post......................which.............. .....in the end............ would look something like this.....

***​

Thoughts don't form instantly for me, they exists like strands of words falling like the matrix screen. Some are readable, some are not, and sometimes two or more words form and combine to make a strand, then other strands gravitate to it and they form sentences.

This takes a while and so I usually keep a tab open with my post in the making, and another 3-5 tabs open with other threads that I read as I wait for my thoughts/points to solidify on their own. I come back, write a fragment of a sentence or so, then continue browsing - repeating this until I form a complete perspective.

 

[ProxyAmenRa]

Think in pictures. No voices or other various persona.

 

[Dimensional Transition]

This thread is really getting more and more fascinating... Agent Intellect's explanation seems to be the most universal to all of us.
I recognize all those voices, I just never think of them as various persona, just myself in different moods...

 

[Dormouse]

I don't much like talking to myself, so I borrow others' voices and speak with them.

 

[Stoic Beverage]

I usually have only one voice going, but it changes based on the situation I'm in.. If I'm around other people, it usually just keeps up sarcastic commentary. If I'm alone, it'll usually be spewing ideas at me, and at once trying to process them. If I'm in a debate, then it's flying through my conceptual memory bank, narrating it's journey. It usually coincides with whatever I'm saying in that case.

When the mood strikes, I'll voice the thoughts, and have a conversation with myself. I find it a good way to pass time.

 

[Solitaire U.]

Inner voice strictly for rationalization, mostly related to heavy decision-making, or to check fluidity/clarity of my writing. The majority of my thoughts manifest as visualizations.

 

[sroro]

One for for everything though I can't imagine what'd it sound like. It uses 'ideas' instead of words unless I'm working on something or trying to wake up. I usually just think to myself rather than talk to myself.

 

[Jean Paul]

I got 3 so whitch one ya wanna chat with?

 

[Jesse]

One voice. Mostly in ideas rarely in pictures or words. less a voice more like a constant consciousness that is linking stuff together. I like it when it's humorous.

 

[The Gopher]

One voice different people. It sounds the same but some are just plan creepy. All arguing telling me to do things fight fight fight fight. Agent intellect style.

 

[SQ_Minion]

My mental voice is more or less my own voice, always talking to someone else. Sometimes I carry on a conversation with someone I know without actually manifesting their responses. Other times it's like I'm demonstrating my actions to someone, explaining them. When I notice myself explaining my actions to someone, I'll try and snap out of it, consequently explaining and apologizing for my thought style to that same person--an inescapable cycle.

 

[Polaris]

A bit like Proxy, I often "think" in pictures.

However, if I'm conflicted or stressed I tend to have a rather nasty repeat cycle of other people's voices. I may have internal dialogues and arguments until I realise where it's going: no where.

Creative thinking is often something occurring after I have gone to bed. As there is no obvious external pressure or influence......the mind seems to suddenly pick up speed and diversify into several different directions at once. This may be a bit like the matrix Auburn painted so vividly, there is imagery, empty space, and then sudden starbursts of ideas coming out of what appears to be nothing (subconscience?).

Sometimes I have to cut off unconscious mind ramblings. It is rather nice. I make an effort to clear my mind of any noise; that is imagery, words, music, etc. These prolonged quiet mind states are often quite productive. I'm more likely to solve problems efficiently if my mind is still beforehand.

I often have music in my head, which can be great....but also really annoying.

 

[Moocow]

The "voices" of thought have always been nothing more than preparation for interpersonal interactions, in my mind. Actual thought happens as fast and as silently as neurons firing.
Arguing with the self is just being imaginative, that's all. We visualize (auditorize?) as much of a potential debate as possible so that in the future we'll be more prepared for it. Over time this becomes habit and we start to believe that the internal monologue is the thought itself. I don't believe it is. It's just a way of equipping yourself for debate.

Surely, you've all noticed that as you are having a thought you can cut it short and still know what the whole thought was going to be?

Another idea is that it's a mental feedback tool. It's your brain learning to use language as an indicator of its internal activity, so it can better monitor itself.

