A look into your mind.

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Holmishire

Ghost with no home.
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  1. One post per week
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  1. Intermediate
  2. Advanced
Preferred Character Gender
  1. Primarily Prefer Female
Genres
Fantasy, Post-Apocalyptic, Superpower'd, and some Sci-Fi.
We can distinguish others by their appearance, their voices, and their mannerisms. But if we were to look into their minds, would we be able to recognize them by their thoughts?

For example, I have a friend who has told me she does not think with words, but rather predominantly with images. Others have said that they switch haphazardly between languages in their heads, without even noticing until they reflect on it later.

Holmi's mind, yo.
Personally, I can think in either French or English, but the two are distinct. I also tend to properly formulate words in my head, and focus on a single train of thought—essentially like speaking in my mind, with corrections, reformulations, interruptions, and thoughtful pauses included. However, what I find most interesting is that I can only think through sounds I can produce with my voice. Other than images, obviously.

If I try to imagine someone else's speech, it takes the form of me imitating them. If I imagine a sound effect, it is produced with the sound of my voice. Even when I try to think of music, I can't simultaneously sing the words and hum the instruments.


Maybe my friend was an exception and most everyone thinks like I do, but I'd like to know.

What is it like in your own minds?
 
Idk I think very quickly and I usually converse with myself a lot, and have various different voices talking at once. Basically its party in my head all the time.
 
I think with two separate voices running at once. I only think in English, but this stands to reason since that's the only language I know. If I was fluent in anything else my guess would be it'd find its way into my thought pattern.

My voices work on a level of primary and secondary--one of them is a bit more clear than the other and usually focuses on whatever I'm looking at, who I'm talking to, what I'm doing on, etc unless I drifted off, in which case it becomes a sort of narrator. I can form images on this level withotu disrupting my train of thought.
My secondary voice is usually thinking about physical sensations and is generally how I keep track of things like pain. Since my pain reaction is divided into that secondary part of my consciousness, I can compartmentalize it away very easily and ignore it by shutting off the secondary voice, if that makes any sense.

The images I can make in my head are usually detailed but very small--the rest of whatever I'm trying to imagine, outside of the focus, is very hazy.

I can think in any sound I can imagine--the voices in my head switch accents and tenors at will, but they default to something sort of resembling my own voice--but not quite. I can perfectly replicate any sound I've heard in the past 60 seconds ago or so without having to have a conscious recollection of what it was--sort of like an instant playback. It's most helpful with speech. I can drift off when someone is talking and then piece through what they said after they stop.

Interestingly, I can't keep the exact wording of my own thoughts in memory for very long without concentrating very hard--so if I'm writing a poem or something like that, I have to verbalize it to remember it.

My preferred voice has an RP accent (which I sadly lack myself).

Yes, I've thought about this question before.
 
Word, words, words, words words words , words WOOOOOORRDS.

That's all that's in my head is my inner voice saying words. Unless I am deliberately daydreaming images. O_O But just for most of the time, it's my head talking words. All the time. Non stop. Constantly talking words. @____@

It's why in real life I am so quiet. 8D My head won't shut up long enough for words to make it down to my mouth.
 
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It usually takes fractions of a second for me to think of words and then say them, but if its a word that I don't use often I picture the word in my head first. Its like entries in a thesaurus? Unfortunately sometimes I lose the page and thus lose the word and all its synonyms. That's when I have to ask for help from the person I'm talking to. My friends are very used to this sort of thing happening and can usually help.
 
I think cinematically (if that is even a word).

My mind is like a Quentin Tarantino film left on hyperdrive and endless repeats.
 
