Metacognition: Becoming a Critic Of Your Thinking, Thinking about thinking.

In order to think critically well, our thinking itself needs to be thought out. We must think about our thinking. Critical thinking is the disciplined art of ensuring that the best thinking is used to the extent that one is capable of in any set of circumstances. Critical thinking is a practical art. There can be nothing more practical than  thinking critically. Metacognition is the process of thinking about our thinking. It is the reflection of the processes of how we think. As such thinking about our thinking is just as important as our thinking. 

In any situation in life, whatever circumstances we are in or are facing, no matter where we are, we would be better of and in an advantageous stage if we are skilled in thinking critically.

The general part of critical thinking is trying to understand the situation, circumstances and conditions of a problem.

We can ask the following question when we are confronted with a problem: What is really going on in this or that situation? Do they care about me? Are they trying to take advantage of me? What are the consequences of failing to that?

The daily work of thinking critically is responding successfully to the above questions. In order to answer questions successfully we must maximise the quality of thinking. Well, we can do this by making the learning of thinking a priority. We must learn to become effective critics of our own thinking. 

In order to maximise the effectiveness of our thinking we must ask ourselves the following series of unusual questions:

A. What have you learnt about how you think?

B. What do you know about how your mind processes information?

C. What do you really know about how to analyse, evaluate, or reconstruct your thinking?

D. Where does your thinking come from?

E. How much of your thinking is of high quality?

F. How much of your thinking is of poor quality?

G. How much of your thinking is vague, muddled, inconsistent, inaccurate, illogical, or superficial?

H. Are you in a real sense in control of your thinking? 

I. Do you know how to test your thinking?

J. Do you have any conscious standards of for determining when you when you are thinking well and when you are not?

K. Have you ever discovered a significant problem in your thinking and changed it by a conscious act of will?

L. If anyone asked you to teach them what you have learned, thus far in your life, about thinking, would you really have any idea what that was 

what that was or how your learned it?

It would be very likely that your answer would be that you do not really know much about your thinking or about thinking in general. 

It is very important to realise that serious study of thinking, serious thinking about thinking, is rare. It is not a subject found in most colleges and universities. It is seldom found in the thinking of our culture or even in the west. How we can see however, when we think deeply and focus on our thinking we can see how is playing a role in your life you immediately come to realise just how thinking has affected how you feel, everything you want, what you are and what you want to be are affected by your thinking. When you have become persuaded that this is the case, you will see how little attention people pay to thinking.

In order for us to become skilled at thinking we must perform intellectual work. After doing intellectual work we can move on to a higher level of thinking. That is we move to thinking about thinking. That is we critique our thinking. We move to a higher level of quality of thinking. This is not achievable overnight. We do not become good thinker in a short span of time.

In order to arrive at that higher quality of thinking, we practise certain ways of thinking. These ways ill at first seem uncomfortable, difficult and challenging at times. We must examine how our minds think.

The following key ideas when applied can result in a mind that practises skilled thinking. These are some of the ways we can enhance the quality of thinking;

1. Clarify our thinking.

2. Stick to the point.

3. Question questions.

4. Be reasonable.

1. Clarify our thinking: The way we think must always be clarified. We must look out for any vague, fuzzy, unclear, formless or nebulous thinking. We must understand the real meaning of what people say. We should look at what they say on both the surface and underneath it.

In order to clarify our thinking, we should do the following:

- explain our understanding of the issue to someone else to help clarify it in your own mind

- practise summarising in our own words what others say

- then ask them if they understood us correctly

- do not agree or disagree with what anyone says until we clearly understand them

There is a pitfall that we have where we think that our own thinking is clear to us, even when it is not. But vague, ambiguous, muddled, deceptive, or misleading thinking are significant problems in human life. If we are to develop as thinkers, we must learn the art of clarifying thinking, of pinning it down, spelling it out, and giving it a specific meaning.

What we should is this. When people explain to use, we should summarise in our own words what we think they said. Then ask them if what we understood was correct. If we cannot do this to their satisfaction, then we have not understood what they have said. If they cannot summarise what we have said to our satisfaction, then they have not understood what we have said.

