Thinking about thinking. It's your brain's ability to monitor and regulate its own cognitive processes. This includes knowing when you don't understand something (self-awareness), choosing the right strategy to solve a problem (self-regulation), and evaluating how well you learned after studying (self-reflection). It's the mental software that lets you debug your own brain, and it's often the difference between being smart and being wise about your own limitations.
Example: "During the exam, I used meta-cognition: 'I'm spending too long on this question, my anxiety is spiking, and I don't actually know this formula. I'll flag it and move on.' It's not knowing the answers; it's knowing how your mind is (or isn't) finding them."
by Abzugal January 30, 2026
Get the Meta-Cognition mug.