Chatter

Now Irving wanted to compare these findings with a group of people who surely had their woes but weren t necessarily in aggrieved states to begin with. To carry this out, he simply (and bravely!) approached New Yorkers on the street and in parks and cafés, explained his study, and asked if they would be willing to speak their thoughts aloud into a recording device while he filmed them at a distance.

Some days, a handful of people said yes; other days, only one. It was to be expected that most New Yorkers would be too busy or skeptical to agree. Eventually, Irving gathered his one hundred streams of internally represented speech, as he described them, in recordings ranging from fifteen minutes to an hour and a half. The recordings obviously don t provide an all-access backstage pass to the mind, because an element of performance might have come into play for some participants. Even so, they offer an uncommonly candid window into the conversations people have with themselves as they navigate their daily lives.

As was only natural, prosaic concerns occupied space in the minds of everyone in Irving s study. Many people commented on what they observed on the streets--other pedestrians, drivers, and traffic, for example as well as on things they needed to do. But existing alongside these unremarkable musings were monologues negotiating a host of personal wounds, distresses, and worries. The narrations often landed on negative content with utterly no transition, like a gaping pothole appearing suddenly on the unspooling road of thought. Take, for example, a woman in Irving s study named Meredith whose inner conversation pivoted sharply from everyday concerns to matters of literal life and death.

I wonder if there s a Staples around here, Meredith said, before shifting, like an abrupt lane change, to a friend s recent cancer diagnosis. You know, I thought she was going to tell me that her cat died. She crossed the street, then said, I was prepared to cry about her cat, and then I m trying not to cry about her. I mean New York without Joan is just . . . I can t even imagine it. She started crying. She&rs

Susan Cain, bestselling author of Quiet

This book is going to fundamentally change some of the most important conversations in your life the ones you have with yourself. Adam Grant, bestselling author of Originals and Give and Take, and host of the TED podcast WorkLife

I ve demonstrated throughout my career how negative thoughts can spiral and undermine people s success. In Chatter, Ethan Kross weaves cutting-edge science with riveting stories to reveal the tools people can use to manage these experiences. Chatter is a truly compelling and valuable book. Carol Dweck, author of Mindset

Ethan is a deep and original thinker and a thorough, always thought-provoking researcher. He s one of the psychologists whose work I always read whenever I see his name. Maria Konnikova, bestselling author of The Biggest Bluff

Ethan Kross has written the definitive work on how to redirect our inner voices away from rumination and self-criticism and toward reflection and self-improvement. Chatter is a profound and practical book one that will leave you with both a fresh understanding of yourself and new strategies to live a fuller life. Daniel H. Pink, bestselling author of When and Drive

Ethan Kross illuminates and solves the crucial issue of mastering self-talk in this modern classic. Compulsively readable and refreshingly original. Dave Evans, bestselling author of Designing Your Life

Stimulating . . . Kross, the director of the University of Michigan s Emotion & Self Control Laboratory, debuts with an eye-opening look at managing the silent conversations people have with themselves. Publishers Weekly (starred review)