Comments on: Silencing Internal Voices

By: Dan

Dan — Tue, 01 May 2012 15:09:35 +0000

Thank you Mr. Andreas that answers all my concerns!

By: Steve Andreas

Steve Andreas — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 17:27:28 +0000

Dan,

You raise two different issues.

1. Historically, many people equated “thinking” with internal dialogue, but much of our thinking is in visual images, sounds, feelings, or some combination of those. Internal dialogue is not necessary to “thinking” and/or behaving in the moment, which most animals do quite nicely (and sometimes more effectively than humans do).

But dialogue sure is helpful to organizing and planning, which animals are not as good at. Language is a bit like a filing system or a search engine on the internet, that allows us to find what you need to know, and to release us from what used to be called “time bound” or “stimulus bound” behavior.

2. “Uptime” has never been carefully defined (and has been described differently by different people).

I equate it with the “flow state” of peak performance, when we are responding in the moment to sensory experience with appropriate action; everything is going well, and there is very little internal dialogue, or perhaps none at all, at least at times. Another way to describe it is that we are responding unconsciously to sensory cues with appropriate (or perhaps exemplary) behavior because our “intuitions” are very well-trained. This corresponds to Daniel Kahneman’s “system 1″ also described as “thinking fast,” when it has been honed by repeated experience with feedback.

Steve Andreas

By: Dan

Dan — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 00:59:16 +0000

I wonder how babies learn and operate, being that they are unable to have inner dialogue. Or even how any animal in this planet, for that matter, is able to move around without telling its self to. I understand the point you’re trying to make but using a person who was, severely, mentally injured may not have been such a great example… One thing im seriously confused about after having read this blog is what the uptime state really is? To my understanding it is a state of complete outward focus, without any internal dialogue or any other internal process for that matter. Honestly, I had the impression that the uptime/flow/know-nothing states that was mentioned in “Frogs into Princes” was what Tolle was talking about…

By: chaya

chaya — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 16:56:58 +0000

One who thinks as an adult uses both sides of their brain — not just rational “think”, and not just intuitive “blank”. Thinking like a child is using just one or the other.

To be able to pray, connect to God, there must be enough stillness of the static/mental noise/chatter to hear the small quiet voice (not a literal voice as in Schizophrenia, an inner knowing). This is mastery, spiritual adulthood.

To be creative or inventive, the static is silenced enough to connect to Creativity. Music helps still some of this, meditation helps, prayer and study helps. Concentration required to draw an exact likeness stills some of the static. Concentration playing music, dancing, singing, painting, all do the same thing, allow the brain to concentrate and ignore some of the internal dialogue.

To not be able to do this one is more easily controlled, programmed, as they have no connection to anything else than what someone else tells or suggests to them.

By: chaya

chaya — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 14:53:28 +0000

Misleading. The lack of filtering Jill Bolton Taylor experienced was due to a stroke, not meditation. Most people cannot reduce that natural barrier with meditation without great effort. It is never for permanent, but quick excursions going and returning. Tolle’s calming the mind is not the same thing even as deep meditation.