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Title: The Voices Within
Subtitle: The History and Science of How We Talk to Ourselves
Author: Charles Fernyhough
Narrator: Julian Elfer
Format: Unabridged
Length: 8 hrs and 6 mins
Language: English
Release date: 05-30-17
Publisher: Audible Studios
Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 3 votes
Genres: Science & Technology, Psychology & The Mind
Publisher's Summary:
A luminous exploration of the nature of thoughts, from daydreams to the voices in our heads.
At the moment you caught sight of this book, what were you thinking? Was your thought a stream of sensations? Or was it a voice in your head? Did you ask yourself, "I wonder what that's about?" Did you answer? And what does it mean if you did?
When someone says they hear voices in their head, they are often thought to be mentally ill. But, as Charles Fernyhough argues in The Voices Within, such voices are better understood as one of the chief hallmarks of human thought. Our inner voices can be self-assured, funny, profound, hesitant, or mean; they can appear in different accents and even in sign language. We all hear them - and we needn't fear them. Indeed, we cannot live without them. We need them, whether to make decisions or to bring a book's characters to life as we read. Studying them can enrich our understanding of ourselves, and our understanding of the world around us; it can help us understand the experiences of visionary saints, who might otherwise be dismissed as schizophrenics, to alleviate the suffering of those who do have mental health problems, and to understand why the person next to us on the subway just burst out laughing for no apparent reason.
Whether the voices in our heads are meandering lazily or clashing chaotically, they deserve to be heard. Bustling with insights from literature, film, art, and psychology, The Voices Within offers more than science; it powerfully entreats us all to take some time to hear ourselves think.
Members Reviews:
Interesting and generally easy to read
Interesting book and generally easy to read. I did feel at times that the author was speculative and made conclusions that may not have been fully supported by research.
Dry writing style, but detailed and thorough. If ...
Dry writing style, but detailed and thorough. If this is a topic that interests you, then this is a worthy book.
Five Stars
great book that puts into perspective how the mind naturally communicates
Ginger ale for your brain
I found this nonfiction book, The Voices Within by Charles Fernyhough, stimulating and refreshingâlike cold, fizzy ginger ale for your brain. The author explores some fascinating similarities/differences among public speech, private speech (talking to yourself), inner speech (the silent âtalkingâ that goes on in your head, including both âtelegraphicâ and âdialogicâ forms), silent reading, reading aloud, inner/outer dialogue, and that complicated amalgam of logic, language, imagery, memory, feelings, and sensory impressions that we call âthought.â
I have always been curious about these issues, and even more so since I recently started meditating and observing my own thoughts. As a child, I remember the exact moment when I first learned to read silently as opposed to aloud. I recall reading more and more softly until I unexpectedly made the leap into inner space, reading the words silently in my head. I noticed how much faster and easier it felt. And deliciously private. Very freeing.
Did you know that, according to many researchers, the first documented description of the practice of silent reading is from AD 385? St.