Thoughtober Day Twenty

Check in Two

So we are two thirds of the way through Thoughtober.

Are you noticing any changes to your cognitive processes?

Are you aware of metacognition?

That is thinking about thinking.

Which of the previous ten days has stuck out for you?

Do you know why that is?

Psychologists therefore would do well to ask whether “metacognition” (thinking critically about your own thinking) is at bottom a social phenomenon. It typically happens in conversation—not idle chitchat, but the kind that aims to get to the bottom of things. I call this an “art” because it requires both tact and doggedness. And I call it a moral accomplishment because to be good at this kind of conversation you have to love the truth more than you love your own current state of understanding. This is, of course, an unusual priority to have, which may help to account for the rarity of real mastery in any pursuit.