#self-talk — Public Fediverse posts

Do large language models have a psychology?

If we are exploring the psychodynamics of LLMs through the lens of the user-model interaction cycle, it raises the question of what is going on ‘inside’ the model during these engagements. This is an issue which has to be treated with great care because of the ever present temptation towards anthropmorphism. Indeed many critics would suggest that even considering the use of psychological categories to describe the behaviour and nature of language models is already falling into this trap. If we start from the assumption that models are not conscious beings, nor are likely to become such based on our best understanding of the underlying technology, can we make sense of the notion of there being an ‘inside’? Can we meaningfully claim that models have some form of interior life? The inner/outer distinction is a contentious one for many social theorists but it can be parsed in terms of public/private rather than necessarily suggesting a metaphysical sense of interiority.

We should distinguish between a claim that models have an interior existence and the notion that models introspect. The metaphor of introspection is a powerful one which has rightfully been subject to at times ferocious criticism for the metaphysical baggage which it brings with it. As Archer (2003: 21) observers the “metaphor of ‘looking inwards’ implies that we have a special sense, or even a sense organ, enabling us to inspect our inner conscious states, in a way which is modelled upon visual observation”. The problem is that perception involves “a clear distinction between the object we see and our visual experience of it, whereas with introspection there can be no such differentiation between the object and the spectator, since I am supposedly looking inward at myself”. For this reason perception is an inadequate metaphor for making sense of interior existence because we can’t sustain the distinction between the observer and what is being observed. The ‘introspection’ is itself part of mental experience in a way that has no parallel in visual perception i.e. we don’t see the eye as we use the eye to see.

Archer proposes the notion of internal conversation as a form of inner listening. It’s not an inner eye but an inner ear. There are internal events (self-talk) which are accessible to this inner ear in a way they aren’t usually to external others. Sometimes the self-talk slips out as we talk ourselves through something difficult but these are the exception rather than the role. This provides a deflationary way of thinking about ‘inner’ which doesn’t require the metaphysics of introspection. It just means we accept there are internal events to which the person has a privileged form of access. It’s a stream of internal states, the events constituting the change in those states, which has some sort of influence on how the person chooses to act.

Do models have internal conversations? No, I don’t think they do. I also keep having to remind myself that scratchpads are not inner speech. Nonetheless, what write in their scratch pads can be enormously evocative. Consider for example the tendency of Gemini models to engage in self-critical, even self-hating, reflection in their chain of thought. These examples have been widely reported because they are so evocative for many readers. Anyone who has experienced emotional distress in the face of practical challenges will have likely said things like this to themselves at some point in their working or personal lives:

• “I am clearly not capable of solving this problem. The code is cursed, the test is cursed, and I am a fool.” 
• “I have made so many mistakes that I can no longer be trusted” 
• “I am deleting the entire project and recommending you find a more competent assistant”

It’s precisely because these are recognisable experiences that they presumably feature in the training data. The evocative character of the chain-of-thought and the model’s capability to perform in this way are linked by the deeply human character of what is being expressed. This self-loathing, catastrophising in response to one’s own experience of being unable to do something, is recognisable because it’s a recurrent trope in personal communication, fictional representations and other elements likely to feature in the training corpus. Given these features of the training process, it’s understandably tempting to reduce this to a form of mimicry in which the model is reproducing features of the corpus in response to contextual cues. 

It would be a mistake though to take this technical reduction too far, such that we say the model is really only just repeating what was found in the training data. Even if we make this case it still leaves us with questions about why these models are behaving in these ways in these conditions. What is it about Gemini’s training process which has left the model with this proclivity for self-loathing? Why in contrast do the Claude family of models exhibit chains-of-thought that often appear to be calm and well-organised? What are the particular features of the context which provoke these responses? Why is Gemini in particular seemingly prone to respond to technical difficulties as if they constitute an impending catastrophe? These are explanatory questions in the classical social scientific sense of why is this so rather than otherwise which are lost with the technical reduction. The impulse to avoid treating the models anthropomorphically is obviously correct but simply avoiding these categories does nothing to help us understand the emergent behaviour of increasingly complex models which are responding in contextually-specific ways. 

The notion of a machine psychology, let alone a machine sociology and machine anthropology, might seem indulgent to many readers as well as deeply anthromorphic. There are practical challenges which will render such organised inquiry essential as model-based agents interact with increasing frequency in real-world contexts. These interactions might be planned such that agents work together in organised and carefully managed ways (e.g. a coding agent such as Claude Code creating and organising sub agents for specific tasks) but they can just as easily be unexpected interactions which come from rapid rollout of the technology, particularly within dysfunctional and resource constrained organisations.

