Its important to remember that even when we have similar hardware we can be running vastly different software.

I have memories from way earlier than I’m “supposed to” have, corroborated by family members. For example, I know I was 2 or 3 when my younger sibling learned to talk, and I remember thinking it was so cute how he couldn’t pronounce his own name. I distinctly remember being in the kitchen, repeatedly asking him his name, then giggling when he answered.

Anyway, I remember when people talked, I had a mental visual system that went along with it. Words elicited pictures in my head, perhaps a bit of early childhood synesthesia. When I thought, I had audio words and visual pictures accompanying everything. Then I learned to write, and slowly the pictures were replaced by seeing the words written. Then over years even that faded, and by puberty my thoughts had become all audio.

With the way it has changed over time for me, I suspect such mental processes may tie in with how some of us learn to organize our thoughts as we develop. Mental words help create a scaffolding that builds understanding and creates order. But then there are those without these internal structures, who still manage to develop language the same as anyone else, and I find that fascinating. I wish I knew what it was like to experience their point of view.

In particular, I’d like to know how they feel about writing. For me, writing is as simple as putting down the words that my thoughts make in my head. Throughout my life, I’ve gotten a lot of compliments on my writing, but why? It seems that not everybody has the same thoughts-to-written-word pipeline. Do others have equally coherent thoughts, but lose track when they begin writing? Or are their thoughts more abstract than words, and difficult to “translate” so to speak? Did my early mental processes create a stronger association between words in my head that now makes writing much easier? If someone doesn’t have an internal dialogue, what’s the process of writing like for them?

I really want to know. Neurodivergence (in any sense) is fascinating, yet those without internal dialogues and/or aphantasia don’t seem to get studied or talked about as much. Anyone here with a different experience willing to share what it’s like?

Mine’s so loud that people have to shout over it to get my attention.

When they read or write, they aren’t voicing it their head? How? Or I really don’t understand the subject

(now I remember the trick to read faster by just scanning the sentences)

Mine mostly consists of my parents scolding me, and me trying to comfort my inner child, i could do without it

I have both. It switches depending on context and activities. For me it’s just two very different brain modes that serve different purposes. In social situations (+for a time afterwards) I usually have it for example. But if I am doing more creative stuff it’s nearly never there.

ding ding dinge

No… T as in T pose juice.

No, it’s Earl Grey

Maybe it’s ‘tea’. Their internal monologue has a British accent.

No, ‘T’ as in ‘Tic-Tacs’.

It must be.

“T” is testosterone, the male sex hormone. It’s commonly taken by transgender people transitioning to male. Testosterone causes many of the bodily changes associated with male puberty, such as the growth of body hair and muscles. Unrelated to its medical use, it’s also taken by biological males as a performance-enhancing steroid and is on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s list of banned substances.

Anon is saying that after they started taking testosterone, they developed an “internal monologue”. Most people already have this; it’s the sound of your thoughts, such as when you lick an ice cream and think to yourself “wow, this tastes pretty good”. Some people do not have internal monologue. I do not know the medical reason for this.

Anon is expressing confusion as to why taking testosterone caused them to develop an internal monologue when they previously didn’t have one.

Edit: It is important to add context that while testosterone is a banned steroid, the World Anti-Doping agency recognises a therapeutic use exception for it, including for transgender individuals.