Thread: Do you think in 3rd person?

Originally Posted by Kromoh

Lul "I couldn't possibly even see my face"? I don't imagine my face at all .

Ok... You think, "Kromoh is looking outside of the window". Do you imagine your face? If not, then how do you see yourself, from the back or what angle? I can't believe that you're able to imagine yourself in 1st person

However, when I'm not doing that, it's always 1st person. It's not like I see things moving in my vision - more like I imagine myself placed in there. The scenario is around me, not in front of me. I can even move my eyes or head and the things I see will move accordingly.

But that already means that you see yourself in 3rd person, or not?

I don't think it's the same at all, actually. Just like people speak different languages, they think in different "languages", too.

Maybe. That's what we're trying to find out

Originally Posted by Arutad

Ok... You think, "Kromoh is looking outside of the window". Do you imagine your face? If not, then how do you see yourself, from the back or what angle? I can't believe that you're able to imagine yourself in 1st person

I don't think "Kromoh is looking outside of the window". I don't use my name nor even the word 'I'. It'd be more like "looking outside of the window". I see the window as I would with my eyes and I see what's through it and I have the feeling I'm looking through the window. I don't imagine me seeing the window, I imagine the window.

No, I don't imagine my face at all, otherwise it wouldn't be called 1st person. I don't see myself at all (apart from hands etc), I just feel my own body taking space there.

But that already means that you see yourself in 3rd person, or not?

Not really; problem is, it's hard to explain it with words. Take it like this: when I'm imagining something, what I'm currently seeing disappears, and I start seeing what I would if I were in the given location. I may not see things that are behind me, but I kind of "sense" them there, just like I sense any part of my body. There isn't a puppet playing the role of me, I'm the one doing it.

If it helps you understand it, take it like this: I don't look at my body from outside, I look at my body from the inside. I don't see it, but I feel it, and it's more than enough for whatever I might need to do.

That's so so weird. I can't evem make myself believe you, no matter how hard I try

I'm not exactly sure what's not to believe about his post. Sounded pretty self-explanatory to me.

Sure, I just can't believe that he's not making it up because he wants to be special

Originally Posted by Arutad

That's so so weird. I can't evem make myself believe you, no matter how hard I try

Let's take the following though as example:

"I am writing."

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You focus on the I am; while I focus on the writing.

What you see:


What I see:

Lol, this thread got crazy. I guess i picture myself in my mind in 3rd person pretty often. Mainly when I'm about to do something that requires a decent amount of coordination mentally or physically.

I never think in words in third person though. Like, "he's about to blah..."... or "Michael is about to blahh". That's strange if you do that.

Not to confuse what people are perceiving there are many types of thinking.

I think sub-vocally in first person. "I will do this , I am doing this..."

However when I visualize things I cannot visualize it through first person with out extreme mental effort. i can only visually think in third person i am like the OP.

But thinking in general I don't talk to my self or visualize when I think unless I'm actively visualizing or talking in my head. I'm more what I'd call a conceptual thinker, it's a sense of knowing more than a thought it's hard to explain.

I don't understand how you think 3rd person takes less effort than 1st person. It's the way you see reality, I don't know how one ends up thinking of a puppet as him. I wonder if this is a consequence of culturalization. Also, I wonder if we didn't have mirrors.

It's not like you can't see what's behind you. I can imagine myself not looking at you while having a very good view of you.

When I think of something, it's always 1st person but in my dreams, it is 50/50. When it's in 3rd person, it's not like I am observing myself though, it's like it is actually me but a few steps back...RARELY do I see my facial features. Things are changing though, more 1st person than 2nd and people are starting to talk. For years, no one ever spoke in my dreams but I recently started using the Nicoderm patch and everything about my dreams have changed. For better or worse, I will let you know in a few weeks.

The only 3rd person dreams I had were game dreams, and even so, I could still see my hands of the controller or computer here and there.

Originally Posted by Kromoh

Let's take the following though as example:

"I am writing."[]

Don't you switch?

I myself switch between 1st and 3rd person when imagining something, it happens on its own. But I think that mostly it's 3rd person, so I stated that I think in 3rd person for brevity.

Do you really never switch from the 1st person?

Originally Posted by Arutad

Don't you switch?

I myself switch between 1st and 3rd person when imagining something, it happens on its own. But I think that mostly it's 3rd person, so I stated that I think in 3rd person for brevity.

Do you really never switch from the 1st person?

Only when learning a new dance move, as I said, but even that way, it's more like I'm imagining someone else doing it than me. I don't get why you think in 3rd person. You never see yourself in 3rd person. I thought your thoughts would adhere to that, too.

Funny, after reading this thread a while ago, I started thinking more in first person. Could be because I was thinking about my thinking more.

Oh something interesting: when I think about talking to people, I sometimes think in the 2nd person - seeing myself from the 1st person perspective of someone else. Anyone else do that?

^Seeing yourself from the first person view of another would still technically be considered third person. Second person, at least as I understand it in linguistics, would mean something like thinking in a way where each thought is like you're talking to/explaining something to someone.

Either way, I do both of those from time to time.

Lezen, what you say makes sense, a lot of it.
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I have a question for the 3rd person people: how do you feel your body when seeing in 3rd person? Do you feel your body in front of you too, or do you still feel it as normal? Because kinaesthetic dissociation seems weird.

I dream often in 3rd and I remember things in 3rd. It is really interesting, since we have the visual feedback through 1st person, yet we still want to think through 3rd person. Is it because we see other people like they are, in 3rd person and we never see our own self unless it is a mirror or video.

I don't think

When I'm reading, I read aloud in my head, in my voice.
When I'm thinking, I think in my voice in 1st person.

I visualize actions and sub-vocalize thoughts in first person as it seems most logical, since that is the perspective from which you live your life.
However, I am trying to cut back on sub-vocalization when I read (much, much, faster).

I almost always see myself in first person, even in my dreams. I almost never see my body or my hands because my dream never give me that opportunity. It's almost like I'm a ghost. The only time I see myself in third person is when I remember things.

On a related note just recently I started taking up philosophy. I'm finding I'm getting into the habit of thinking with pictures, or rather abstact symbols with meaning attact about how ideas work together. For some reason it makes thinking easier.

This is very weird for me, as I never really experience it before. I'm so dazed off when I do it I find it hard to describe it, let alone remember it. I don't think I can consciously plan to do it, so I really can't plan to write it down.

I see myself from behind, I'll see a person (it's me) and it'll be from behind, but I can still move myself. Although, whilst reading this thread, I visualised myself like I would see things normally!

Haha, you joined to bump a 1 year old thread.

Ahh crap Didn't look at the time stamps!