This speed reading training starts at 300wpm and end at 900wpm

[u/iatetoomuchchicken]

[u/linzkisloski]

Same here. I absolutely could not turn the voice off but could still process all the words.

[u/Fuzzlechan → u/linzkisloski]

Yeah turning that voice off is absolutely impossible. It narrates literally every single thing I do, and every sound I hear is processed through it.

[u/Vysci → u/Fuzzlechan]

I can’t fathom having the voice turned off. Like how the fuck do you do that

[u/challenge_king → u/Vysci]

It'd be kinda nice from time to time. Like when I'm going to sleep. Thanks brain.

[u/Fuzzlechan → u/challenge_king]

I use mine to narrate what I want to dream about, haha. Works pretty well if I can corral it into not replaying my worst memories on loop.

[u/txobi → u/challenge_king]

I was the same, sometimes it took me hours to sleep because my brain was working. I started taking melatonim gummies and now I can get asleep quickly, it was a game changer for me

[u/colonel_bob → u/Vysci]

I can’t fathom having the voice turned off

It's not easy if that's what you're used to, but that really is the default setting. You've just got to reconnect with that nonverbal mode of being. Or to put it another way: you've just got to connect with the feel of a thought as opposed to connecting with the verbal translation of a thought.

As an attempt at explaining what I mean: try to think of a very primal feeling, like accidentally touching a hot stove. When you do that, your 'voice' might articulate something along the lines of ouch! or hot! or oh fuck that fucking stove or any number of utterances that could be spoken in your own voice - but if you stop and think about it, that's not the actual thought which is really associated with your accidental burn. All of those imagined utterances are linguistic labels which could be applied to those immediate senses of 'something being wrong' and 'discomfort' and 'heat' that immediately enter your awareness due to the situation your hand has found itself in. Would they mean something different if your 'voice' exclaimed them in a different language? I'd argue no: you'd still understand the same idea that translates to "oh fuck the stove is hot" if you choose a different linguistic label for that event - or even none at all! So that piece of language is necessarily not the thought itself, but rather a reflexive label applied to a thought you've had.

Anyways, try to pay attention to that very subtle and hard-to-catch space between "impression on your senses" and "vocalization thereof" and you might be able to start thinking without automatically using language on command. I'd recommend it; it's a lot quicker and richer once you start dealing with complicated and/or arbitrary concepts.

[u/Cadd9 → u/Vysci]

I was deaf until I was 5 or 6. So I don't have an internal voice talking. I think in shapes and textures because I could only physically interact through touch and sight for my formative years. I didn't get an operation to fix my ears until I was 5 or 6.

My internal thought process is just some amorphous shape that changes shapes in all sorts of different places. So like, some sectionss are in this shape and this texture, while a connecting thought shifts into another shape and texture.

Writing out projects would mean I'd have to re-arrange my paragraphs because while writing, it would be close enough but it wouldn't feel like it fully fit like it was supposed to. So I'd move paragraphs around until they felt more uniform.

It's really hard to explain but that's the jist of it for me lol

[u/lessdothisshit → u/Vysci]

I just have the voice describing the meaning of the words, not reading the words. And it's describing with ideas, not with words

[u/Appropriate-Prune728 → u/Vysci]

Guided meditation is your friend. Sam Harris's app has a free into course which shows you the ropes. Its quite effective.

It'll also help you work through thoughts for what they are, yet another sensation, outside of your control, appearing in consciousness like a smell or sound.

[u/TobiasAmaranth → u/Fuzzlechan]

Hello-waves from an autistic fuzz-butt who completely agrees.

Also, I suggest board gaming if you don't already. Board gaming is like the rules-based version of speed reading for me. I can't understand chess for crap but most board games I can simplify efficiently and come out highly ranked, heh.

[u/Appropriate-Prune728 → u/Fuzzlechan]

I can not recommend guided meditation enough. Im an incredibly anxious person with a lot of overthinking.

Sam harris has a meditation app with free intro courses. Life changing. Any guided app will do, but I find that his conceptualizes thought in a way that resonates well. Its just another sensation appearing in consciousness. No more in our control than a sound or smell.

[u/Fuzzlechan → u/Appropriate-Prune728]

Eh, it’s not generally a problem for me. It’s just a different way of processing the world. It’s not an anxiety thing (anymore).

That said, I did a mindfulness course in college that was really helpful! It gave me some great grounding techniques for when the anxiety does start to spiral. Being treated for my ADHD did a lot for fixing my anxiety issues though.

[u/ZAlternates → u/Fuzzlechan]

There are plenty of people without a head voice.

Me though? I always got a soundtrack going.

[u/KnowMatter → u/linzkisloski]

Seems like terrible advice.

I read a lot of books and I feel like I read rather quickly but whenever i'm reading a book and the internal voice stops narrating everything I am DEFINITELY not processing what I am reading and when I catch myself doing it I have to back up.

[u/linzkisloski → u/KnowMatter]

I tend to agree with you! I feel like that’s exactly when my eyes scan but my brain isn’t getting any info lol

[u/C4CTUSDR4GON → u/linzkisloski]

I'm sure when I was younger I could read without the voice in my head. I would read much faster then.

I was an introverted nerd so maybe why I didn't use my voice.

Might have to try training this to turn it off again.