Strategies for Clarifying Thinking:

A. State one point at a time.

B. Elaborate on what you mean  

C. Give examples that connect your thoughts to life experiences 

D. Use analogies and metaphors to help people to connect your ideas to a variety of things that already understand  

Here are some Formats we Can Use:

• I think.....(State your main point)
• In other words....(Elaborate your main points)
• For example.....(Give an example of your main point)
• To give you an analogy ......(Give an illustration of your main point)

In order to clarify other people's thinking, Consider asking the following:

• Can you restate your point in other words, I cannot understand you?
• Can you give an example?
• Let me tell you what I understand what you to be saying. Did I understand you correctly?

2. Stick to the Point: Thinking must be relevant. When thinking is relevant it is firmly focused on the main task at hand. It selects what is germane, pertinent, and related. We must be alert for everything related to the issue a well as anything irrelevant or not connected to the issue. Anything that is not connected to the issue is set aside. There should not be anything that is immaterial, inappropriate, extraneous, and beside the point. In the event that the mind wanders away from relevancy, it must be brought back to the issue. This truly makes a difference in thinking.

Thinking must be disciplined. Undisciplined thinking sees the mind wandering away from any connection to the issue.

Hence, we must be on the lookout for fragmented, thinking that darts from logical connection to the issue. Focus is the key to sticking to the point.

Ask These Questions to Make Sure Thinking is Focused on What is Relevant;

• Am I focused on the main problem or task?
• How is this connected? How is that?
• Does my information directly relate to the problem or task?     
• Where do I need to focus my attention?
• Are we being diverted to unrelated matters?
• Am I failing to consider relevant viewpoints?
• How is your point relevant to the issue we are addressing?
• What fact are actually going to help us answer the question? What considerations should be set aside?
• Does this truly bear on the question? How does it connect?

 3. Question questions: We must be on the look out for questions. These are the questions that we ask. The ones we fail to ask. Questions must be examined on the surface and beneath them. Observe how people ask questions closely, observe when they ask questions, and when they fail to question. Look closely at the questions asked. Pay attention to the questions asked. What questions do we ask? Should we ask those questions? Examine the extent to which we are the questioner, or are simply the the ones who accept the definitions of situations given by others.

Most people are not skilled at asking questions. Most people accept the world as it is presented to them. When they do ask questions, their questions are superficial or "loaded." Their questions do not help in solving problems nor enable them in better decision making. A good thinker will constantly ask questions routinely in order to comprehend and deal effectively with the world around them. Good thinkers constantly question the status quo. Good thinkers are cognisant that things are often different from the way they are presented. Their questions penetrate images, masks, fronts, and propaganda. they use questions that make real problems explicit and discipline their thinking through those problems.When we become students of questions, we  can learn to ask powerful questions that lead them to a deeper and more fulfilling life. Questions become more basic, essential, and deep.

 Strategies for Formulating More Powerful Questions

• Whenever you do not understand something, ask a  question of clarification.
• Whenever you are dealing with a complex problem, formulate the question you are trying to answer in several different ways (being as precise as you can) util you hit upon the best solution that addresses the problem at hand.
• Whenever you plan to discuss an important issue or problem, write out in advance the most significant questions you think need to be addressed in the discussion. Be ready to change the main question, but once it is made clear , help those in the discussion stick to the question, making sure the dialogue builds toward an answer that makes sense.

Questions you can ask to disciple your thinking:

• What precise question are we trying to answer?
• Is that the best question to ask in this situation?
• Is there a more important question we should be addressing?
• Does this question capture the real issue we are facing?
• Is there a question we should answer before we attempt to answer this question?
• What information do we need to answer the question?
• What conclusions seem justified in light of the facts?
• What is our pint of view? Do we need to consider another?
• Is there another way to look at the question?
• What are some related questions we need to answer?
• What type of question in this: an economic question, a political questions, a legal question, etc?

4. Be Reasonable: We should be on the lookout for reasonable and unreasonable behaviour. These are both ours and that of others. Reasonable behaviour is where we or anyone is willing to listen to the ideas of other people, and not view themselves or ourselves as right and others as wrong. Instead, we should look to see if the views of other people have any merit. 

