One of the most important and least recognized features of the human mind is selftalk. In adults, selftalk is described as "thinking" or “reflection.” Aristotle declared that thinking was “inner speech” and he defined the rules of logic, the proper methods of constructing relationships among statements. Selftalk is a continuous narrative feature of the mind. Through selftalk, language becomes a dominant feature of cognition.

Narrative dominance enables some of the best cognitive abilities that humans display, but narrative dominance can also be disabling.  The recognition that selftalk is thought resolves tedious debates about the relationship of language to cognition. It is no longer necessary to argue that the structure and content of languages influence cognition. It is necessary to understand that most human action is independent of language.

Most skills can be learned mimetically and deployed without the intervention of language. It is also necessary to appreciate that language has become mathematics, computer programming and other symbolic representations of events out there that allow humans to control their actions in the world. A linguist who is primarily concerned with English grammar, for example, will have a limited understanding of constantly evolving and new forms of language.

Selftalk (thought) begins in children learning language, connecting words to their experiences and actions. Language skills develop slowly in a predetermined sequence that requires daily practice.  The meaning of words and sentences develops as sounds are linked to experiences in real time. Children will talk to themselves as they play and learn.

Their monologues begin with repeating words and statements they copy and extends to problem-solving and creative narratives that expand the range of linguistic ability.

Selftalk is desirable to review, to learn from experience, to rehearse and to cope with threats. Selftalk, as rehearsal, prepares speeches that will be use in future encounters.  Fantasy is selftalk in the form of internal story telling with good outcomes. Fantasy is rehearsal, reassurance, integral parts of regenerating interest in projecting oneself into the world.

Threats generate the most compulsive self-talk in the form of conversations that repeat as endless loop tapes. Threat responses can be either combative or conciliatory. Often a threatened self-talker will try different strategies of replying to a threat, and will be preoccupied. Worry describes compulsive self-talk.

Other terms such as reflection, contemplation and silent prayer refer to self-talk Some commentators have confused consciousness with language. This is an understandable mistake when you realize that selftalk is a prevalent noumenal experience. Professional story-tellers such as book writers and university professors spend their idle time talking to themselves and refer to selftalk as “thinking and reasoning.” The dominance of the personal narrative is a new feature of mind activity that separates humans from other animals.

This narrative function lies in the left hemisphere in most people and is generated from the specialized language processing centers in the temporal and frontal lobes. The narrative appears whenever a human is conscious. The narrator emerges with dream recollections as a sleeper becomes conscious. Dream activity involves the whole brain, but the left temporal lobe reports the event, using the style of fictional narrative. 

The whole notion of an inner monologue that is continuously active in the minds of all humans is precarious since there is no direct evidence and no objective criteria for this activity. Only the person who is experiencing selftalk as an inner monologue knows that this is occurring and many observers have little insight into their own process and may not recognize or report selftalk. This is a problem of studying your own consciousness, observing from a meta-monitor position that is somehow aloof, detached from the flow events passing through consciousness including selftalk. The high goal of meditation practice is to reside in the metamonitor, undisturbed by emotion or feelings; to be calm, clear, stable and present.  You are instructed by ancient texts to observe the inner monologue but to remain detached from it. I experience my thoughts. I am not my thoughts.

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Intelligence and Learning

Language and Thought

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