Is 'talking to yourself' an incorrect terminology as speaking out loud when alone does not stimulate a conversation?

Answer 1

Speculative Answer.Depending on how 'yourself' or 'self' is defined, perhaps.The quote below is in reference to:
psychologist Julian Jaynes, who presented the idea in his 1976 book The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind


"bicameralism is a hypothesis which argues that the human brain once assumed a state known as a bicameral mind in which cognitive functions are divided between one part of the brain which appears to be "speaking", and a second part which listens and obeys."


quoted from
http:/enzperiodzwikipediazperiodzorg/wiki/Bicameralism_(psychology)


I don't have the reference handy, however (I believe) Harvard psychology researchers have used a term "the Ancestral Mind" to refer to what they consider an earlier yet still present form of consciousness which is intuitive and pre-verbal ( or maybe a non rational-logical earlier verbal ability).


Perhaps talking to yourself (and the self is normally perceived as the modern rational/verbal/ego part of consciousness) is simply the communication between the bicameral mind components. This is total and complete speculation based on the above reference to bicameralism. In this case there is a conversation taking place and so the term would be accurate.


On the other hand,


You could be talking to yourself to transfer short term memory into long term memory or use it as a an analytical tool to define, think out, and plan your actions - in which case no conversation is taking place and the term 'talking to yourself' might be pedantically incorrect.