Holistic Athlete Weekly Newsletter

Metacognition - Pros and Cons

A key characteristic of human beings that seemingly sets us apart from other animals is metacognition — the ability (or curse, depending on how you look at it) to have thoughts and emotions about our thoughts and emotions.

Natural:

1) Impulse (“I’m hungry”)

2) Cognition (“I should eat”)

3) Action (eat)

Metacognition:

1) Impulse (“I’m hungry”)

2) Cognition (“I should eat”)

3) Dispute (“But I’m trying to lose weight”)

4) Affirming (“Well yeah but I can’t just not eat”)

5) Bargaining (“I’ll eat something healthy, or just have a snack so I can have a nice dinner later”)

6) Emotion (“It’s so annoying that everyone else can eat whatever they want but if I have a snack I feel like I gain 5 pounds”)

7) Reconsideration (“What’s even the point of trying to lose weight when I just put it right back on anyway?”)

Etc. Etc. Etc.