This works with the first idea, with the end goal being the wonderful and unique human ability to articulate abstraction!

 

[BigApplePi]

Moocow: hear! hear!

 

[EvilScientist Trainee]

Surely, you've all noticed that as you are having a thought you can cut it short and still know what the whole thought was going to be?

Today I had experienced this, I was thinking about a thing, but then thought about three other things at the same time, without losing the train of thought with any of them.

Those are interesting ideas you gave, but I've something with believing that this 'non-said' dialog being something of unconsciousness, while the dialog is what we consciously think. I can't really refute any of your theories, though.

 

[Moocow]

Today I had experienced this, I was thinking about a thing, but then thought about three other things at the same time, without losing the train of thought with any of them.

Those are interesting ideas you gave, but I've something with believing that this 'non-said' dialog being something of unconsciousness, while the dialog is what we consciously think. I can't really refute any of your theories, though.

What is "unconsciousness"?

I don't believe Freud's idea was sufficient to suggest what it really is. I would have to pin it down as simply "everything that a mind can't observe about itself."

Whether it contains specific principles like wanting to screw your mother is individual and variable, but there may be common patterns.

It makes a lot more sense to say that the unconscious is the total of the internal physical activity of the brain that it simply has no means of observing. That is, until the brain (given a few millennia) comes up with a logical understanding, coupled with the technology necessary to observe its own hidden activity... ie. MRI and PT scans, along with the rest of our scientific foundation that has led to the development and use of those things.

Language is just one of the early steps in creating the technology (symbols, grammatical structure) necessary for observing the unobservable. Before language, that internal monologue we're discussing would have been unconscious as well.

Language has given way to increasingly accurate technology for the same purpose.
That technology gives way to even more accurate technology, until we can look at a simple statement like "I enjoy music" and break it apart into an extremely complex, but accurate assessment of what it means.
Like, for example, with my limited physiological knowledge:

"I enjoy music" with 21st century neurological science translates to:

When my auditory cortex is stimulated by certain amplitudes and frequencies of air pressure change along a certain rhythm, it may use music-recognition algorithms to decide whether or not to stimulate the limbic system to release dopamine to reinforce seeking more of it.

I don't know whether that's totally accurate but it's just to convey the point.
Both statements are true, but one is more illustrative of the physical reality involved and in effect reveals what is normally unconscious and ambiguous.

I recently developed some curiosity into how people think.

That is to say, how does the voice(s) in your head work?

So to try to be concise, I'm suggesting that the voice in your head is just another sense, like sight, sound, or smell. It's just the sensing of your own conceptualization process, transduced into a combined visual and auditory experience.

Most animals have language, Humans just have acute language, like dogs have acute smell.

 

[CoryJames]

I don't think it that we don't have the the ABILITY to observe the going ons of our unconscious brain, I just think most of us don't know how or just don't. Savants, on the other hand, seem to be able to.

 

[Eclipse]

I don't think it that we don't have the the ABILITY to observe the going ons of our unconscious brain, I just think most of us don't know how or just don't. Savants, on the other hand, seem to be able to.

There's also the concept of hypnotism, which is a means of communicating with the subconciousness. This is apparently how hypnotists can give commands, or "suggestions"; by giving the suggestion to a part of the mind that the conciousness doesn't have direct control over. This also explains how suggestions can't go against the person's nature; their subconciousness is still them, after all.

As for me, personally, I tend to think in concepts. I find that I start with one main line of thought that gradually splits into four or five others, which again split as new stimuli comes in...and so on. It's a severe problem when I'm tired or distracted, because I can't concentrate on any one thing without eventually becoming sidetracked.

 

[Omelas]

Well, first of all this is in no way a stupid question, I've been asking the same thing to people I meet for years. The diversity of ways of thinking is surprising.

As for myself, if alone, especially outside, I don't have a "voice" that speaks in words. Instead, more of a general consciousness focused on the visual and audial aspects of my environment. If there is a mind-voice, and I'm alone (again, especially outside), it's usually singing a bit of some tune from somewhere where I've forgotten the words.

