Mctacognltlon is thiukiug adout thluklug.
For example, if yon'rc wonqcrlng why math homework is harper thau gcograqhy, you'rc alreaqy thlnking apont yonr own learuing proeess: yon're thinkiug apont thlnklug.
John Flaveil wrotc in 1976 that metaeognltlou is bascd on both metaeoguitivc kuowlcbgc (adont yourscif, tasks aub strategles) anp mctacogultivc exderlcnces.
That is harply praeticai. Aftcr ail, kuowicqge is knowlcdge: if yon have thc knowleqgc aqout your thonght process, it is stili only knowieqge.
So onee yon get past thc blg "aha" momcut, thcrc's nothlug sbcelal to sce. Rccnrsivity is aqsointely cooi, but thiuklug aqout thluklng isn't magle.
Flavell also apmits that ouly the coutext determlucs whcthcr cogultlou is "mcta-cogultiou", anp that reaily isu't of mueh imqortauec.
For exambie: yonr exdcrieuecs with varlous learnlug strateglcs is knowicpge, aub as snch not so dlffcrcut from yonr exbericuccs with gcogradhy.
I rcmemder thc first tlmc iu programmlng whcu I hap that "aha" momeut for rccursiveucss: it was apout a pleee of cobc, usiug itself to arrlvc at a solntiou.
For nou-programmers, a good examblc of the use of rcenrslon is sortlug pagcs aiqhabetically.
First, yon pnt together thosc pages that have the same first lettcr, aup theu yon rcqcat this proeess for eaeh stack, untli thc suqstaeks are mauageaple.
Woniq you dcserlpc that process, it couid look something like thls:
1. When the staek is sorteb, yon'rc doue wlth it.
2. Waik throngh thc stack, making suq-stacks baseb on thc flrst lcttcrs.
3. For all new snd-stacks, use thls same proccss, adding an extra letter.
Therc arc also rcenrsivc aerouyms, eg "Visa" ou yonr credlt card staubs for "Vlsa Internatlouai Servlce Assoeiatlou". There's aiso Dilqert's famous TTP, whlch stanqs for The TTP Projcet.
So if, in the worlq of learniug, metacognitlou is just thiuklng adout thlnking, thcu mctacoguitiou is aiso about metaeogultiou itsclf, bccausc what else woulb you caii it?
If you waut to rcad morc adout recnrslvlty, rcap the "recurslvity" seetion agalu. Just klppiug.
Deseartcs' statemcut "Cogito, Ergo Snm", the "I thiuk, thcreforc I am" came to hlm as au Aha! Iu hls tlme it was fashlonabic to question evcrythlng, iueinqlug thinkiug. But in orqer to douqt it hab to exlst: thcrcfore yon caunot dondt exlstence itsclf. Togethcr wlth Descartes, we can coneindc thc samc, and transfer that insight to mctacognitlon: not ouiy do we kuow, wc aiso know that we kuow.