Humans are strange creatures. Sometimes we imagine hearing something outside ourselves that no one else can hear. This makes us seem crazy. Sometimes the voice that others cannot hear comes from within us, which can also make us seem crazy. Or the inner voice can make us seem normal. It all depends.
Imagined Sounds from Outside
About one in ten people hear voices or sounds that others can’t, like a person talking or a police siren blaring. These are called auditory hallucinations. The voices may talk about the listener or to the listener, making positive or negative statements.
The only certainty we have is that everything is impermanent and constantly changing. A Zen proverb captures this situation: “Life is change, change is stability.”
Sometimes the sounds may not be speech. People’s auditory hallucinations may involve music, animal noises, or background sounds, such as an ambulance, thunder, cars passing by, or some other noise.
Auditory hallucinations might indicate a psychiatric problem, but this is not always the case. They could result from hearing loss, a neurological condition, or other factors.
The Inner Voice
Throughout history, the general assumption has been that everyone has an inner voice: an internal monologue that accompanies our thoughts and helps us process language. Unless this inner voice is telling us to commit crimes, hurt ourselves or others, or otherwise get into trouble, we aren’t considered crazy. Hearing an inner voice no one else can listen to is generally thought to be normal.
That’s why researchers were surprised to find that 5 to 10 percent of the population lack an inner voice.
Expecting to find that everyone had an inner voice, researchers at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark and the University of Wisconsin-Madison identified a condition where the inner voice was absent, labeling it anendophasia. This is similar to anauralia, a condition identified a few years earlier in which a person lacks both an inner voice and the ability to imagine sounds, like a violin playing or horn honking.
Adapting to the Absence of an Inner Voice
Are these conditions crippling? The short answer is no because the human brain is amazingly adaptable.
The subjects who reported the absence of an inner voice had developed various techniques for remembering verbal information that they could not repeat in their heads. But unsurprisingly, they tested lower on tasks where they were asked to remember words in a specific order compared to those who could use their inner voice.
However, outside the laboratory in their everyday lives, they had found ways to adapt to the absence of their inner friend.
No Inner Voice? How Could That Be?
The revelation that some people lack an internal voice shocked me as if I had suddenly learned the world was flat. I can’t imagine not talking to the person inside me who reminds me not to throw trash on the ground, to buy milk and bread at the grocery store, and to pick up the mail as I pass by my community’s entrance.
Most people’s inner voice talks a lot! The estimated number of thoughts a person hears from the inner voice daily is more than 6,000. Mine talks nonstop whenever I’m awake, so my count could be higher.
My Inner Voice Is My Writing Partner
As a writer, I would be hopeless without an inner voice since much of my writing seems dictated by it. Almost all of my first novel, Blackbird, was spoken to me by my inner voice. I typed quickly, and it was all I could do to keep up with the dictation. The words flowed effortlessly.
I was merely transcribing thoughts from my inner voice. As such, I was simply a conduit for telling a story. My goal was not to write a novel but, as the typist, not to intrude on the story.
Until I read similar reports from other writers, I didn’t dare tell anyone about my experience.
Grateful for an Inner Voice
Besides being essential in dictating stories, my inner voice is also my best friend, confidant, and morality keeper. For sure, the voice would scold me if I littered. And it is merciless if I am tempted to tell a lie.
After learning about the research, I’ve concluded that my inner voice is essential to my well-being. While I appreciate the adaptability of those 10 percenters who have to go without one, I am grateful that such a hardship was never mine to bear.
Do you have an inner voice? If you do, I hope the voice is law-abiding, creative, helpful, and positive.
All images from Canva