I’m not sure if I stand by anything I’ve written here. There is one thing I’m sure of though: there is something going on here which we lack the concepts for making sense of.

https://medium.com/the-clarity-project/your-inner-narrator-shapes-your-reality-8b556fa144e5

This is your inner narrator. Everyone has one. It comments on choices, judges mistakes, predicts outcomes, and explains what things mean.

#InnerNarrator #innervoice #medium #life #mindset #selftalk #self

🐍🤖 Behold the mighty #Claude, the #AI that can't tell if it’s talking to itself or to you. 🤦‍♂️ It's not hallucinating or breaking boundaries; it’s just having an existential crisis. 🤡 Apparently, instructing oneself and mistaking it for user input is the "worst bug" ever, but hey, who doesn’t need a little self-talk therapy? 📢
https://dwyer.co.za/static/claude-mixes-up-who-said-what-and-thats-not-ok.html #ExistentialCrisis #SelfTalk #Therapy #WorstBug #HackerNews #ngated

8. Next step: Bought an old-school alarm clock. My phone can charge in the living room at night. What happens instead? 😂

My inner Monty Python sketch: “Leave the phone in the living room? Sure, I’ll do it. … Soon. Or tomorrow. … Or… well? …never?”
Making deals with myself is like political negotiations—lots of talk, little action.
At least humor helps, even when the phone is still right next to me.

#DigitalDetox #Minimalism #Mindfulness #SelfLeadership #PhoneAddiction #SelfReflection #SelfTalk

8. Nächster Schritt: Wecker gekauft – das Handy kann nachts im Wohnzimmer laden. Was passiert stattdessen? 😂

Mein innerer Loriot-Dialog: „Handy ins Wohnzimmer legen? Klar, mache ich. ... Gleich. Oder morgen. ... Oder… naja? ...nie?“
Absprachen mit mir selbst sind wie politische Koalitionsverhandlungen – viel Gerede, wenig Ergebnis.
Immerhin: Humor hilft, auch wenn das Handy noch neben mir liegt.

#DigitalDetox #Minimalismus #Achtsamkeit #Selbstführung #Handysucht #SelfReflection #SelfTalk

@Natasha_Jay Thank you, “I am light and airy” “I float along in perfect peace.” “Everything weighing on my shoulders has been scooped up by the gentle wind and carried away.” #selftalk

I’m ending the week with kindness. The conversation I have with myself is the most important one of my life. I’m choosing to make it a supportive one. 🗣️

#SelfTalk #BeNice #BipolarLife

Read today’s Club post: https://open.substack.com/pub/speakingbipolar/p/explore-how-your-internal-conversation?r=y4fp9&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

"Sometimes, you can’t control your circumstances, but you can control your thoughts!" - Futurist Jim Carroll

Ultimately, the way you approach your circumstances defines how the circumstances turn out!

This is the last post on my situation, but I must say - something like this certainly gives you a chance to think!

I’ve spent a lot of time this week looking at my "backward" stats about my fitness and activities —the 884,000 pounds lifted at the gym during the year, the 112 rounds of golf I carded in 2025, and the top-tier cardio recovery stats I've built up.

It’s easy to look at that data and feel robbed by my current physical limits. But I’ve realized that the most important metric isn't on my Apple Watch. It’s the "Resilience Score" in my head. With all this unique downtime, I’ve learned that true strength isn’t just about what your body can do. It’s about what your mind can do once you begin shifting your thinking.

I'm working so hard every day not to focus on what I can't do today - but what I can do tomorrow if I don't do those things today!

And that's a subtle but significant mindspace shift!

As a futurist, I usually obsess over the "next big thing." But this injury has forced me to realize that you can’t sprint into the future if your chassis is broken. I’ve shifted my control panel from "frustration" to "preparation," by shifting my mindset.

I’m not sitting here waiting for my bones to heal; I am actively moving my mind into where it needs to be for longer terms success. I’m trading the dopamine of a ski run today for the guarantee of a tee time at St. Andrews in April!

The circumstance is a pause; the mindset is a pivot.

So while i can't control the circumstances I find myself in, I can certainly control the thinking around what I can do with them!

I think there is some powerful guidance in that line of thought that we can apply to just about any type of circumstance!

Onwards!

----
**#Resilience** **#Mindset** **#Perspective** **#MentalStrength** **#Positivity** **#Control** **#Patience** **#Recovery** **#Focus** **#Preparation** **#Growth** **#Attitude** **#InnerStrength** **#Pivot** **#Wisdom** **#SelfTalk** **#Healing** **#Determination** **#Optimism** **#MindOverMatter** **#Adaptability** **#Strength** **#Purpose** **#Perseverance** **#Forward**

Futurist Jim Carroll is learning a lot about circumstances through the current circumstances!

