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I have to say, as a neuroscientist and professor of psychology, I was thrilled by the viral sensation in February about internal monologues. Dr. Catherine Franssen here, and it was a dream come true to have Twitter all abuzz about meta-cognition with people debating and looking for evidence to support a hypothesis. It was a classic teachable moment.

But, something big took everyone’s attention away from this topic before I got to share my excitement – and some research – with Museum followers (as she yells, “nerds are cool!” and snort laughs while pushing up her glasses)!

The novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 is still dominating headlines (rightfully so) but I couldn’t let 2020 slip by without revisiting this fascinating area of science. So, in case you missed it, here’s what happened.

Earlier this year, Twitter user KylePlantEmoji posted that some people have an internal monologue and some don’t. We’re talking about a full-sentence voice-in-your-head conversationalist vs. silence. This blew a whole bunch of minds.

Countless blogs and articles popped up in response. Tweet storms ensued with individuals sharing their own experiences. With the flood of personal stories came revelations that people we know and love – friends, spouses, colleagues – form thoughts in a completely different way than we do.

I’ll go ahead and pause here to let you think about the existence or lack thereof of your own internal narrative. (heads up: if the voice in your head asked you why you’re reading this and not working, there’s a really good chance you have an inner monologue!)

What’s up with this?

Psychologists have discussed the inner monologue phenomenon since the 1930s. Research hasn’t been about the internal voice being good or bad, but instead more about how its presence might be connected to information processing and visual cues. Turns out the part of the brain that we use when we talk out loud is the same part we use for the inner voice. I love that the brain can actually pretend to be talking!

It may seem pretty wild that we think differently from other people – the way I form thoughts about something might be totally different from the way you form thoughts about something.

But, for a neuroscientist, this isn’t all that bizarre. We’ve known for a while that individual brains are wired differently, and that each thought and action might recruit different circuits in different brains. This is why a neurologist has to map each brain on which they operate.

But it’s really hard to think about thinking … even when it’s your job. And coming up with a concrete, easily accessible example is hard. How do you explain that one brain does the same job in many different ways, even though it pretty much looks the same?

This inner monologue debate does that for us.

I was telling my husband about this inner monologue debate and he instantly referenced a disagreement he was having with a colleague. “It’s like that,” he said. “He’s just approaching the problem from a whole different angle. It’s like he’s solving a different problem. I’m less upset because he’s thinking a different way than I am.” My mind was totally blown. By thinking about how our brains work differently, my husband (who is a delight, but not the most empathetic man), became more compassionate.

We can observe each other and note that we’re reading faster, solving a math sheet slower or folding clothes differently than someone else. We see the behavioral evidence of different processing, but we don’t really internalize the fact that each person might be thinking differently. We tend to just assume that we are doing the same thing internally but are just faster or slower (perhaps sometimes better or worse!) than the other person.

But when we realize that some people are processing with or without an inner monologue – and that is different from us yet they can navigate the same world, hold the same jobs, do the same little league coaching, etc. – we suddenly realize that there are different ways that aren’t necessarily better or worse.

With this realization, we might begin to extend grace and forgiveness to others. We might be able to recognize that thinking differently isn’t bad. We may just use the opportunity to work harder to communicate effectively with each other.

And, while you might think you’ve had all the togetherness you can stand in 2020, knowing that we all think differently has positive outcomes by bringing us together. Enhanced compassion on a global level could be a recipe for world peace, a recipe that includes tons of science. And that’s this neuroscientist’s dream come true!