> Yes, you do need to be literate.
At some level, I suppose. But there's a lot of thought that occurs without words, and the conversion into words when I'm writing or speaking happens so late in the process that is indistinguishable from the act of writing or speaking.
> But if you are, and you think, what do you hear?
If I hear anything at all, it's more like music than words. But usually, what I see in my mind's eye is more relevant than what I hear.
It actually took me a very long time to figure out that when people say "internal monologue" they aren't speaking metaphorically. It's not something I've ever experienced.
> And what did you just write, if not your thoughts?
It's more of a description of the relevant parts of my thoughts than my actual thoughts. Words feel like a crappy copy of thoughts to me.