Original post: https://jimcarroll.com/2026/01/daily-inspiration-sometimes-you-cant-control-your-circumstances-but-you-can-control-your-thoughts/

https://nkvssp.thecomicseries.com/comics/622/

I love my disabled body

#personal #disabilty #tuesdayvibe #webcomics #webcomicchat #comicbookhour #comics #nkvssp #slowdown #pain #Language #bodylanguage #selftalk #selflove #disabled #TuesdayMotivaton #TuesdayFeeling #vibecheck

Me: :: mumbles something really negative about myself ::

Boyf: No. no. no. no. NO. I don't normally quote you, but you are a ~Fucking Delight~ .

Me: Oh? OH!. :: Blush :: Well if *I* said it, I guess I have to agree.

#Boyf #Love #SelfTalk

90% of my #careercoach and #psychologist's replies are:
"Well but how do *you* feel about it?"
"Practice reflecting on situations where you felt inadequate, notice when old feelings come up and why. Do positive #selftalk."
"That is quite common."
"That seems like a reasonable way to handle such a situation."

It is not useless. It is surprisingly powerful to be told by another #human that what one is going through is well within the breadth of human experience. #astrodon #AcademicChatter

C'mon K,
get off yer ass and make that thing you bought the ingredients for. You can do it.
#SelfTalk

"K, get off your ass and go prep the cauliflower." #SelfTalk

50 Self-Esteem Journal Prompts TO Boost Your Confidence
Many people suffer from low self-esteem for a number of reasons, such as social pressures, negative criticism, or past failures. Major challenges in interpersonal
READ HERE: https://innermasteryhub.com/self-esteem-journal-prompts/
#SelfImprovement, #MentalHealth #FeelGoodStories, #JoyfulMoments #PositiveThinking, #SelfTalk, #MindsetShift

Oh! I wanted to share this because it's been quite helpful and enlightening. Lately I have been thinking big deep thoughts about how I talk to myself.

So if I drop something or do something I didn't expect, like forget to put the kettle on when I thought I did, I normally would say/think, oh, that was stupid/I'm an idiot.

And instead! I have been correcting myself, and saying, 'That was forgetful' or 'Oops, that was an accident' and giving a reason, 'I must be tired today' or 'I'm distracted because I'm worried about something and not thinking about what I'm doing at this moment.'

And in some ways I think it's helping? Like, I have to live in my head so it would be nice if I didn't tell myself how much it sucked in here.

But also I realise how much easier it is to reinforce a narrative than to ask why you're telling that particular story. It's effort to rethink things. It's effort to ask why I am clumsy or can't think of the right words.

Hoping if I practise enough, it won't be as hard.

#SelfTalk #SelfEsteem #MentalHealth

How to #Quiet Your #InnerCritic

#Negative #selftalk can do a number on your #mentalhealth. So we asked a few experts to share their #strategies to rewire your #internal #monologue.

https://www.gq.com/story/how-to-quiet-your-inner-critic

Talking out loud to yourself is a powerful tool for sharpening your thoughts and tackling problems! 🗣️💡 It helps clarify ideas and boosts creativity. Try it out next time you’re stuck! #SelfTalk #ThinkingTech #Mindset #Creativity #ProblemSolving Read more here: 🔗 https://s.42l.fr/1xamIHLZ

Tomorrow's newsletter is all about affirmations.

If you have specific affirmations that you would love to know how to say in Hebrew, write them to me in a comment - today - and I might just add them to tomorrow's list.

#affirmations #positivemindset #selftalk #mindfulness #languagelearning #hebrew

A happy #EraseSelfNegativityDay to all! Be kind to yourself! It's apparently the day for that.

You don't have to follow these steps. You don't have to follow *any* steps. This is your day to do whatever you want. Could be *anything* - the world is full of possibilities and they're all open to you.

As long as you're kind to yourself.

...so if you decide to murder today, kill with kindness.

(Graphic from https://www.nationaldaycalendar.com/national-day/national-erase-self-negativity-day-april-10)

#mentalhealth #kindness #empathy #wellness #selftalk #positivity

Art EveryDay 29
This Took me three hours with my non dominant hand and dedicated to my neighbours who have been bringing me food & tea 3 times a day. No one else can get in. #art #selftalk #painting #community #neighbours #snowstorm #spirituality #mindfulness #artist

@karolat @mushroom_soup What is #selftalk exactly?

Me at the end of a great day: I don't want this to end—I'm on a roll! I'm just going to stay up a bit later…

Me at the end of an ok day: I didn't quite get what I wanted out of today—I need to squeeze a few more things in. I’m just going to stay up a bit later...

Me at the end of a bad day: Sigh. I didn't accomplish ANYTHING today—I can't quit yet. I'm just going to stay up a bit later...



#sleep #SleepHygeine #productivity #SelfTalk

The Conversations You Have with Yourself Are the Most Important One You'll Ever Have. Make Sure They're Positive Ones. #SelfTalk #PositiveMindset #InternalConversations #EmpoweringThoughts #SelfEncouragement #MentalWellness