Question!

[conuly]

Why do people define "speaking to oneself" as crazy? If you're speaking to yourself, you're just thinking. I mean, that's all thoughts are, right, a way of communicating with yourself? Especially if your thoughts are in words, that's speaking silently to yourself.

It's when you're speaking to people who aren't there that we should worry, but that's not what anybody says. They say "speaking to himself", like that's something strange.

Oh, and what about hearing/seeing things? What else is one expected to hear and see other than things??? Why not just say "hallucinating", which is the actual word, or, if you MUST use a convoluted expression, try "hearing/seeing things which aren't there". Unless, of course, they are there, and we're the crazy ones who don't know that....

Comments

[deceptica]

Well, I think speaking to oneself is considered crazy because you generally don't actually say your thoughts out loud when you're just thinking them for yourself. You should be able to just hear them in your head. So when people talk to themselves, other people think something must be wrong with them. At least that's my guess.

As for "hearing/seeing" things, the simple answer is that people are lazy (as was already implied in the reply above this one) and will try to shorten and simplify things as much as possible. Sure, when you just look at the words like that it doesn't seem to make sense, but used in context people know what's meant 99% of the time, so there's no need to be more explicit.

"things"

[staircase-wit.livejournal.com]

I think it's in Tony Attwood's book, but it might be some other book on autism.

The example is "do you hear or see things?" The answer, of course, is "yes." For clarity, the shrink asks, "do you hear or see things that other people cannot?" The individual, being able to hear people talking from the other side of wall, and being able to see the flicker of almost all monitors, says "yes" again.

The imprecise nature of neurotypical communication, with all it's implication and entendre, isn't always easy for straightforward thinkers.

[conuly]

I talk to myself all the time. That has nothing to do with insanity, just ease. It's simpler to speak to myself aloud than silently.