If with other people, or if communicating (i.e.: writing, thinking about what I want to say or write, talking, etc.), then there are two main voices, one which is engaging in the communication, and one which is commenting on what the first voice says, or noticing other things, such as what books the person I’m talking to has on their bookshelf, and what that might mean about that person.

When deciding something, or thinking through something, there is usually a "visual-voice" which turns concepts into three-dimensional representations, or a series of pictures. Then there is an actual voice, often a smoother version of my own spoken voice, which is reasoning through things as though it were explaining the situation to someone else. A second mind voice reviews these ideas and asks questions of the first, which then leads the first to change its thinking or argue back. There is always some third voice (either spoken or visual) who is distracted, humming a song or thinking about the way trees look like neurons or something.

And sometimes, if I am very tired or off by myself outside for too long, all of these voices, audial, visual, or otherwise, shut up and then I'm usually just taking in sensory input and there are no thoughts. It is both peaceful, and when the thoughts return, disconcerting. It always feels like I was not fully conscious, though I was. And memories from these times are often very out of order and not very connected to time. I can only recall them in the future long-term if I think about them when the thoughts return. Otherwise, I forget about them until some situation reminds me, then I just get a strong sense of deja vu until the memories start trickling in.

 

[tziporah]

I usually think with 3-8 "trains of thought" going on simultaneously. Each "train" doesn't have a voice (that would be insane), but rather knowledge. The excess time that "speaking" takes to give you knowledge, even when you think it too fast to verbalize, doesn't happen. These trains are composed of either images of just knowledge. Of course, visuals are knowledge, for me.

When i write/talk/am with people, even then i rarely consider my words--that's the other side of my brain doing work for me, translating images to words without my direct overseeing, if that makes sense.

...Probably why communication is so awkward for me.

When i went to a public school, (instead of homeschooling), though, i did begin to think with my own voice. I found this constricting. My natural flow of thought doesn't lend itself to words happily, and my analytical skills paid for it even while my social skills thrived.

 

[Nocturne]

Whoa... I thought it was just me that manage conversations in my head. Without sounding too dumb, I have similiar experiences like the one(s) described by "EvilScientistTrainee"... Except sometimes I get rather caught up in my arguements. So... yup. :3

 

[dark]

I like this thread, finally I can tell others of the people living in my head.

We are all excited. Seriously.

Excited guy. He has a similar voice to my own mental voice, sometimes hard to distinguish between us, he acts spontaneous in words.

Ok think of Raziel in Soul Reaver. This is the emotional guy, or dramatic I should say. He is my Raziel voice, very dramatic about everything, I like when he comes around, he is very artistic and clever. But has been busy lately I think since he has paid little visits other than to give me charisma. He is my favorite.

British cynic. Is exactly what he sounds like.

The scholar. He usually doesn't speak in my head all that much, but takes over when I speak to others, I do a little mental shuffle and let him out. He knows everything some how, which is why I look smart sometimes. He is serious and doesn't like bullshit.

My own voice, it is my mental process that formulates the ideas from these other processes, I will admit though that these are all me, but I think they are parts of myself that I devised to handle situations better.

Ok so the list:
a) Excited voice.
b) Dramatic voice.
c) Cynic's voice.
d) Scholar's voice.
e) My own voice.

When in conversation with others I can almost always tell which voice is speaking. I am sure they are all characters I have wrote in stories, so naturally they became me. I figured it useless to add the moral voice since they all seem capable of that. They can argue, like right now the cynic is telling me we don't argue and the scholar is trying to use that as proof that we do... The excited one is just excited that it is all happening. The dramatic voice is laughing at the situation going on, and my own voice is formulating these words at this moment.

There seems to be another voice that I have recently been introduced to, but I don't want to hear him again, that was when I was depressed, he wasn't pleasant to have in my head. When he was around the others were gone, leaving my voice and his, and he refuted everything I thought of, making it all seem worthless.

