how long have you gone without talking to anyone? [Archive]

Autoptic

10-13-2009, 11:56 AM

I think almost 6 months. No, but I was intermittently unintelligible and disoriented by an external reaction to my own verbosity as I had occasionally talked to myself and inanimates.

JCrow

10-13-2009, 12:39 PM

I think i've gone three or four days. I've probably gone a week though without have a conversation (IE I still said 'I'll have a turkey sandwich on white bread'). Then a friend called and I talked again. I never didn't think I lost the ability to communicate....but I did loose my voice pretty quickly.

lincoln

10-13-2009, 01:36 PM

mmm probably weeks. I mean years...who knows..you know it's like you gotta go out and go to school or whatever...straight up, maybe three days, and ya I feel like I don't have much to say and I feel awkward when I talk to that first person...When I was traveling I didn't talk to anyone for about 3 weeks. I mean had a conversation..I'd buy train tickets and all...

I feel like most people aren't great socializers. I think it's just the ones who are real outgoing and happy like, or the ones who are comfortable in their environment...

I dunno..I'm real bad, like I'll start working somewhere new and everyone always asks me "when you gonna start talking kid" or they'll remark "you know, I don't think it was until the 2nd month you were here before you started talking to people"...I don't even notice how quiet I am really...

Homini Lupus

10-13-2009, 01:43 PM

I have spent a month or two in which my word-per-day ratio was lower than ten, but still had to communicate a bit in order to buy the food.

Causa Mortis

10-13-2009, 01:45 PM

Four or five days. It brings on a severe depression and your social skills really erode. Don't do it.

saberu

10-13-2009, 02:14 PM

4 days!! wow

i would be playing russian roulette

daydreamer

10-13-2009, 02:16 PM

months in the past, when i was depressed. but nowadays, maybe an hour. i even talk in my sleep. lol

cannotseethe

10-13-2009, 02:17 PM

4 days!! wow

i would be playing russian roulette

Ya, bad news. But I was working on something...

stacyr201

10-13-2009, 02:23 PM

About 3 days, then my roommate got worried and made me leave my room and play video games because it makes my curse loudly and or yell at computer players and yell at her and myself... Probably would have had problems but it was yelling at a tv first, then talking to people, so I had a buffer moment I suppose.

Malkavia

10-13-2009, 03:53 PM

This is how my cycle goes -

At first: a few hours max, I want to be in contact with someone usually constantly. Whether its them talking to me directly, texting, or just simply sitting beside me, I feel better when Im with someone I like.

Eventually I get really stressed out from being with people so much so normally I'll take a day and just do homework and watch TV and relax. Then the process starts all over again.

jfc

10-13-2009, 04:26 PM

probably no longer than 3 days of never talking at all to anyone.

now if you mean how long without a conversation longer than a minute or so.....months. Many months if not years. but I am a trained professional so kids, please do not try this at home.

and yes, the speaking skills do get rusty with non use.

identity

10-13-2009, 05:19 PM

2 months, back in college. By this I mean absolutely no vocal sounds at all. No "hello", "thank you", etc. This didn't really bother me, as it was the norm in school as well (although I did have to engage in pleasantries with my teachers and fellow students back then).

I don't recall having any speech problems, although my throat was killing me after interrupting that period of silence.

Aronnax

10-13-2009, 09:28 PM

The longest would be 5 days on a solo backpacking trip.

I didn't feel like I forgot how to talk but it was nice to see and chat with people again.

tinapay

10-13-2009, 11:38 PM

Wow. I don't remember. I can manage not to talk for several days but I never forget how to speak.

I can be pretty talkative.

I think almost 6 months. No, but I was intermittently unintelligible and disoriented by an external reaction to my own verbosity as I had occasionally talked to myself and inanimates.

I'm getting blind. I read it as inmates.

Candy

10-14-2009, 02:26 AM

Obsidean

10-14-2009, 02:36 AM

About 3 day and yes but I do have some kind of speech disorder

cannotseethe

10-14-2009, 09:51 AM

10 days - the 'golden silence' required by a Vipassana course; it wasn't particularly difficult for me to talk, it's just that the first things i was talking about were kind of abstract notions that were new to me

Hm, funny. Last time I went days without talking to people it was because I was cooped up at home working through some math thing that was obsessing me. When I finally did emerge, I didn't feel like I knew what to say. I wanted to say "hey, do you know anything about integrating density functions," but that wasn't going to help me get a coffee.

