The Inner Workings of Thoughts
Taking a look at what we can learn about thinking from our survey
In my previous post, I explored some of the surprising ways that our minds work. Namely that the nature of how we think directly affects almost every aspect of our lives. And we explored how some people can’t “see” anything in their mind’s eye (called Aphantasia), while others can’t “hear” anything in their mind’s ear - not even their own thoughts (also known as lack of inner speech).
In that prior post, I also asked readers to take a thinking awareness survey. Since that post, I was surprised to find that hundreds of people chose to complete the survey. In this post, I want to take an initial look at the results, answer some common questions, and then share additional resources.
Summary of the Survey
On how people perceive the forms of their thoughts:
92% of respondents (almost everyone) reported having inner thoughts in the forms of feelings and “inner speaking”. These two forms were the most pervasive.
85% of respondents reported the ability to see with their mind’s eye, while the remaining 15% couldn’t.
75% of respondents reported experiencing an “inner knowing” in which you have “symbolic” thoughts that do not take a particular visual or auditory form.
Less than half of respondents (~45%) reported being able to vividly experience smell or taste in their minds.
On how people experience thoughts when staring at themselves in the mirror:
42% reported hearing a version of their own voice in their heads
31% reported experiencing a stream of “voiceless” thoughts
11% reported not hearing or seeing anything
On the inner ear for those that experience one in their thoughts:
64% can hear their own voice
61% can hear the voice of other characters when they read
56% report only hearing a neutral voice
If respondents try to conjure up a red star in your mind’s eye:
58% see a vivid and extremely clear red star
18% see a dim and fuzzy red star
14% see no star at all, no hint of any star shape
In terms of the complexity and vividness of the mental imagery:
64% report that they can play out entire scenes in their mind “like a movie”
42% say they can conjure up an image and hold it clearly for over 10 seconds
27% can see only simple images and very fuzzy
14% report seeing nothing at all
In regards to the inner ear and conjuring sounds:
57% report hearing sounds vividly and clearly in their minds
24% report hearing something but it’s fuzzy and not like “real sounds”
19% report either hearing no sound at all
When reading, here’s what respondents are experiencing:
52% hear the voices of the many different characters while they read
32% report hearing primarily their own voice in their head when they read
8% are not hearing anything at all while they read
When it comes to daydreaming:
45% report daydreaming often and the visuals are extremely vivid
23% report daydreaming infrequently and not particularly vividly
20% report not really ever daydreaming at all
When writing or authoring something:
49% report hearing the words in their mind, then copying them down
15% don’t hear or see anything in their mind at all when writing
While in the shower, here’s what respondents experience:
64% experience awkward or cringe moments (either visually or related feelings)
62% replay or imagine conversations and hear the audio in their mind
54% daydream with visual scenes almost like a movie
23% report seeing and hearing nothing while they shower
Takeaways and Highlights
The survey results speak for themselves, here are a few notable takeaways from the surveys:
15% of respondents can’t visualize images or see in their mind’s eye experiencing some variation of Aphantasia. 8% reported not being able to hear anything in their mind’s ear and reported a total lack of inner speech.
Respondents had a range of auditory experiences: Some could hear only their own voice or only a neutral voice. Others could conjure a wide array of voices and characters.
The majority of respondents (58%) can see vivid and clear images in their minds. However, this was clearly a spectrum with 18% seeing fuzzy images, and 14% reporting seeing absolutely nothing. Only 42% report being able to hold images in their minds over 10 seconds.
When it comes to mental imagery, the experiences vary wildly for those that can see in their minds. 27% experience a fuzzier mind’s eye seeing only simple shapes or only fleetingly. 64% report being able to conjure full movie scenes in incredible detail with backdrops and multiple characters.
The two most common occurrences while showering are replaying or imagining conversations (62%) and being embarrassed by awkward or cringe moments from your past (64%). However, of those reliving embarrassing moments, 37% were physically seeing the scene in their mind while the others remembered how it felt.
My Own Experience of Thinking
A few people have asked about my own reflections on the thoughts and forms of how I think. I’ll share some more on that here since I believe I am definitely in an atypical minority:
I have Aphantasia - I have never seen any mental imagery. I have a completely blank mind’s eye. If I close my eyes, I just see black. If I am told to “imagine a beach” or “think of an apple”, I don’t remotely see anything.
Counterintuitively, I dream quite vividly and can definitely see mental imagery when I am asleep. As soon as I am conscious, the mental canvas goes blank.
My mind’s inner speech is extremely limited in range. I cannot hear my own voice or the voice of any characters when I read. However, I can loosely “hear” a neutral narrator in my head. I can hear that neutral narrator say things, narrate things, or even “sing” songs. So I can have songs “stuck in my head”, but they do not sound anything like the real songs.
If I read a book, I hear the neutral narrator reading it to me, though I can also choose to turn that off and read completely silently. I never see any mental imagery of anything that I am reading.
I am completely unable to experience “inner smell” or “inner taste”. If I try to conjure a small or a taste, I experience at best “knowings” or feelings related to those things.
I believe there are countless ways that this particular profile of thinking has shaped my life. To be explored in future posts.
Diving a bit deeper
Check out this dedicated subreddit about aphantasia to go deeper down the rabbit hole, take more surveys, read articles, and more.
Watch this fun animated video on aphantasia to learn more about what it’s like to have no mind’s eye, and to test to see if you might have this.
Where do we go from here?
The many ways that our experience of consciousness varies from person to person continues to be a very interesting topic of exploration for many of us. One thing is clear: We do not all think in the same forms and shapes, the way that our minds work is much more varied than we might have initially expected.
As a result of these variations, our experiences of life and consciousness are each substantially different and unique. These differences dramatically affect our identity, our interests, our hobbies, our careers, our fears, and our relationships.
I plan on posting relatively infrequently and intermittently. I have gotten great feedback on future surveys to conduct and plan to continue sharing here as I learn.
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