"I don't have a voice in my head." Mel May, a thirty-something New Yorker, realized one day that she was an exception after reading an article about our inner voice. "What do you mean? Some people hear a voice in their head?" wondered the young videographer, who spoke to AFP. She faced disbelief from those close to her before obtaining confirmation from several psychologists. She is indeed one of a handful of people for whom thought is not accompanied by an inner monologue.
The phenomenon is the subject of a small scientific literature, but it was only last year that researchers, in the journal Psychological Science, have proposed giving it a name: anendophasia. Surprising and counterintuitive, this condition also has the advantage of shedding light on a broader field of research: how we formulate our thoughts. However, this area is particularly difficult to study because it is very difficult to explain to an external observer how we think.
"People are not aware of the characteristics of their inner experience."
"People are not aware of the characteristics of their inner experience," "This is a very important issue," psychology professor Russell Hurlburt of the University of Nevada told AFP. Hurlburt has conducted several studies on our thought processes, including the case of Mrs. May.
In one of these studies, subjects read The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka. Abruptly and randomly interrupted, they had to describe what was going on in their heads. For some, the words were not read as they were in their heads, but were replaced by images – "their own video" of the story, in Mr. Hurlburt's words.
While Mrs. May's case is an exception in her complete lack of an inner voice, this research highlights that this monologue is, in general, much less present in our minds than the impression we get from it. Roughly speaking, Mr. Hurlburt estimates that our thoughts obey an inner monologue only 20 to 25% of the time, although he admits that more research would be needed to confirm this figure. And this estimate corresponds to large variations between individuals, as the inner voice is very present in some subjects.
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“Until recently, I thought everyone had an inner voice.”
Other processes at work include visual images, "non-symbolic" thinking, emotions, and more. These findings have already called into question certain assumptions. French researcher Hélène Loevenbruck, one of the specialists in interior monologue, admits to having changed her mind after reading them.
“Until recently, I thought everyone had an inner voice.”, she admits to AFP, her own research suggests that this type of mental monologue serves as an essential "internal simulation" for then translating her thoughts into words.
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What concrete consequences can the absence of an inner voice have? Or, another phenomenon highlighted by Mr. Hurlburt in certain subjects, the absence of images, described as "aphantasia"? We can only speculate on the subject. The interior monologue makes “vulnerable to negative thought patterns, ruminations”, says Daniel Gregory, a philosopher specializing in the subject at the University of Barcelona. But it can also serve “to encourage yourself, to send yourself positive messages.”
"I think there are pros and cons," says Mrs. May, who says she feels little apprehension about her future, but has difficulty mobilizing past memories. One thing is certain: "I'm not empty inside: I know and I feel things," she insists. But what is going on in her head at the moment she speaks? “I listen to you and I respond automatically,” she concludes. “Isn’t it the same for everyone?”
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