Antares

10-14-2009, 11:29 AM

None. Can't do. I go to school, ya know :P And when I'm not in school, I'm on vacation. Which means I get to talk to my parents. When I'm not on vacation, I'm at home wasting away on MSN, because I have nothing better to do. That, and my maid has to ask me what I want to eat for lunch and whatnot.

Synapse

10-14-2009, 01:57 PM

A couple of days just because I wanted isolation and was simultaneously annoyed with many people. Was quite interesting. After some time, though, I couldn't not talk for something ridiculous like 15 minutes and then I eventually evolved into this taciturn being who doesn't care if he didn't talk for hours. Quite strange. :huh:

runoverazebra

10-14-2009, 02:33 PM

A week, I think. I lived in an apartment by myself, and I was working on an online project. Not talking didn't seem to phase me. I didn't have any problem returning to speaking when necessary.

Blse

10-15-2009, 12:35 AM

11-12 hours. Never a full day though.

your social skills really erode

Really? Just out of curiosity would you mind describing that a bit?

SilverFloe

10-15-2009, 01:15 AM

Maybe for a week or two if I can avoid people that well.

My social skills suck anyway. But after a couple days I get pretty hoarse.

SilverFloe added to this post, 1 minutes and 50 seconds later...

I feel like most people aren't great socializers. I think it's just the ones who are real outgoing and happy like, or the ones who are comfortable in their environment...

Explain please? My understanding is that those traits make one good at socializing. What other qualities would make one a "great socializer" that are so rare?

suzushii

10-15-2009, 01:49 AM

No speech at all - weeks. You end up so into your own thoughts it feels like you're drowning into a pool of self-awareness. Once I did get to talking I felt a bit like Robinson Crusoe. Speaking felt like riding a bike after years of not trying it. Awkward. But familiar. Your voice sounds oddly foreign, and it feels bizzare to articulate words.

Also, when I start talking after a long while, I end up talking too much. Then I become self conscious and think "oh dear, it must be painfully obvious that I haven't talked to anyone in a long time. how lame". So then I become silent again abruptly. Then if the other person nudges me some more into speech, I carefully measure the output of my words. :anxious:. I can notice it in other people too.

Little speech - months. But not recently. But when I was a teenager, I would simply not talk if it didn't seem like it was worthwhile. I'd be hauled up in a book. I would feign small talk if proded, but I'd most likely do it on automated pilot mode.

JYFly

10-15-2009, 02:11 AM

So far, the longest time has been a week. Earlier this year I spent spring break in my dorm room. I didn't have to speak to anyone when I went outside since few people were on campus at the time and I didn't bother calling my folks. I didn't feel any different once I talked to someone else since I talk to myself all the time.

Other than that, I rarely have a full day without talking to someone. The profs love calling on me in class and random people love greeting me for some reason.

polydentate

10-15-2009, 04:05 PM

Four or five days. And yes, I did have difficulty making conversation for a day or so after that. It took a lot of effort.

It was rather depressing after a while.

Ceres

10-15-2009, 08:48 PM

No speech at all (excluding talking to myself) - about 2 weeks. Studying for exams, away from home - so no parents or siblings around. I became obsessed with my work and most of the time forgot about the world outside.
When my silence was broken and i got a call from home, I would talk too much. And become animated easily, which is just strange for me. Also i would be willing and able to small talk. This period for me lasts a couple of hours then I settle down and can happily retreat into my own world for another week again.

Little speech - months. But not recently. But when I was a teenager, I would simply not talk if it didn't seem like it was worthwhile. I'd be hauled up in a book. I would feign small talk if proded, but I'd most likely do it on automated pilot mode.

Agreed. My family generally drag me out into more meaningful conversations, but generally i cruised through high school and so far university, on auto pilot.

EmilyEvenstar

10-16-2009, 12:50 AM

Only for an hour! But seriously, I've never really had a chance to do something like that because I'm surrounded everywhere I go(like church, school, dorm,etc)!:scared:

Coralaisly

10-16-2009, 01:35 AM

3 months, and yes. I could type like the wind, but I had just about forgotten what my voice sounded like. It actually suprised me when I heard it again. haha

papkan

10-16-2009, 01:41 AM

I talk to myself alot. But i talk less when im around people. Im not around many people most of the time so i cant really say ive ever not said anything for hours, days or weeks. Unless talking to myself doesmt count

AgentofGaming

10-16-2009, 07:47 AM

Four or five days. It brings on a severe depression and your social skills really erode. Don't do it.