Whenever we think that we alone are right, we must stop and think if the views of other have any merit. We should see if we can break through our defensiveness to hear what others are saying.  

We should also be aware of unreasonableness in others. When unreasonable behaviour manifests itself in others, steps must be taken to 

We must be reasonable with the views of others. We should not be outright dismissive of the views of other people and neither should we allow other people to be dismissive of the views of others. We must make sure that we as well as everyone else is reasonable and never be unreasonable. We must breakthrough our defensiveness and listen to what others have to see we must see the merit in other peoples’ views. 

A hallmark of a critical thinker is a disposition to change one's mind and when given good reason to change. Good thinkers want to change their thinking when they discover better thinking. They can be moved by reason. Yet, comparatively few people are reasonable. Very few are willing to change their minds once set. Few are willing to suspend their beliefs to fully hear the views of those with which they disagree. How do we raise ourselves and others’. 

Strategies for becoming more reasonable:

We should set ourselves I'm not perfect I mean I make mistakes I'm often wrong. We have to see whether we have the courage to admit this during a disagreement. Saying such as, “of course, I may be wrong. You may be right”. We should practice saying this in our minds, “I may be wrong. I am often wrong, I'm willing to change my mind when given good reasons.”

Then what we should look for opportunities to change the way we think.

We should ask ourselves, “when was the last time I changed my mind because someone give me better reasons for his or her views then I had for mine? “

Realise that you are being close-minded:

a. you are unwilling to listen to someone's reasons
b. are irritated with the reasons people give to you
c. become defensive in a discussion

After you catch yourself being close-minded, analyse what was going on in your mind by completing these statements:

After you catch yourself being close-minded, analyze what was going on in your mind by completing these statements:

     a. I realize I was being close-minded in this situation because . . .
     b. The thinking I was trying to hold onto is . . .
     c. Thinking that is potentially better is . . .
     d. This thinking is better because . . .

The best thinkers are those who understand the development of thinking as a process occurring throughout many years of practice in thinking. They recognise the importance of learning about the mind, about thoughts, feelings and desires and how these functions of the mind interrelate. They are adept at taking thinking apart, and then assessing the parts when analysed. In short, they study the mind, and they apply what they learn about the mind to their own thinking in their own lives.

The extent to which any of us develops as a thinker is directly determined by the amount of time we dedicate to our development, the quality of the intellectual practice we engage in, and the depth, or lack thereof, of our commitment to becoming more reasonable, rational, successful persons.


Some of the types of thinking often gets us into trouble because we often:

• jump to conclusions
• fail to think-through implications
• lose track of their goal
• are unrealistic
• fail to notice contradictions
• accept inaccurate information
• ask vague questions
• give vague answers
• ask loaded questions
• confuse questions of different types
• think narrowly
• think illogically
• come to unreasonable conclusions

A How-To List for Dysfunctional Living

Most people have no notion of what it means to take charge of their lives. They don’t realize that the quality of their lives depends on the quality of their thinking. We all engage in numerous dysfunctional practices to avoid facing problems in our thinking. Consider the following and ask yourself how many of these dysfunctional ways of thinking you engage in:

1.     Surround yourself with people who think like you. Then no one will criticize you.
 

2.     Don’t question your relationships. You then can avoid dealing with problems within them.

3.     If critiqued by a friend or lover, look sad and dejected and say, “I thought you were my friend!” or “I thought you loved me!”
 

4.     When you do something unreasonable, always be ready with an excuse. Then you won’t have to take responsibility. If you can’t think of an excuse, look sorry and say, “I can’t help how I am!”
 

5.     Focus on the negative side of life. Then you can make yourself miserable and blame it on others.

6.     Blame others for your mistakes. Then you won’t have to feel responsible for your mistakes. Nor will you have to do anything about them.
 

7.     Verbally attack those who criticize you. Then you don’t have to bother listening to what they say.
 

8.     Go along with the groups you are in. Then you won’t have to figure out anything for yourself.
 

9.     Act out when you don’t get what you want. If questioned, look indignant and say, “I’m just an emotional person. At least I don’t keep my feelings bottled up!”
 

10. Focus on getting what you want. If questioned, say, “If I don’t look out for number one, who will?”