Thinking About Your Thinking
Core idea: the first skill of wisdom is noticing how your own mind is working, while it's working.
The Lesson
Most of the time, we think without watching ourselves think. A thought shows up, it feels true and we act on it. Psychologists call the skill of stepping back to watch that process metacognition: thinking about your thinking. The term was popularized by psychologist John Flavell in the 1970s.
A useful picture comes from Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman, who described two modes of thinking in Thinking, Fast and Slow (2011):
| Fast thinking ("System 1") | Slow thinking ("System 2") |
|---|---|
| Automatic, quick, effortless | Deliberate, careful, tiring |
| Gut reactions, first impressions | Math, planning, weighing options |
| Runs most of the day | Switches on when we make it |
Fast thinking isn't bad. It's how you dodge a deer or read a friend's face. But it also jumps to conclusions, and it feels exactly as confident when it's wrong as when it's right.
Metacognition is the habit of asking, at the right moments:
- What am I assuming here?
- How do I know this?
- Am I reacting, or thinking?
- What would change my mind?
That last question is the most powerful. If nothing could change your mind, you're not thinking about it anymore. You're defending it.
This connects straight back to School I: the Zoom Out habit of treating what you see as real but not complete. School V turns that into daily practice, starting here.
Real Life
A driver gets cut off and feels instant rage: that guy did it on purpose. Fast thinking wrote that story in a split second. Slow thinking, if he lets it in, asks: Did I see his mirror? Was he lost? Have I ever done that by accident? The story changes, and so does his next hour on the road.
Try This Today
Three times today, when you feel strongly about something, stop and ask: "How do I know this?" Write down one belief that looked different after you asked.
Quick Check
Reflect
What's one belief you hold strongly that you've never asked "how do I know this?" about?
From the Source
Metacognition research grew from the work of John Flavell (1970s). The fast and slow thinking model is from Daniel Kahneman's Thinking, Fast and Slow (2011); "System 1" and "System 2" are his shorthand, not literal parts of the brain.
If nothing could change your mind, you've stopped thinking and started defending.
The Mirror Room at the University plays short scenes. Pause each one and choose: was that a fast reaction or a slow thought?