Idea: mind as a tapestry (Or a choir, if you like that more).
I know that I already read somewhere about a similar idea, so it's not new, just playing around with it.
Everyone that had an inner argument (and AFAIK that means literally - everyone) know that you don't always act as a unit and want one thing. More often you have a set of probably self-contradictory wishes/desires/obligations and when you actually decide what to do you need to balance them out, reach consensus or at least compromise between all of them.
From the architectural point of view that makes sense - neural networks have self-similarity property, so the only difference between a part of the neural network and the entire thing is its size.
Note: I know that brain is more complicated, and there are some parts not similar to others. This is a (probably over-)simplification.
So what we consider as our internal monolog can be just emergent behavior created by smaller sub-minds taking sides, arguing with each other and trying to reach a compromise.
Linked idea-1: On the importance of stories (regardless of medium - books, movies, games...).
What we observe in stories are patterns of behavior and thinking in situations we never experienced ourselves. Every character, every decision made can influence you - you take those parts that you find inspirational, and you add new patterns to your neural network tapestry, new voices into your inner choir. So when your commander Shepard decides to stand up against all the odds - you literally add small "Commander Shepard"-like voice into your head that will tell you to do the same next time YOU will face a similar situation. Of course, that doesn't mean that you will do the same, but there will be +1 vote for that option.
"Empty" stories are just stories that don't add anything new - cliche characters and same overused story archetypes that are already there. So reading them is easy but you can't quite remember them in a week - they didn't leave any lasting change in yourself. Probably some internal links were reinforced a bit, but that's all.
"Bad" controversial stories are just dissonance - it's not like there is nothing to add, but what is already there in your head don't fit with these new patterns, the result just looks worse than it was before. So you try to repel it. And unless this story is something crucial/useful - you probably don't need to force yourself.
"Good" story that makes an impact and you can remember it for years is something that makes you richer, increase internal harmony.
Linked idea-2: Psychological problems as sub-minds clustering, disharmony between internal patterns.
Sometimes you just can't reach a compromise inside yourself. Sometimes there is "splinter cell" inside your brain, some voices that just tell you to do something very different from what all others say. When it's small - you may still have one main personality, but you always feel anxiousness, like some part of you consistently disagrees with what you do. OCD rituals may be the way to either isolate that splinter cell (ritual cause neural path "around" it to fire and block messages) or silence it (maybe that splinter cell tells you to do A, B, C and wash your hands, so by washing your hands you do part of what it wants, and all other points can be ignored for a while). And when that splinter cell is comparable in "size" to other - you have multiple personality disorder. So instead of just one emergent identity - you have two (or more) completely different, each with its own set of voices behind it.
Linked idea-3: And now let's go crazy and think about Tolkien and it's creation myth.
What if "music of the Ainur" is actually a metaphor for new personality in making, a literal birth of a character. New voices adding to the choir in harmony, little splinter cell started from Melkor, Valar as chief sub-minds that are trying to fight with it, but as all internal arguments always do - leaving "Middle-earth" in ruined state...
Fun stuff, I can actually see this as a thesis.