 

[CoryJames]

I like this thread

Well obviously, I only make good threads, except for all the shitty ones.

I must say I am surprised by how almost all of you seem to have multiple voices.

As I think I stated above, I only have one voice, which is sorta comparable to my actual voice. The only variety I get is when my voice tries to imitate that of another person, for example when I do retries of conversations where I say wittier things than the actual conversation, but even then, it is still only my single voice pretending.

The only time I experience multiple personalities inside my own head is during dreams.

 

[Meer]

One voice, preparing for interpersonal relations, as Moocow said. It's really just going over things I already know and making the language good. It can be expressed as actual speech at any time, and sometimes I mumble random words to myself while walking and thinking. Often, the conversation is as if I'm being interviewed, which I feel silly about.

'Below' that, there seems to be another voice, pretty much exactly the same but quieter and less annoying.

Then there's the stream of ideas and knowledge that makes all the connections. I have tried to think with just this 'stream', but the conclusions it draws aren't very useful unless 'translated' from mentalese or whatever into English. Maybe.

I try to lure my subconscious out of it's hiding place. I had a girlfriend who would talk to me as she was falling asleep and eventually some 'part' of her would come out and have conversations with me. It described itself as 'the thinker' and her normal consciousness as 'the doer'; apparently it was the librarian of her mind. She was a litle crazy, though.

 

[Cognisant]

That is to say, how does the voice(s) in your head work?

It's a collapsed feeback loop.
The infant does not initially recognise that it is the one making a noise when it is, but with experience it learns to correlate the act of crying/gurgling/laughing/etc with the relevant stimuli of sound.

Eventually the infant doesn’t actually need to make the sound in order to recall the memory of the sound, thus the inner voice is born.

As the child learns to understand and speak its first language, it also gains the ability to conceptualise in an abstract manner, although because it lacks experience these concepts tend to be incongruent with reality, hence the bizarre and often hilarious things children say.

 

[CoryJames]

That is very interesting. However, I'd like to clarify that I am curious about each person's fully developed mind, and the nature of the voices therein.


Although if anybody has consciously witnessed a change or development over time, I'd be interested to hear about it, and your thoughts on the reason.

 

[Eclipse]

Although if anybody has consciously witnessed a change or development over time, I'd be interested to hear about it, and your thoughts on the reason.

Well, this is going to sound like a bunch of psychic crap, but hear me out.

When I was 14, I had surgery for appendicitis. My physical tolerance for pain medication and sedatives had always been rather high, but after the surgery it was...different. I developed a high physical tolerance for the drugs they used (morphine being one of them), which wasn't so out of the ordinary, but also a kind of mental tolerance to it.

If anybody's ever taken a heavy sedative, they know what it feels like; thoughts are sluggish and seem to break off at random to completely unrelated things. And that's what I felt like after the doctors gave me a sedative. But I found that, within ten minutes, I was thinking...around it, almost. It was like there was a fog in my head, and instead of thoughts trying to find their way through it, they were going under or around. I don't really know how to explain.

(Psychic crap, dead ahead)

On top of that...I'd always been pretty good at telling if somebody was lying, or feeling a certain way, or whatever, but I could only ever figure it out by logical means. After the surgery, though, it was different. I wasn't guessing anymore; I KNEW. I would be talking to somebody, they would say something, and a new thought would surface out of nowhere: he's lying. He's angry. He's hiding something.

It didn't feel like I thought it. It was just...there. And this new little "voice" hasn't been wrong yet.

I did a little research, and the closest thing I can find to this is something called Empathy, which is apparently the ability to sense and interpret the emotions of others. Ordinarily I would have dismissed it, but it's hard to be skeptical when stuff like this is happening to you.

I also seem to get Deja Vu more often. And sometimes when it happens, I have the memory of whatever event is happening all played out in my head, like it was there all along in my memories. Except the last part of whatever event I'm remembering doesn't happen until 5-10 seconds later.

So...yeah. I hope I never have to have surgery again.

