I definitely talk to myself out loud. Have whole conversations sometimes. Other times the conversation will start in my head and then I'll reply to one part aloud...usually an emotional punctuation of thought and then my partner will say, "What?" And I'll say, "Oh nothing, just talking to myself." He's used to it by now, but I have been known to say in the middle of a grocery store, "If I were a cookie, what aisle would I be on?" I don't really mean for anyone to hear, but it helps me to think and I don't care if anyone hears. People put up with a lot of strange behavior in a grocery store. It's a solitary mission they're on for the most part, so they keep to themselves. Maybe they avoid the aisle I'm on. Ha! Fine by me. I talk to my stuffed animals still sometimes. Like, "Whaddya think about that, Grover? (my stuffed mountain goat)" Definitely I'll talk to any pets or animals. I read somewhere that the whole hearing voices and talking back to them occurs in the speech center of the brain, not the auditory center. That's what the meds are trying to target with schizophrenia. I don't feel harassed by talking to inanimate objects or the conversations in my head, though. I find it therapeutic. It's a lonely world. Why can't we have a conversation whenever we want one? Who says another person has to be involved. We all have an inner sense of wisdom and we can learn a lot from ourselves.