已领LearntoUnderstandYourOwnInte

　　source：pickthebrain
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　　ThreeyearsagoIlistenedtoalectureoncognitionthatchangedthewayIthinkaboutintelligence。Thisisthecrux。Therearetwotypesofcognition。Thefirstisnormalcognition。Thisistheabilitytoretrieveknowledgefrommemory。Whenyouareaskedaquestiononatestandproduceananswer，that’sadisplayofcognitiveability。Ttheabilitytoknowwhetherornotyouknow。
　　Haveyoueverbeenaskedaquestionthatyouknewtheanswerto，butyoucouldn’tfindtherightword？Thisiscalledthe“tipofthetongue”phenomenonandI’msurewe’veallexperiencedit。Youknowthatyouknowtheanswer，butyoufailtoproduceit。Ifsomeonesaidananswer，youwouldknowinstantlyifitwascorrectornot。Inthesecasesmetacognitionexistswithoutcognition。
　　Inshort，cognitionisknowing，metacognitionisknowingifyouknowornot。Bothcanexisttogether，butmanytimestheydon’t。
　　HowDoesthisAffectIntelligence？
　　Sowhatimportancedoesthishaveandhowisitrelevanttoselfimprovement？Thefactthattherearetwodifferentkindsofcognitiveabilitymeansthattherearedifferenttypesofintelligence。
　　Intraditionaleducation，intelligenceismeasuredbycognitiveability。Forsomepeoplethisisworkswell。Theycaneasilyproduceeverythingtheyknowonatest。Butforothersitdoesn’tworkoutsowell。Thepeoplethatknowsomethingcoldbutcan’tfindtherightwordsonatestareawardedwithpoorgradesandconsideredinferior。
　　Butdoesthisinabilitymakethemanylessintelligent？Theyknowtheanswer。Ifthequestioncameuponatask，theycouldrefertoabookoraquickGooglesearch。Inrealitythey’rejustaseffectiveasthepeoplethatacedthetest。Theyjustcan’tproveitaseasily。
　　TheImportanceofKnowingwhatyouknow
　　Unlessyou’retakingatestorplayingJeopardy，metacognitionismoreimportanttosuccessthancognition。Inreallife，whenyou’refacedwithaquestionthefirstdecisioniswhetheryouknowtheanswerornot。Withstrongmetacognitiveabilitythisiseasy。Ifyouknowtheanswer，butcan’tcomeupwithit，youcanalwaysdoabitofresearch。Ifyouknowforsurethatyoudon’tknow，thenyoucanstarteducatingyourself。Becauseyou’reawareofyourignorance，youdon’tactwithfoolishconfidence。Thepersonwhothinkstheyknowsomethingthattheyreallydon’tmakestheworstdecisions。
　　Apersonwithpoorcognitiveability，butgreatmetacognitiveabilityisactuallyingreatshape。Theymightdopoorlyinschool，butwhenfacedwithachallengetheyunderstandtheirabilitiesandtakethebestcourseofaction。Thesepeoplemightnotseemintelligentatfirstglance，butbecausetheyknowwhattheyknow，theymakebetterdecisionsandlearnthemostimportantthings。
　　Cleverbutmediocrepeople
　　Attheoppositeendofthespectrumarepeoplewithgreatcognitiveabilitybutpoormetacognitiveability。ThesepeopleareproclaimedgeniusesatayoungageforacingeverytestandgettinggreatSATscores。Unfortunately，they’theythinktheyknoweverythingbuttheyreallydon’t。Theyarearrogant，failtolearnfrommistakes，anddon’showingdisdainforpersonswithlowercognitiveability。
　　Sowhoissuperior？Inabattleofwitsthehighercognitiveabilityprevails，butlifeisnotasingleencounter。Itisaseriesofexperimentsinsuccession，eachbuildinguponthelast。Learningrequiresknowingwhatyoudon’tknow，andtakingstepstolearnwhatyouneedto。Peoplewithpoormetacognitiveabilityneverrealizethattheydon’t‘getit’。Theyalsodon’trealizewhat’simportant。
　　Thisdoesn’tprecludethemfrommaterialsuccess。But，perhapsthat’sapoormeasurementofintelligenceaswell。Therearemanypeoplewhobecomerichandsuccessfulbytheirclevernessandcognitiveability，butashumanbeingsarequitemediocre。Isthemanthatmakesamilliondollars，butiscruelandabusivetohisemployeesandfamily，reallymoreintelligentthanthepoormanwholivesamodestandlovinglife？Idon’tintendtodemonizewealth，onlytostatethatitshouldnotbethemeasureofvirtue。
　　Useyourmetacognitiveability
　　Sowhatdoweknowandwhatdowenot？Andhowcanwetellthedifference？Thereissomuchtoknowintheworldthatthemostbrillianthumanmindscangrasponlythetiniestfraction。Forthisreasonweshouldalwaysbeindoubtofwhatweknow。Theclosedmindisoblivioustoitssurroundings，whiletheopenmindabsorbsthem。Likeasponge，itsoaksupobservations，becomingfullerandmorerobust。
　　Butwecan’tliveintotaldoubt。Ifwedidwewouldneveract，paralyzedbyourinadequateknowledge。Wemusttrustourintuition。Ifsomethingmakesyoufeelacertainway，thatfeelingisrealandmustberespected。Actbasedonyourownconvictions，notthoseofothers，andkeepanopenearfornewideas。
　　Themostimportantmentalpoweristheabilitytoknowwhatyoudon’tknow。Therecognitionofafaultisthefirststeptoimprovement。Don’ttrytohidealackofknowledge。Peoplewillseethroughitandyou’llappearfoolishandarrogant。Ifyouadmityourignorance，peoplewillhelpyoulearnandrespectyourhumility。Forintelligentpeoplethisisthetoughestlessontolearn。Weareusedtobeingright，andconsiderbeingwrongshameful。We’reafraidtolosestatusbylookingstupid。Thisvainarroganceisagreatweaknessandthesourceofmanyproblems。Tocrushitandembracehumilityisthemarkoftruewisdom。