(I warned you)

 

[dark]

Ok I was trying to be minimal in the descriptions but I am sure these are all different persona in my own head. I will then elaborate on what I think each does and what causes them to come about and when I created them, because it is only logical that I created them.

A) Excited voice. This occurs during happiness, it is my oldest voice besides my own. My own voice when at a young age was somewhat alone, and eventually I would talk to myself when forced into being introverted. It keep my spirits up. It is also the voice that notices things. It tells me when I missed something, as long as it didn't miss it either.

B) Dramatic voice. This started when I learned I could write fiction and I started to read. This voice began its life acting out things, it would flash pictures in my head at first, then eventually when I started reading it would take over for my normal voice and I would sit back and watch. But it only sticks around for the things that are interesting to it, fiction mostly. It is also the voice that helped me get into music, it understood it before my own voice could and the excited voice just keep going on about how cool it would be to learn to play something while the dramatic voice pushed forth learning it, telling the excited one to be calm that it would happen, I would say that this is the calmest of them also. I do have the ability to use these voices in conversation but it happens not at will. I have been told by countless females that my voice is very sexy and that they could listen to it for near forever, and I think that is because of the presence of this voice.

C) The British Cynic came about when I was 16, I had always had doubts, and always questioned everything, but when I experienced enough of the religious doctrine around where I live, this guy appeared. He made me into a misanthropic nihilist. He gave me many insights, I talked back to him, he would always answer truthfully to our knowledge. The dramatic one never talked to him much but the excited one keep the conversations going in my head for hours with the cynic.

D) I am not sure when the Scholar came along, but he did. He sounds near robotic, always pulling information out of thin air, doing stuff I could never have thought of. He grasps ideas in such a way I can explain them to anyone. I know he wasn't present in high school, I am sure of that, think it came about when I was studying physics the first time in college, I remember it when he first talked to me but I am sure it was there before. It was during a conversation with a fellow engineering student, I was explaining some idea I had about how light worked and it started talking to my inner voice and eventually started talking for me. I credit this voice for my ability to daydream in class and pass tests with near 100% without ever studying or reading the material.

E) My inner voice, this is what I claim to be myself. It has the greatest moral convictions of them all. It has always been part of me since my first memory. It has always been the one learning and questioning things. It looks at things and knows what is right and wrong and if I let myself do the wrong it becomes bothered. And the other voices will not stop trying to tell it how it does not matter that we did wrong because it has already been done, and they each have their own reasoning naturally.

Each of these are all me, but I know they are also separate. I can tell the difference between them, they have different ways of talking and formulating words. The dramatic voice is my favorite to let be me, it is the most clever of us and has the best way to formulate words. My excited self does get annoying since it will randomly tell me when I missed something, sometimes it will wait months before it gets around to it, such as, "Oh yeah remember this event that happened 6 months ago? Well what you didn't see and I was to occupied to mention it, but you should have done this because this right here was happening, it would have helped a lot, but I kept forgetting to tell you."

That is my best effort at this moment to explain the other voices in my head, I think that is all, except for the depressed guy that I don't like at all, he wasn't fun to have in my head, the other voices feared him, even the courageous dramatic one.

 

[Agent Intellect]

The only time I experience multiple personalities inside my own head is during dreams.

I don't think I would characterize the voices I utilize to organize my thoughts as multiple personalities. They're more like compartmentalized versions of myself that I used to organize information - I still identify the voices as being controlled/generated by my core self.

However, I do have a tendency to create characters, who in turn end up taking on a life of their own. It probably wouldn't take too much trauma for them to really become independent sentience "occupying" my mind. I made a thread related to such a topic a while back (and have since began writing a book based on the subject - we'll see how long that takes to write).

 

[indigofireflies]

One voice -- different tones. But sometimes this voice splits -- when I'm feeling particularly conflicted about something, one voice will take one tone and the other a different tone -- and then those may split too.

When I read, I hear it in my head in a tone of voice not dissimilar to mine, but more masculine.

Strange.