A TikTok user has left viewers bewildered after he revealed he does not have an “internal voice” in his head, even while reading.
Marcel Williams, who creates voice recordings for guided meditation and sensual sessions, explained to his fans how he reads without “hearing a voice” in his mind.
In a video posted on Wednesday (1 February), Williams said: “I made a video about how I have no internal voice, and a question I keep seeing is, ‘Well, how do you read?’
“Let me explain: I read silently, I read with no voice, I look at words and know what the words mean, and read.
“As a matter of fact, the fact that you guys hear a voice when you read disturbs me. Whose voice are you hearing?”
It comes after a video Williams posted about not hearing any internal monologues as he goes about his day-to-day business garnered nearly three million views on the platform.
In the video, he said: “So, you mean to tell me that some of you actually hear a voice in your head? You have a whole voice in your head. I have so many questions. What does the voice sound like? Whose voice is it? How do you get anything done?”
Some of his followers attempted to explain the voice, while others were astounded by the fact that people like Williams do not hear a voice at all.
“I- it’s quiet in some people’s heads??” one person wrote, while another said: “It’s crazy to think someone doesn’t have an inner monologue! Does that mean no negative self talk, cause no self talk?”
A third explained: “So I don’t have a narrator in my head, I just have a constant stream of thoughts, questions, pondering, worries, day dreaming, and planning every moment.”
Another said: “Some of us have conversations in our head. It’s constructive… mostly.”
In response to Williams’ latest video about reading, one person said: “I hear [my voice] or I make a voice for the character if I’m reading fiction.”
Another added: “I’m an avid reader. Somehow I put voices to characters, male, female, accents.”
In 2020, a viral tweet sparked a discussion around whether or not people have internal monologues.
A Twitter user who goes by the handle @KylePlantEmoji tweeted: “Fun fact: Some people have an internal narrative and some don’t.
“As in, some people’s thoughts are like sentences they ‘hear’ and some people just have abstract non-verbal thoughts, and have to consciously verbalise them. And most people aren’t aware of the other type of person.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments