Self-Talk

 

   I like browsing through self-help books in the bookstore or the library. People who buy these books realize that deep down it's chaos. They have reached rock bottom and the bottom won't hold. In their flailings, they grab a self-help book like it was a seat cushion on the Titanic.

   I picked up a book in the store the other day entitled Mumbling Through Paradise, subtitled Is it ok to talk to yourself? Flipping through the pages I saw it was typical of all books in the self-help genre. There's an introductory chapter on the history of TTY (Talking To Yourself). Plato talked to himself. But then, so did Caligula.  The history takes the reader up to the present day - W, yes, 47, no. 

   The book has 18 chapters of anecdotes about people who talked to themselves. The chapter titled Saint Anthony lays out the science proving people who say the name of the missing object aloud as they search, find their object 18% faster than those who remain silent. 

   The chapter Silicon covers people in the tech industry. According to a pair of small studies, employees who talk to themselves changed jobs 10% more frequently than lips-sealed coworkers.  There were tangential chapters that interested me and also helped fill the two hundred pages of the book. Mañana features the journal article that suggests that our internal monologue is really more like a parliament filled with dozens of voices clamoring for attention than it is like the single entity we imagine ourselves to be. If the member from Doitlater is the loudest voice then things won’t get done in a timely manner. Poor Due-Diligence will just give up.

   Another peripheral chapter features the philosopher who wondered how he came up with his deepest ponderings. Every ten minutes he wrote down what he was thinking at that moment. In the end he discovered his thinking was shallow and boring - time for lunch...who's that new guy....very high..electric bill...

   The final chapter brings together all the insights of the book and offers several more or less practicable recommendations for moving forward. This particular book says it's okay to talk to yourself. Just don't drool.

It's a beautiful day, lads. Let's blow this joint!