If you live mainly on your own, do you talk to yourself out loud?

Yes. How else can I speak to a person who thinks like I do with the same IQ?

No

I frequently talk to myself out loud!!! I like talking to someone who is intelligent. Plus, WHO is better qualified to understand me other than myself??? It was fun at my house back when I was going through menopause…me, myself, & I had some high frequency arguments. My neighbor claims that she had her phone in her hand ready to call 911 with a domestic abuse call when she realized that the ONLY voice she was hearing was mine. She hadn’t been through menopause at that point & now we laugh a lot about the fun of going through the change!!!

Gosh, you guys are all nuts. I talk to the dog, we have lovely conversations, he is a wise and philosophical fellow.

Really, though, sometimes hearing something out loud, even in my own voice, helps me to organize my thoughts in a coherent fashion.

I’ve NEVER claimed to be anything other than nuts!!! I think my talking to myself out loud began once I realized that I remembered things better IF I heard them out loud rather than thinking them to myself!!! My brother has always said that I could live in my home as long as I stayed sane. Talking to myself has helped me to remember important stuff. IF I go to the hospital, the first Q is what is today’s date & who is president. So, I get up in the morning & look at my calendar to memorize the date. Repeating it out loud, helps to lock the date in my brain even when twitterpated & I can only hope to forget who is president!!!

@canidmajor nailed it.

Talking out loud helps you organize your thoughts better than just thinking it. Merely writing it down takes too long and is more of a record or documentation of one’s thoughts and not really an ‘exchange’ where you can hear your thoughts out loud.

As for talking to a dog, dogs are sensitive listeners and may pick up on the gist of what you are saying or processing, even though they may not think in the same concepts—nor do they understand literally, they do understand the general idea or gestalt of what you are expressing. Only commands and praise and instructions do dogs think in literal terms.

Talking out loud to one’s self makes more sense than talking to someone else. Because who better understands what you are saying than you?

I say things aloud when I’m alone, but I’m not sure it’s the same thing. It’s usually to reinforce something I have to remember. My memory is getting shaky, and I have to remember a lot of stuff. So I will repeat directions or order of operations aloud to myself (“Turn on Bascom, not Alameda.”) (“First the ointment, then the dressing, then the wraps”) and things I have to remember (“I am now putting the list in the breast pocket of my jacket”). Saying them aloud is a kind of rehearsal and helps the memory stick.

If there’s somebody nearby, though, I don’t care and I say them anyway.

I also grumble sometimes, while driving (“Why shouldn’t you cut in front of me? Go right ahead. You’re the most important person here.”) or even at home (“Yes, of course I’ll go get another one. My time isn’t worth anything. My legs and feet don’t need a rest.”). I do this privately to vent a little so I don’t have to show annoyance. Sometimes this works.

I certainly do and not always alone. In fact, most of what I say in a normal voice goes. unheard by the only person I speak to these days. When my poor wife does insert her hearing aids, the first words out of her mouth are inevitably “why are you yelling instead of the requisite “speak up” It makes for an interesting life. For example, there are certain cues as to the necessary volume. For example, if she’s watching tv or playing one of the instruments, I know the aids are in. Sometimes I am impressed with how I’ve adapted without giving it much thought or effort. For example, I’ve now equipped various rooms in the house with bluetooth “repeaters” of the doorbells and there’s damned near a loud ringing cordless phone base in all but the bathrooms.

Oh, and I also frequently address some bitterly critical comments to the phone every time it rings, and especially in the morning. I don’t want to talk to anyone for at least an hour after I get up, not even to myself.

Alone? What’s that? Well to get on topic, years ago when I was single I’d do it now and then but only if I was mad or perplexed about something. Like when I couldn’t recall where I had hid my pot stash. Uh, I mean if I couldn’t find something. I’d cuss like a trooper. One time my then girlfriend came in (she had a habit of showing up unannounced and just walking in) and caught me at it. Asked, who were you yelling at? I replied, oh I hit my thumb with a hammer and it hurts like hell. LOL.

No. I live with my teen child but even when she’s not home, I don’t talk out loud to myself.

I will, however, talk to the cats and ask them if they’re hungry and ready for breakfy haha.

@jca2 I talk to my cats sometimes as well. Usually at 2 in the morning when they wake me up meowing like crazy. I tell them, get the hell outside and shut your ass up! Better yet, run away LOL

I say out loud when going to the washroom at home. To give anyone a chance to vacate. I live alone.

I’m never alone. Even if my family is out, my dog, who a Buddhist and a socialist, is the recipient of my thoughts. Her responses are quite profound, and has helped me put things into perspective. For example…

1
me, to dog: “I feel as though I’m slipping out of existence, and everyone I love is coming with me.”

my dog: [rolls on her back, exposing her tummy, demanding tummy rubs]

2
me, to dog: “I’m exhausted and worried about the future for the kids.”

my dog: [rolls on her back, exposing her tummy, demanding tummy rubs]

@janbb Are your musings said out loud?
I talk to the dog a lot. “Jessie, where did I put the scissors?
Why are you following me to the bathroom?”
I talk to the people on TV. “Oh hell no you can’t afford a 700,000 home! You’re a nurse with 5 kids!”
But mostly I talk to myself when I’m getting stuff together as I’m leaving the house. “Get purse, grocery list, bottle of water. Kiss Jessie.”

@Hamb Your dog is a very smart pup who understands deeply class struggle and the importance of balance and detachment in the world. I commend him or her on that!

@chyna I’m not sure how I would characterize what I choose to say out loud. Maybe I have to start listening to myself!

Hell, I live with two humans and two dogs and I still talk to myself out loud all the time.

@janbb This is the sort of question that you have to ask yourself.

@chyna I saw a show on the Animal Planet over the weekend that explained WHY Jessie follows you to the bathroom…

Wild dogs run in packs & when roaming around, they protect the pack by standing nearby to make sure their pack mate doesn’t get attacked while taking a bathroom break.

Since being domesticated, your dog going to the bathroom with you is supposed to mean that they’ve accepted you into their pack & is protecting you from attack while you take your bathroom break. Next time Jessie follows you, you might want to thank her for taking such good care of you!!!

^Ok, sure! Lol.

And here I thought it was just because she was a voyeur!

It’s very rare.

I do it to reinforce something sometimes. Like saying, “I unplugged my curling iron.” Things that can burn down the house and I’ve already checked once and it didn’t stick in my head. I only do this with things that can burn down the house and locking doors when it comes to checking something.

I do it when counting sometimes too.

I don’t have conversation with myself though.

@janbb: “Your dog is a very smart pup who understands deeply class struggle and the importance of balance and detachment in the world. I commend him or her on that!”

She is the wisest person I know. She recently taught me the classic Zen saying, “Before enlightenment play with sticks, walk in woods. After enlightenment play with sticks, walk in woods.”