What Is Metacognition and How It Can Help You
Our ability to think about thinking is called metacognition
Metacognition is thinking about thinking or knowing about knowing. It is becoming aware of your awareness.
John Flavell, a Developmental Psychologist, in the 1970s, gave this name to the idea that people can become aware of their ability to think.
An example is realizing that you read the answer to a question somewhere, but you can’t recall it at this moment.
As metacognitive beings, we can dissociate ourselves from our own thinking. It implies that we are not what we think. But we have a choice to choose how we want to identify ourselves.
How it can help you
Metacognition gives you control over your thoughts. It allows you to quickly change your mood to pleasant when your boss appears at your home while you were in the middle of a fight with your spouse.
Metacognition allows you to implant new thought processes — by borrowing someone else’s mind through reading books.
It also allows you to suppress specific thoughts and emotions by letting you distract yourself with other fun things.
