I find that I am constantly talking to myself and I don’t even mind doing it in public. I tend to hold a conversation when I’m walking down the street or even when I am shopping. It is more a matter of thinking out loud and it helps me to envision what I am truly thinking.
Unfortunately, talking to myself also makes me appear as if I’m insane. After all, crazy people talk to themselves, don’t they? They are talking to the voices inside of their head and they are going on and on to nobody.
Actually, the truth is quite different. When you talk to yourself, it is a sign of being a genius.
Psychologist Daniel Swigley and Gary Lupyan hypothesize that it may be quite beneficial to speak to yourself.
If you really stop to think about it, there is a lot of truth to that statement. The smartest people on the planet speak to themselves. Look at the greatest thinkers throughout history. Look at poets and even Albert Einstein. It is thought that he used to repeat sentences to himself softly.
It Makes Your Brain Work
Swigley and Lupya ran an experiment in which they gave 20 people the name of an object, such as an apple or a loaf of bread. They were told to go find it in the supermarket. When the test was first run, they had to be absolutely silent but in the second test, they repeated the name of the object out loud as they looked for it.
The results were rather surprising. When they repeated the name of the object, they were able to find it much easier than when they stayed silent. It seems as if saying things out loud sparks your memory. It takes what is inside your head and makes it tangible. Talking to yourself seems to only help when you know what you need and when you speak it out loud, it helps to familiarize you with its appearance.
According to Lupyan, Speaking to yourself isn’t always helpful – if you don’t really know what an object looks like, saying its name can have no effect or actually slow you down. If, on the other hand, you know that bananas are yellow and have a particular shape, by saying banana, you’re activating these visual properties in the brain to help you find them.
It Helps You Organize Your Thoughts
Many people have numerous wild thoughts running through their heads at any given time. When you vocalize those thoughts, it works by calming the nerves.
This has been backed up by psychologist Linda Sapadin. She feels that talking out loud to yourself helps you to validate important or difficult decisions. “It helps you clarify your thoughts, tend to what’s important and firm up any decisions you’re contemplating.”
It Helps You Achieve Your Goals
It can be difficult to make a list of goals and start working on it. In fact, many people find it to be overwhelming. When you talk about those goals out loud, however, it may help to reduce the stress and make it easier for you to achieve them.
“Saying [your goals] out loud focuses your attention, reinforces the message, controls your runaway emotions and screens out distractions.”
Like Albert Einstein, people who talk to themselves tend to be highly proficient and count on themselves to figure out what they need in life. It is a matter of being self-reliant.
Via: Bright Side
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