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MrRogersRulz t1_izh8iws wrote

Reply to comment by joekak in The technological singularity is happening (oc/opinion) by FrogsEverywhere

Personally, I haven't explored the significance of the term "internal monologue" in this setting. I wonder if you could share just a bit more of your thoughts on the term as you used it here. I'm interested if you have the time for a response. Thanks.

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its-octopeople t1_izhddww wrote

Some people experience some or all of their thoughts as being spoken by a voice in their head. Some people don't. Generally, people of either group are surprised to learn of the other's existence.

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Drakolyik t1_izhqwdh wrote

I'm a person who always has a voice talking with myself. Reflecting on everything. Thinking about the past, the future.

On the right drugs I can silence that voice and just let stuff happen. It's a very surreal, liberating, but also somewhat frightening experience since it's not what I'm used to. But I can see the draw, I certainly get a lot more done and have a lot of fun that way.

It's like watching a movie. But it's your life playing out before you. And apparently a lot of people are kind of just running on instinct and their base programming. It's pure deterministic behavior.

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FrogsEverywhere OP t1_izhw6hn wrote

Yeah come to think of it mushrooms turn off my inner voice, I've never been able to put my finger on why it's so incredibly liberating but that's got to be part of it. That's wild. Now I'm going to think about that next time.

I wonder if neurosis and inner monologues are correlated.

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Drakolyik t1_izi1n38 wrote

Well I'm on the schizophrenic spectrum (officially bipolar with psychosis and both visual/auditory hallucinations) if that helps any. Super strong with the neuroses am I. I'm able to manage my symptoms now that I'm fully self-aware of it but oh man was it difficult before I got a handle on it.

I've also done a shitload of psychedelics. Oh the crazy things I've seen and oh the euphoria and sheer terror I've witnessed. Beautiful and grotesque. Awe-inspiring and humbling.

MDMA, Shrooms, LSD, and DMT all turn off my inner monologue. What comes out is my most inner self, and she's a real crazy whirlwind of weird and awesome. She doesn't know the laws of physics or human culture very well, so she gets into trouble. It's like unleashing a being that's only ever existed in a purely simulated internal world that has no constraints at all and is suddenly in a world with constraints. She often forgets she inhabits a human body and that not everyone is so pleasure driven.

Anyway..

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FrogsEverywhere OP t1_izi2sjz wrote

Mdma and k make my inner monologue become... Outer. But psychedelics really free me. I was always afraid to lose control so I avoided them for years and years, and then just finally letting go, throwing yourself into the chaos and the beauty. I wish everyone could experience it, the world would be better. I truly believe there is a secret world full of truths that you can explore, and maybe even map, but certainly learn a lot from. Looking at a normal piece of cloth and seeing a trillion sparkling fractals in every thread, it's like... The limited version of the world we are stuck in being peeled away and getting a glimpse of.. something.

I wouldn't say a new person comes out in these moments but I would say the best possible and healthy version of me does.

I had a good friend who had schizophrenia and drugs would really send him off the edge and he would end up in jail over and over for just being so careless. He ended up getting locked up for a long time and that was the last I saw him, I moved very far away to start over. We tried to help him keep sober but it was like a force of nature. I hope you can find a happy balance fellow traveler.

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Spiritual_Ad5414 t1_izi6y5z wrote

That's a very interesting view. I don't have an internal monologue and I have aphantasia. I'm very zen indeed, living in the moment and not overthinking things.

My fiancée on the other hand is pretty neurotic and has both internal monologue and can imagine things in her head. I have never wondered before whether these things are related.

Interestingly when I'm on psychedelics I do get some CEV, maybe not very vivid, but still, and while I wouldn't call it a full blown monologue, I do comment things in my head a lot when tripping.

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MrRogersRulz t1_izih5w8 wrote

First, thanks for the response.

That's freaking insane. I been alive a long time and I just assumed everyone had this audible soundtrack that narrated everything about their lives.

I'm going to have to find some stuff to read about it. But, I'll ask what I'm thinking. Is this variable given any significance whether a person is of one variety or the other?

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