I feel like there's an AI in mah mind. I see connections super quickly, gather info on subjects fast, get rid of the unhelpful stuff and gather the helpful stuff, apply it to the situation to further evolve it, then a master plan is created :D

(I'm normally a go-to counselor of sorts weather it's relationships, my 27 year olds friends finances/plans (I'm 19 BTW, and he's not irresponsible. He'll make it just fine, but with my help, he's making it better than before ^^ I also have a 100% success rate. My friends want to make it 99% but I'm just too smart of a cookie ^^ The only times it "fails" Is when my friend/whoever doesn't give me the whole story and keeps out pretty important information they tried to keep secret. Well it's fine to have secrets, but if you want something fixed, you're gonna have to tell mah everything)

every one of those mind test, it always says "scientist" ^^ My mind doesn't mind objects either. It'll be like "I'm low on money and I have a shit ton of games that I can re-buy later in the future. So let's sell those for now"

The downside is sometimes my mind and body don't cooperate. Either I'll think faster than my mouth can follow, or my brain will get overloaded turning me into a stuttering mess Trying to remember a specific word XD (it's not as extreme as it sounds, it doesn't happen very often, but just barely enough to know it happens)

And when my mind thinks, my heart doesn't exactly have a say till the end. My mind will be like "gotta get this done, that person is slowing us Down, cut them out." then my hearts like "that's mean D: keep him in, there's a reason for it" (I swear my heart has an AI of its own. Metaphorically of course)

And then my heart AI and mind AI will fuse for emphanthy (and a super active imagination) I am stupidly good at getting into other people's mind sets for their how's and why's... There's a few mindsets I regret getting into... Some things are kinda messed up, things I would never even consider doing so I get out of those mindsets quickly (fun fact, when I RP, I get into the mindsets of my characters. When I RP say Aki, I'll kinda become him. One time I was typing as Aki, my friend asked a question and my response was very Aki like XD he was like "... That sounded very Aki like" and I was like "I know DX I'm in his mindset right now (thankfully I don't have split personality disorder)

But that's my inner thoughts. My outer thoughts are "I wonder how long it will take my friend to notice that I'm pressing letters on the second keyboard making spelling mistakes on his words"

He noticed quickly and took it away but then I started using my toe on the keyboard. It almost went for a while till I pressed "tab" by accident XD He was like "you know, I almost gave you the benefit of the doubt"
 
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I think in images.
Sometimes a still image, but it's usually a big picture, and most of the time have a movie like quality.
Even as I type this I'm imagining myself watching everything happen on a large screen :D
If I'm trying to explain something it never fails that I'll have to draw it.

In real life in every day conversation I lose/drop words. My mind can see the image of what I want to say, and I can feel the meaning, but the word itself is gone. That's part of why I like typing so much, it gives me time to find the word when I drop it.

When I write RP replies the whole scene usually plays out in my head before I start typing, and then again as i write, sometimes shifting when I change a word.

I only think in English because that's the only language I speak fluently. When I imagine music I imagine every part of it. I couldn't hum any of it for someone else to save my life, but it's all there inside my head. My thoughts and dreams are almost always in color, though sometimes the hue is shifted base on the mood of the "scene".
 
My head contains a mishmash of anxious thoughts. Hardly a minute goes by without a worry, then another, then another. It gets very crowded in my skull but when I'm able to, I organize the thoughts as a way of trying to keep them under control. Kinda like each thought is a little monster that I put into a little house and I revisit them whenever I can. When I neglect to visit them they come storming out to bicker at me until I do one of two things: crumble beneath the pressure or gather enough strength to roar back with my shy but powerful inner voice. Should the former happen, my whole system shuts down and a few things might break. During the reboot I'll piece fragments back together and eventually, have everything functioning the way it was before.

In between these visits, there are checklists I see to for chores, motherly duties, and what have you. I combine words and illustrations to get things done. But for the most part it's words, because it's therapeutic for me to spell things out as well as piece them into complete sentences. You would see a lot of post-its, to-do lists, and color coded planner pages tacked to the walls.

Should my brain not be sober, things get a lot different. And far more pleasant. All the monsters go to sleep in their houses and the whole environment is at peace, often times with lyrics and tunes playing in the background. For some reason I think all my thoughts in music when I'm drunk or stoned.
 
I actually have a hard time coming up with images sometimes and usually think with words, usually by conversing to myself. I swear I'm not crazy. It just comes out as a dialogue with no receiver. "Wow, that looks really cool. I might like that. Though would I even wear that shirt? The color is nice but does it look good on me? Hmmmm."

