I have a slightly different perspective on thoughts. To me, they are by-products of what’s going on in the very vast sub conscious mind, and an indicator of what is going on down there. They are information, but not a means to an end. It’s like listening to noises at night - it can be beautiful at times, but at some time I just want to concentrate on other things that matter to me. I find them too volatile to provide deep self reflection on their own (so just listening to thoughts is not of much use), and it’s hard to have an inner dialogue because auditive memory is not available, so you get stuck debating with yourself in circles. (Might be just me, of course)

When I work, or talk to other people, I don’t hear any thoughts, and I think this is because the speech-building parts of the brain are preoccupied with the task at hand.

And if I talk to people, I often hear myself saying things I had not thought of before. I’m not in therapy, but I’m sure it would work way better for me than just thinking. Real talk definitely beats thoughts by a wide margin in clarity and expressiveness.

I definitely need silence for downtime though, I love staying up late alone for that reason.