Aye... you through a school year without a single meaningful conversation it makes you really detached from society. I don't think I'll ever reattach again.

None. Can't do. I go to school, ya know :P And when I'm not in school, I'm on vacation. Which means I get to talk to my parents. When I'm not on vacation, I'm at home wasting away on MSN, because I have nothing better to do. That, and my maid has to ask me what I want to eat for lunch and whatnot.

Crystal, you make me miss high school... :thumbsdown:
*sigh* one never gets their youth back... nor their sleep when they pull all-nighters on MSN with school the next day.

Krazy P

10-16-2009, 07:50 AM

The longest would be 5 days on a solo backpacking trip.

I didn't feel like I forgot how to talk but it was nice to see and chat with people again.

I do the same thing a few times a year - 8-9 days on a solo backpacking trip. I don't talk to anyone because I don't see anyone.

maxac8

10-16-2009, 11:43 AM

I can generally go as long as I want without speaking to anyone except for minor little run-ins at work. Thats said, as someone mentioned before it can lead to depression and anxiety, you have to speak to people on occasion :)

Murky Muse

10-16-2009, 01:27 PM

About 3 or 4 days, maybe- my mom usually calls to check up on me. I'll also talk to myself when alone.

t3hrubikscube

10-16-2009, 06:15 PM

A couple of days, I suppose.

I rarely talk to people at school, though, so I don't talk at all from early in the morning until after I get home...day after day.

BlackMita

10-20-2009, 07:44 PM

Less than 12 hours.

CycleBreaker

10-20-2009, 07:51 PM

Does talking to myself count? :D
I actually talk more when I'm alone.

I've gone days without talking to externals.

thod

10-21-2009, 01:43 AM

Other than saying "thank you" to shop assistants, 5, 6, or 7 years. But then I am not a youngster. Every man must spend his 40 days in the wilderness if he is to learn who he is. I currently live alone in a country where I cannot speak the language.

blather

10-26-2009, 10:45 AM

Like many of you, 4 or 5 days. After that I start to feel the isolation and even though it's comfortable I know it's not good for me.

Jamison

10-28-2009, 01:45 AM

I've done 3-4 days. I can definitely do more and wouldn't complain if I had to.

RdtheLiterature

10-28-2009, 10:06 AM

I don't 'talk to myself'. I do but i'm always conversing with someobody I know. Like it's a practice conversation. It's usually someobody I know very well and I can predict what they would say if the conversation were real...it can get twilight zonish when I actually have the exact conversation with the actual person at a later time.

i've never gone a day without talking to somebody...i have gone a while without having a meaningful conversation with anybody...other then 'hi/bye' or 'how's the weather'...(that's the extent of any small talk i partake in)

I don't have any close relationships at the immediate moment and it's wierd. When I think about it I really don't communicate with other people.

I literally live in my head. it's kind of a joke really...

cannotseethe

10-28-2009, 10:42 AM

What prompted this thread are findings like this:

To record informal conversations, Pennebaker, along with Matthias Mehl of the University of Arizona and other colleagues developed unobtrusive digital voice recorders programmed to record snippets of ambient sounds periodically. Between 1984 and 2004, nearly 400 university students from the United States and Mexico wore the recorders for up to 10 days.

The researchers transcribed the conversations and analyzed them, finding that women spoke an average of 16,215 daily words while men averaged 15,669 words a day.

(quote is from this site (To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.))

I read things like this and think "what?" There's no way I say 15,000 words per day. I average one phone call every 3 days!

SelfMadeBum

10-28-2009, 12:38 PM

Do pets count?

cyan2012

10-28-2009, 12:50 PM

I am pretty much required to talk to people in my daily life. I have a child and a job so I have to interact with others. I imagine if I wasn't talking to people for a few days I would be fine with it. I have traveled to foreign countries alone and pretty much just talked to people that I needed to (people in shops, restaurants, hotels, etc.) and I was enjoying my time alone. My longest trip with nearly a month, but I did visit a friend at the beginning and end of the trip.

ToC

10-28-2009, 12:56 PM

If you mean speak as in out loud, then about a month, but if email/IM counts, about 2 weeks.

cannotseethe

10-28-2009, 01:13 PM

I had speaking with other people in mind, ya know with the voices and the faces. So not pets, and not to yourself, and not in your head, and not IM...

Still. I talk to myself sometimes, and I talk to my stuff sometimes (you should hear the things I say to my computer when it's not working, whoa), and even with all that I still don't think I come near to speaking 15,000 words on a typical day.