Why Do We Talk To Ourselves?

Area of Science:

• Philosophy of Mind
• Cognitive Science
• Linguistics

Background:

• Humans engage in self-talk, both audibly and as inner speech.
• A dilemma exists regarding the purpose of self-talk: either it's non-communicative (serving other roles like commitment entrainment) or it's communicative (self-to-self communication).

Purpose of the Study:

• To resolve the dilemma surrounding the communicative function of human self-talk.
• To critically evaluate the view that self-talk's primary role is commitment entrainment.
• To propose that self-talk functions as a form of self-communication.

Main Methods:

• Philosophical analysis of the nature and purpose of self-talk.
• Critique of existing theories, specifically Bart Geurts's view on commitment entrainment.
• Argumentation based on the concept of partial self-blindness.

Main Results:

• Self-talk can serve a communicative purpose, functioning as communication with oneself.
• The view that commitment entrainment is the fundamental role of self-talk is challenged.
• Accepting a degree of self-blindness supports the communicative role of self-talk.

Conclusions:

• Self-talk is fundamentally a communicative act, enabling self-to-self interaction.
• The cognitive process of self-talk involves communicating with oneself, particularly when uncertainty exists about one's own thoughts or intentions.
• Understanding self-talk as communicative offers a more comprehensive explanation than solely focusing on commitment entrainment.