Internal monologue, also known as inner voice, internal speech, or verbal stream of consciousness is thinking in words. It also refers to the semi-constant internal monologue one has with oneself at a conscious or semi-conscious level.
Much of what people consciously report "thinking about" may be thought of as an internal monologue, a conversation with oneself. Some of this can be considered as speech rehearsal.
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In the Zen tradition, there is the phrase "Nen nen ju shin ki" which means something like "Thought following thought."[1] Sometimes this concept is translated with the help of the words "first nen" and "second nen"[2] where each "nen" is a reaction to the previous one. We can think of our thoughts, memories, visualizations, or sensations as good or bad, and as true or false. Particularly with the judgment of word-thought as true or false we continue this reactionary "nen" process. Another way to think of thoughts is as in context, sort of like a Jenga puzzle or concept map, where each thought is part of a system and is related to other thoughts.
In fiction, when one person reads the mind of another, it is often described as being able to hear this internal monologue as if it were said out loud.
When people read they actually move their muscles ever so slightly as if they were speaking, while they are internally monologuing; this is called subvocalizing.
There is uncertainty about what the source of these internal sentences are in some conditions. Attribution for a recently produced internal sentence may lead to concerns over schizophrenia, hallucinations, or hearing voices. Experiments have shown that "cerebral asymmetry is reduced in schizophrenia." That while performing "verb-generation" and "semantic decision" tasks the people with schizophrenia showed an "increased activation in the right hemisphere."[3] While in psychosis a typical schizophrenic may speak in word salads and may write profusely.[4]
Contemplation attempts to calm the internal voice by various means.