Hello, I’m Stickman Charles.

Teacher Li Xiaolai once said: “Clear and correct concepts are the foundation of all thinking. In fact, whether a person is intelligent can almost be reduced to two questions: Do they possess enough clear, accurate, and correct concepts? And are the relationships between those concepts clear, accurate, and correct?”

Metacognition is the first concept we should understand. It is also the foundation for all the concepts and behaviors that follow.

Metacognition refers to the ability to think about one’s own thinking and behavior.

In Cognitive Awakening, the author describes the theory of the three brains: the instinctive brain, the emotional brain, and the rational brain (the neocortex). The instinctive brain originated about 360 million years ago. It has a simple structure and reacts quickly, focusing mainly on pleasure and avoiding harm. The emotional brain emerged about 200 million years ago and is responsible for processing emotions and social interactions. The rational brain appeared around 2.5 million years ago and handles higher-level cognitive functions, including metacognition.

In daily life, the instinctive brain and emotional brain process more than 90% of incoming information because they respond quickly. The rational brain reacts much more slowly. Often, it can only respond after the fact, or occasionally intervene in small moments. This is one reason why many people in the stock market lack a long-term investment mindset. They hope to get rich quickly, buy high by following the crowd without independent thinking, and sell low because they lack confidence in assets they never truly analyzed themselves.

The same pattern appears in everyday life. Many people occasionally lose control of their words or actions and later regret it deeply. This is also a sign of weak metacognitive ability. If the rational brain could intervene before those words were spoken or those actions taken, many regrets might never occur. There is an old Chinese saying: “Think three times before you act.” It expresses the same idea.

So how can we train our metacognitive ability? I use three methods.

First, when facing emotional stimulation, pause for six seconds. This gives the rational brain enough time to respond and take control of behavior.

Second, write a daily journal—also known as a review. It does not need to be complicated. Simply list the three things you most need to improve today and propose solutions for them.

Third, maintain good sleep. The rational brain relies on the prefrontal cortex (PFC), which is highly sensitive to sleep deprivation. Once sleep drops below six hours, this region begins to lose oxygen efficiency, making metacognitive control much harder to access. This is why people who stay up late are more likely to lose emotional control.

I was born in 2012, which means I should theoretically be entering my rebellious teenage years. Here I want to thank my father, my mother, and Professor Sun. When I was young, they introduced me to the concept of metacognition and helped me develop the habit of observing and regulating my own behavior.

Starting today, you can begin training your own metacognitive ability and become one of the few people who can deliberately activate their rational brain in real time.

If you have any thoughts or suggestions about metacognition, feel free to contact me at:

charlesisworkinghard@gmail.com

Keep thinking, and take care.

你好，我是 Stickman Charles。

李笑来老师曾经说过：“清晰且正确的概念是一切思考的基石。而衡量一个人是否聪明，几乎可以凝练成他是否符合下面这两个条件：他有没有足够多的清晰、准确、正确的概念；他的概念之间有没有清晰、准确、正确的联系。”

元认知是我们要了解的第一个概念，也是之后所有概念和行为的基石。

所谓元认知能力，就是对自己当前行为的独立思考。

在《认知觉醒》中，作者提到了三个大脑理论：本能脑、情绪脑和理智脑/新皮层。本能脑起源于3.6亿年前，结构简单、反应快，只专注于享乐和“避害”；情绪脑起源于2亿年前，可以处理情绪和社交；理智脑起源于250万年前，负责高级认知功能，其中就包括我们提到的元认知。

在日常生活中，你的本能脑和情绪脑因为响应速度快，掌控了90%以上的信息处理。理智脑因为响应速度慢，很多时候只能事后再反应，或者见缝插针地偶尔干预一下你的行为。这也就导致了在股市里，很多人没有长期投资的心态——总想着一笔暴富，又或者是高买——喜欢跟风，不独立思考；低卖——对不经过自己思考的资产没有信心，害怕没人接盘。

又或者说，很多人在生活中总有那么几次控制不住自己的言行，最后酿成大祸。这也是元认知能力缺失的体现。如果能在说出这些话、做出这些事之前先动用理智脑想一想，也许很多人的遗憾就不会再出现了。中国有句古话：“三思而后行。”讲的也是这个道理。

那么，怎样锻炼自己的元认知能力呢？我用了以下三种方法：

第一，在受到情绪刺激时，暂停6秒钟。给我的理智脑充足的响应时间，接管我的行为。

第二，每天坚持写日志——也可以被称为复盘。不需要太复杂，只需要把自己今天最应该提升的三个点列出来，并给出解决方案就行。

第三，保持良好的睡眠。理智脑依赖前额叶皮层（PFC），这个区域对睡眠不足最敏感。一旦睡眠小于6小时，该区域就会缺氧，导致元认知调用的难度大幅上升。因此可以说，熬夜的人情绪更容易失控。

我出生于2012年，现在按理来说应该处在叛逆期。在这里我很想感谢我的父亲、母亲和孙教授，他们在我小的时候教会了我元认知的概念，让我有了控制自己言行的习惯和意识。

从今天开始，你也可以开始锻炼自己的元认知能力，让自己成为那些为数不多能即时调用理智脑的人之一。

如果你有任何对于元认知的想法和建议，请通过 charlesisworkinghard@gmail.com 联系我，期待你的思考！

保持思考，保重。