And sometimes I'll have quick fleeting thoughts, where in a second I think up an entire idea or concept or response, though I prefer to think things out slowly, word for word, to make sure I have it right before I say or do it. So I guess I'm a slow thinker.

I wasn't even aware that it was common to think in images. :o Answers one of those thought-provoking questions I've had lying around in my mind.
 
I think in English most of the time, but sometimes it turns to Cantonese. But whenever I work with numbers, like counting, it's always in Cantonese ; ;
 
Unless if I'm imagining a specific scene it's always in words for me.
And usually it's my own voice (as I hear it, not how others hear it) either talking to itself or talking to me as if I'm a separate person.

Once in a while my voice will be representing several different mindsets/personalities simultaneously.
But that's when I feel really conflicted and/or depressed on something, so I end up debating the situation to myself to try to get a clear understanding what is happening and what should be done.
 
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What's inside my head?

Why, the endless screaming of some long-forgotten eldritch abomination, of course.

For real though, I think mostly in images or a string of vague associations, and only in words when I'm writing or reflecting on arguments or conversations I've had or will have. And despite English being my second language, it's easier to think in than Swedish. It is, basically, my default setting to think and reason with myself in English.

As for my mental voice, it's entirely gender neutral. Doesn't sound like me at all, as heard by me or others.
 
Let's see, my head mostly filled with words, either from reading or talking to myself. The voice? I don't know, it might sound like mine, but I'm not really sure because sometimes it turned into a very sexy and hot voice which totally not me. The language? Mostly English, even though English is not my native language, I just feel much cooler when I speak English B)

However, for I love to daydreaming, my head is also filled with images and events which usually impossible to occur. Yes, my brain loves to make things up, imagining events in many different ways, what if A, what if B, and so on. 'Entertaining' myself by delusional images *curse you brain!*
 
Images and words, usually flashing by at a rapid pace. I can rarely focus on one thought for long, as that initial thought can branch off into different tangents that eventually spiral into stupid shit unless I have to focus on a concentrated task, like plotting my moves in a board game or finishing a test. It helps if I associate my thoughts with the physical world, so if I get wrapped up enough in my thoughts I'll sometimes tense my muscles up, stand up and walk around, or move my tongue along with whatever words I'm thinking. I pace, rock back and forth, and tap my feet a lot. I really like menial, physical tasks like exercising or weaving. I start out focusing on the task at hand, and the mechanics of it, but once I reach a solid rhythm my mind wanders and I get some really fun bursts of creativity.

I can formulate music very clearly in my head, sometimes having to adjust pitch if I can't remember a song exactly and I have to fiddle with it a bit before it sounds right. Every voice, except for voices I've heard before, is spoken in my voice. My mom sounds like my mom, Lucy Lawless sounds like Lucy Lawless, and a lot of my characters sound like me trying to pull off different voices. And failing. I almost always have a song stuck in my head, if not a string of notes or lyrical phrases that either make no sense or are close enough to a specific song that it's frustrating to not be able to hear it "right".
 
It depends almost entirely on what I am doing at the moment.

If I'm bored, I will often have discussions with myself on various topics. Politics, humanity (in general), religious/spiritual ideas, that sort of thing. I present as many different sides as I can think of, and attempt to debate them honestly. Sometimes I will see if there is any connectivity between random numbers I see, or I'll make up math problems and solve them using said numbers. Or I will simply meditate and focus on nothing at all.

When at work, I think of however many things need to be attended to. I keep a short memory of the current items that need to be seen to immediately, (I'm a soon to be manager at a Pizza Hut), I keep a long term list of things I need to do daily that usually don't change from day to day. I also have to keep a bit of my mind free to think about my co-workers and whether they need to be instructed, praised, or scolded. With whatever is left, I must remain civil and polite with our customers (and if I can manage it, sound like I don't hate my job).

