A conversation has three parts: the first is the exchange of information. The second is the sharing of feelings. The third is the sharing of wisdom.
If you’ve ever been to a party, you know what I’m talking about. A party is a place where people (or more often, people and their friends) are comfortable with discussing important topics in a comfortable setting. Often, the topic of conversation is one that’s important to the people who are attending. But, as we all know, sometimes that is not the case.
A few years ago, we were at a friend’s house. His wife was the only guest. I was at the party, but the only one who was conversing with the rest of the guests. That’s when I realized that my friend wasn’t conversing with anyone at all. I didn’t know what was going on, so I asked my friend to explain. He told me that he was having a conversation with the other guests, but he wasn’t speaking to anyone.
This is an example of conversational blindness. You are not conversing with the other guests, you are conversing with yourself. You are not talking to your wife, you are talking to your mind. You are talking to your subconscious. You are talking to your brain. In the same way that we are not talking to our spouse when we are in the shower, we are not talking to our thoughts when we are on Facebook or Twitter.
We are talking to our subconscious when we are talking to ourselves. We are talking to ourselves when we are driving and talking to ourselves while we are driving. We are talking to ourselves during a conversation about the weather or the latest movie or the latest news. We are talking to ourselves when we are shopping and talking to ourselves while we are shopping. We are talking to ourselves when we are working out and talking to ourselves while we are working out.
This is a common thing we all do. We talk to ourselves and tell ourselves what to do. When someone asks a question, we always seem to be “on the run” in the same way. We usually say things like, “I’m doing this for the hundredth time because it’s the only thing to do”.
We’re talking to ourselves when we are asking ourselves the same question or getting annoyed at something someone else said. We talk to ourselves when we are being overly critical of ourselves or overreacting in a way that we think is appropriate.
Talking to ourselves is one of those things that is very normal and common. It’s not exactly a good thing, but it’s not a bad thing either. It’s just a natural, natural thing to do. We all talk to ourselves, it’s just a little more natural than talking to someone else.
Talking to ourselves is like a little game of “who’s the real me?”, or “you’re just a little more annoying than I expected you to be”, or “you’re not just being a little rude, you’re being downright rude”.
People like to talk to themselves because it feels good. It’s natural and most of the time it’s just another way of showing off your personality.