How is a stream of consciousness not thinking? We all know what a stream of consciousness feels like – it is the incessant babble that resonates in our head during almost all of our conscious lifetime. In fact, it is the defining characteristic of consciousness. If we are consciousness, we have a stream of consciousness. … Continue reading
The simplicity is deceptive. My app, Cognaware, is finished. I'm certain that there are still bugs to work out, but it appears to work fine. There is one very good reason to download it and use it – self-awareness. That's all there is to it. All of the benefits of this app are summed up … Continue reading
During the testing of Cognaware, something struck me. While answering the questions, you have to think about them. Not just a quick answer kind of thinking, but a dig deep to see if I know this kind of thinking. Not a difficult dig deep, but a digging that is required to judge whether you know … Continue reading
Full self-awareness encompasses the abstract enablers of emotional intelligence, and metacognition. Although there is a great deal of overlap between emotional intelligence and metacognition, there are distinctive aspects that we can tease apart. The primary difference between emotional intelligence and metacognition is the direction of the focus. Cognition (thinking) and emotions are closely intertwined, but … Continue reading
Aren't you glad that we know how to really think? I don't know how often you might hear (or think) that. I get it all of the time. Especially from close acquaintances. They are aware that I have received many accolades in the area of learning and teaching people to think. They come to me … Continue reading
I wrote an article that touched on some of the themes in this piece – how not knowing what we don't know is destroying us. Not just individuals, but for us as a society. There are very people who are willing to admit that they need better thinking skills. Think about it – everyone … Continue reading
This article is very different from the articles that I usually write. Normally, I don't put references in my articles because I use them as seed ideas for my students to build from in my classes. However, this article has a different purpose. I am getting ready to publish an app for measuring and developing … Continue reading
This insight is the foundation of metacognition. "Knowing what you know" and "knowing what you don't know" is based on something called the "feeling of knowing". When you know (or think that you know) that you know something, there is a feeling of certainty. Studies into the feeling of knowing have found that individuals consistently … Continue reading
The core abstract cognitive enabler that most academics and businesses professionals bemoan the lack of is critical thinking. So why can’t we just teach students critical thinking? Teaching students to think critically and critical thinking are not the same thing. Although thinking critically is a necessary part of critical thinking, students can learn to think … Continue reading
Transferability is a problem in every area of learning. One of the primary goals of any training or education is transferability. To paraphrase Bjork, we have is the need to produce and have available a mental representation of the knowledge or skill that allows for flexible access to that information in different settings. The problem … Continue reading