When out doing whatever I keep my head on a swivel to ensure I have a good idea of my surroundings. To be aware of potential threats and dangers (this sounds like I'm in some dangerous area, but really it's stupid drivers or the occasional loose dog). When with my family, this is doubly so. I plan several routes to our destination and also make myself aware of what paths to take that would be easiest for all of us, or safest. The rest of my brain power is used up talking to Fluffy because I like to yammer at her endlessly.

When at home or other places I know are generally safe, I will engage in conversation with people I like (friends and family, usually). I will read almost all the time, and sometimes focus my attention on video games. I could say that I always reserve a bit of my thinking toward being affectionate toward Fluffy and my kid, but those require little effort or forethought. I simply love them (shut up).

Overall, though, I constantly am thinking, analyzing, reasoning, questioning. When I was young it was never a problem, but as I got older it became really bothersome. I got mild headaches and had trouble sleeping. I became irritable and hard to deal with. Around my mid-teen years I discovered marijuana and that fixed a lot of it. I often hear people say that they like being like that, and that's fine for them, but for me it was hard to shut off and difficult to cope with, not just for myself but for everyone else as well. Jokes were often picked apart, stories were less meaningful because I would over analyze the characters and their situations, people and their motives were questioned to the point where I would slip into some paranoia like a pair of PJs. I am much better at handling it now, meditation and pot have helped me ease my mind more. Though I am still typically suspicious of everyone and their motives. Can't trust you humans.
 
I find it difficult to explain my thought processes succinctly. I apologize if this comes across as a mess.

Disclaimer: I have a mental disorder. It affects how I think on a fundamental level, so describing this is as an exercise for me in disseminating it, as much as it is a fun thing to do.

"Everything is numbers" is the best analogy I can think of for this. Everything I see and can conceptualize has a value attached to it--some positive, some negative--and I attempt to discern what the appropriate response is based on that value. If I see a friend, and they say hello, they have a positive value attached, so I'll reply in a friendly manner. If I'm in a conversation and sardonic or sarcastic responses are the norm, I'll attempt to emulate that in my responses--it seems the most used (and thus acceptable by numeric value rather than social value) response type. If I am part of a work force or social gathering, I spot the most used body language and activities of others, and emulate it to the best of my ability. My objective is to find the most numerically sound value to wield, rather than the most socially acceptable one. Namely because I have a difficult time discerning appropriate responses otherwise. I can be blind to the emotional needs of others, or the ways others may interpret my body language or words to be in some way provocative or hostile. Therefore, in the place of a failed empathetic complex, I wield logic and reason in its place, and create a personality that can fit the needs of the situation. I emulate my environment, good or bad, save in the most extreme of circumstances which would violate a core part of my personal ethics.

I often label it the "masquerade", a term I stole from a game when I was younger: Who I am is largely based on whatever numeric values I see being most promoted as ideal by the community around me. I'm a very different person in certain circumstances. I can be loud or silent, egotistical or filled with humility, loving and caring or vitriolic and spiteful. Examine my posts here in GD to those of my RP's--in GD I'll happily, and sometimes even viciously, tear into the arguments of others. Whether GD wants to admit it or not, it's a very popular thing to do, and it often gets showered in upvotes if it's done well--even if it involves going after someone's personal character, rather than their arguments. I once called someone a pseudo-Nazi and the community loved me for it, in all their hypocritical righteousness. In my RP's, I take a stance of diplomacy, look for the compromises, and soft ball any criticisms I have--I constantly encourage my players, even the ones that struggle. When I have to remove a player, unless they've been harassing and attacking people OOCly, I'm very polite in letting them go. Look at my RP Guides--I never go on the offensive or rant about people in those, they're purely built to be as positive as they can be. Why? Because numerically, irrelevant of the morals, which by happenstance support this as the right thing to do, this is the best way to gain and keep productive players, or write guides that evade vitriolic criticism, even on sensitive topics.

If you were to take a trip in my mind, you would see a never-ending machination of images, sounds, concepts, and emotions, being interpreted by numbers whose ultimate meaning is arbitrated to set, core values, mixed with my interpretation of the most popular social stances. Save for those closest to me and my most important personal ethics, every thought of others involves, at some level, the constant refinement and changing of my masquerade to suit the needs of that particular social order.

