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All of us, everyday, we talk to ourselves. Interestingly though, the social stigma associated with talking to ourselves makes us pretend like it doesn't happen, kind of like going to the bathroom during the Victorian era.

Of course it's really just a protective form of embarrassment; we just don't want other people to think that we actually believe we're talking with another person. You know, that we're just a little bit crazy.

But, why do we do it? I believe reflective dialogue provides a very useful means of conversation and cognitive role playing; a learning tool. Lets draw back from that for the moment and consider a more mundane activity; basketball. More to the point, how do we learn to play basketball? We practice; over and over again. We practice shooting the ball, bouncing it up and down, learning the feel of its weight, understanding its movement, and learning how to combine these actions while in motion.

But, in the context of conversation how do we practice for expected dialogues with other individuals? How can we plan for the possible conversational outcomes without first practicing the scenario? Let’s look at an example. Meet Bob, he's our fictional character for this little story. Bob has a secret little habit. Apparently Bob likes taking his our own toilet paper to work; it seems Bob's not too fussed on the cheap office 1-ply stuff. Every lunch break, Bob likes to slip off to the toilet with a roll of plush paper hidden in his laptop bag. Now the chances of Bob being caught are pretty slim, he's careful fellow.

One day however, after Bob is finished doing his business, he forgets to put the roll back in his bag before opening the stall door. As luck would have it, a co-worker happens to walk by and notice Bob stuffing a distinctly non-office, soft looking colour-patterned roll into his bag. It is of course a rather funny moment for Bob's colleague, and one that could leave Bob feeling somewhat embarrassed around the office. Luckily for Bob he's role-played this situation in his head, over and over, preparing for any conversational outcome. Bob promptly informs his colleague that yes, he does bring his own toilet paper, but it's because he's allergic to the cellulose in most of the common brands of paper. His colleague proceeds to ask him a number of clarifying statements, such as, what does he do when he's out in public without his personal roll, or what happens when he runs out? Luckily for Bob he's planned for all these conversational eventualities in his practised reflective dialogue, and is able to provide answers in a prompt and believable fashion.

This is a rather unimportant little example, but it highlights the power of being prepared for conversational dialogue, some of which may be confrontational and socially important. The capacity for reflective thought is intertwined with a Theory of Mind, a proposed model of human consciousness that's been examined with rigorous empirical study of children and adults. It's a theory I've mentioned before and one I’ve been writing a lot about lately, especially Tomasello's variant.