THINKING ABOUT THINKING: METACOGNITION

The other day I wrote about thinking about thinking. I hadn't previously thought much about my thinking and thought that thinking about my thinking might be rather interesting. The Latin speaking ancestors knew its importance, thus cogito ergo sum, followed by excreto ergo sum, proving there are lots of ways 'to be'.

After thinking about what I thought, I shifted to when I thuoght. I realize that I think ALL the time, awake and asleep, but I remember some of thoughts more than others. Then I began to puzzle about where my thoughts are getting their instructions as to what to keep and what to dump in the recycle bin. Who is the creature in my head saying, "Save this. Chuck that." That got scary!

I'm thought things I don't even know I ever thought about. I wonder what I think about myself that I'm not telling me. I always thought I liked myself. Could not liking myself be one of those thoughts that my brain keeper threw away?

Most of my thinking time is probably spent on thinking about the things I should be doing but don't seem to get done. That led to thinking about happy thinking, guilty thinking, angry thinking and all the rest of the emotions that find their way there. I think out many subsequently lost solutions during my time between wakefulness and sleep. Everything is so clear then; perfect solutions. I just can't remember what they were later. I remember finding a solution to a problem one night and was elated. I remembered the solution in the morning but have not been able to recall what the problem had been.

Thinking is a word often used in place of 'opinion' as in, 'I think you should.....'.
In grade school, the teachers would tell us to put our 'thinking caps on'. I never had one. Worse was when we were told, "Now you must remember this". I lived in terror that I would forget what I was supposed to remember because I had no control over what I forgot. I heard I needed metacognition. I checked out eBay but knowing was selling any. You can imagine my embarrassment when I learned it meant thinking about thinking. Then I'm always thinking of one thing when I should be thinking of something else. It's a good thing people can't read minds or my life might be full of less good health and opportunity if people actually knew what i was thinking much of the time!