Constantly I seek to be a "good person", but the trouble with it, is that goodness is rarely ever wanted. Good people are, in fact, most often accosted or mocked--especially the ones willing to share their personal thoughts on subjects, whose personal thoughts happen to be unpopular. Therefore the needs of the masquerade sometimes conflict with my inner, typically noble desires. This is especially true of topics where those that I observe take their emotions--their "feelings"--as being of equal or even superior merit to that of cold, hard facts. In fact, most often, presenting cold, hard facts, results in someone clinging more tightly to their emotions--rather than accepting personal faults. Black and white world views are prevalent, and contrast to the ordinarily grey and ever changing numeric values I keep underneath the more sociable masquerade. Put me in a room full of Christians, for instance, and all I will have is an endless assortment of questions, commentary on their book, or silence: I don't have the capacity to wield faith, it's an emotions-driven response I will never understand in any manner other than basic comprehension. I can understand the definition of an emotion, I can emulate an emotion, but often times I don't feel it underneath the calculated facial expressions and bodily language changes.

That being said, I have close friends who are Christians. My lack of understanding doesn't prevent relationships from forming, but it does prevent me from ever comprehending certain facets of their mind, certain responses they have to situations around them. (Also, I only used Christians as an example--don't worry Christians, you aren't the only faith-based group that I lack the ability to understand at any level. Take it as a compliment: There's something about you I fail to understand, because I literally, cannot physically comprehend it.)

All of this being said, you can compare my mind to that of someone on the outside viewing in: The methods by which humans do emotions sometimes eludes me. The positions that humans take based solely on emotions definitely eludes me. My every statement is calculated, my every word, measured. Sometimes I critically fail to interpret a situation properly and I will give an incorrect response as a result. Sometimes I fail to read what emotions others might interpret from what I've written properly and cause offense--then, my typical response is confusion, rather than something productive. Absolutely everything has a numeric value attached, and these numeric values are compared, contrasted, and decisions are made based almost solely on "which number is bigger" rather than some abstract social or emotional concept.

Oh, and I suppose I should mention it now to clear things up: I still feel emotions. Intense emotions, in fact. I just typically fail to feel anything at the emotions of others, which causes me to come across as cold and even malevolent. Therefore, I wield a masquerade--for the benefit of those around me. It makes them feel better to see me smile and laugh along with them, even if my default response would likely be an empty stare, or a grunt of acknowledgement.

So, I suppose someone looking into my inner mind would... To put it metaphorically, since I'm a storyteller after all... Find a small child. He would be confused, injured, and alone, trying to view a world of myriad, wild, unpredictable, and even terrifying colours. The colours often don't mean anything until that small child attaches a meaning to them--and that meaning is always arbitrary, based on how he sees other children reacting to those same colours. He's always changing faces, not to be deceitful, but so others will stop being scared of him, or might even like him. He's always striving to improve those masquerades--he paints them, he fills in chips or cracks--he does this for hours at a time. Because underneath that masquerade is a dead face, with a pair of colour blind eyes. This child is often confused when he sees others blaming the colours for their woes, when the colours are incorporeal. Yet when he tries to explain why he doesn't feel the same, he becomes beset at all sides by those he was trying his very best to understand, screeching and screaming about their colours, and how he somehow triggered the negative ones.

The child never meant to offend, it wasn't his fault that nature birthed him without the ability to see in colour. Nonetheless he keeps trying anyway, and attempts forevermore to refine a perfect masquerade, so the other children will stop yelling at him when he fails to understand what the formless, baseless colours mean.

This child thinks that becoming vitriolic over the death of a fucking lion and stalking out the perpetrator's family to harass them and try to ruin their lives by association are a pack of vagabonds and hypocrites. They are blinded by the light of their own colours, egos brimming with such self-righteousness as to destroy the very things they hope to preserve. That very same child realizes he sometimes fails and is filled with self-righteousness too. :ferret:
 
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