自言自语的人似乎很容易招来周围其他人异样的眼光，仿佛这是很不正常的表现。其实，自言自语并非坏习惯。研究表明，那些喜欢喃喃自语的人实际上更容易保持注意力集中，也能更好地坚持完成任务。不止于此，喃喃自语还有很多意想不到的好处。

Let's all stop judging people who talk to themselves. New research says that those who can't seem to keep their inner monologues (独白) in are actually more likely to stay on task, remain focused better and show improved perception capabilities. Not bad, really, for some extra muttering.

According to a series of experiments published in the Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology by professors Gary Lupyan and Daniel Swignley, the act of using verbal clues to trigger mental pictures helps people function quicker.

In one experiment, they showed pictures of various objects to twenty volunteers and asked them to find just one of those, a banana. Half were instructed to repeat out loud what they were looking for and the other half kept their lips sealed. Those who talked to themselves found the banana slightly faster than those who didn't, the researchers say. In other experiments, Lupyan and Swignley found that uttering the name of a common product when on the hunt for it helped quicken someone's pace, but talking about uncommon items showed no advantage and slowed you down.

Common research has long held that talking themselves through a task helps children learn, although doing so when you've apparently matured is not a great sign of brilliance. The two professors hope to refute that idea,claiming that just as when kids walk themselves through a process, adults can benefit from using language not just to communicate, but also to help “augment thinking”.

Of course, you are still encouraged to keep the talking at library tones and, whatever you do, keep the information you share simple, like a grocery list. At any volume, there's still such a thing as too much information.