“We speak not only to tell other people what we think, but to tell ourselves what we think. Speech is a part of thought.” Oliver Sacks, Seeing Voices, 1989

Which is why I talk to myself. And, yes, out loud. Because an inside sentence is not as finished as an outside sentence.

The question is, do you think in pictures or words.

For a while, I was trying to think without rephrasing everything--just have that germ of an idea and use it--but apparently, I have to phrase it to change it from assembly language (which the translating subroutine in my head takes care of) to words, which I understand.