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The hidden skill of Metacognition: What is it and how it makes the brain work smarter

We all spend our days thinking, solving problems, making choices, learning new things, yet most of us rarely pause to examine how we think. Hidden beneath our everyday decisions is a quiet skill that shapes everything from how well we learn to how confidently we navigate challenges. This skill is called metacognition. In recent years, researchers have shown that strengthening this skill can meaningfully improve real-world outcomes. But what exactly is metacognition, and why does it matter so much in daily life? Below we explore. Metacognition literally means thinking about ones own thinking. Its the set of skills and processes that lets one monitor, evaluate, and control their own cognitive activity. For example; reading a paragraph and noticing we dont understand it. Then, deciding to re-read it, and checking later if we remember it. According to ResearchGate, the term Metacognition was popularized by John H. Flavell in the 1970s.