Think Meta
How to think about reality so that you always feel at home, regardless of the conditions? So that you can enjoy both the silence of the ocean and the storm, like a petrel?
The answer is Metacognitive Programming. Once you understand not just what you think but also how and why you think so, you will have the opportunity to train yourself to think differently. By changing your thinking, you necessarily change the reality around you.
Elon Musk once said that it’s highly likely that we, humans, live in a computer simulation. Each of us has a bio-mental program, and in life, each receives what the program contains. We always feel emotions because of our thoughts. Our emotions do not reflect the real world. They reflect our perception of the world. In fact, it is the mental part of the program, while the behavioral response is its biological component.
We are speaking metaphorically, of course. But this metaphor captures our human experience very well: we feel what we see and see what our mental program allows us to perceive.
Do you know the difference between fatalism and determinism? In brief, while fatalism refers to accepting external circumstances, determinism represents an implementation of our biological program. In life, it’s better to be a determinist than a fatalist. Not being a fatalist means being able not to accept what you can change. It also means disagreeing with your perception of reality if it conflicts with your full genetic potential.
People often ask: “How do I know my world perception does not correspond to my genetic potential?” The answer is quite simple. If you are not happy and calm, your perception no longer serves you. So it is time to update your mental program.
The mental program update
The update of your mental program begins with understanding what no longer works for you.
The first step is to look at your thinking direction in general and particularly at specific thoughts. And to evaluate them.
For example, if you think about the same thing as if your thoughts go in circles – you are ruminating. Rumination is a compulsive repetition of thoughts, and it serves no specific purpose and has no particular outcome. We all ruminate. And the more we do it, the less effective we are in our lives. It is our brain being obsessed with problems and not solutions. Or it is our brain being busy thinking about what we do not want to think about. It can be our brain mentally returning to the past or trying to think through all threats the future might carry. In all of these cases, the general direction of thinking is wrong, and a new way of thinking needs to be found.
The update of the mental program is also required in cases where specific thoughts do not serve you. If how you think of specific things does not help you progress in life, then there is a problem with the content of your particular thoughts and the way you think. For example, if you need help but believe that no one would help, there is a problem with that specific thought, but there is also a problem with negative thinking direction in general.
The second step is to find a new program. If you see that the old program no longer serves you, you need to understand how to replace it. What kind of mental model do you need to download for yourself so your life can change for the better? It is the most complex and most important question.
You must answer it to proceed to the third step, which includes training yourself to base your thoughts and beliefs on logical evidence, inspiration, and repetition. To pass the second step and decide which program you should download, you need some program choosing criteria.
Choosing a new mental program: Criteria
The title of this article is Think Meta. By this title, we invite you to think about your thinking. But it is also an invitation for you to think about how other people think. Think Meta holds the key to a new software download and a complete life upgrade resulting from that download.
“I like the way you think.” It is the phrase you most likely used at least once in your life. Finding someone whose way of thinking appeals to you is the first criterion for choosing a new mental program. Does one think long-term? Think in facts? Sees both good and bad? Is one’s thinking balanced?
To find such a person, you have to hear, see and read many people. No thoughts in our heads belong to us. The first thoughts that entered our heads entered without our permission. We did not get to choose who to listen to and why. We were told, we memorized, and we later remembered. But it should not be like this for the rest of your life. At some point, we must decide to let only the necessary and useful thoughts into our heads. We must search for them. Lots of listening, observing, and reading.
Once you have found a person whose thinking appeals to you, what is next? The second criterion for choosing a new mental program concerns your feelings upon hearing another person’s words. Here, you need to pause to evaluate whether to let these words in or not. We can agree with the opinions of many, but it does not mean that we have to integrate all their programs into ourselves. Let’s say you hear someone expressing indignation about something. And, let’s say that you agree with this person and you also feel indignant. But, do you want to stay in this emotion? Do you want to remain angry, annoyed, or disgusted for a long time? If not, then that particular program is not for you. We search for people whose words spark interest, love, laughter, clarity, or calmness. The way we want to feel serves as a filter for our choices.
The third final selection criterion is to look at the measurable results of using another program. If a person does not have what you want to have in your life, then you do not need this person’s mental program. To find a high-quality program in a material world, one can only rely on material display as the criteria. Does the other person have a life’s work that brings deep satisfaction? Does the other person have a life of comfort and security? Close relationships? Prosperity? Does the other person have anything that you find valuable? If not, then you should keep looking. Keep searching.
Each of us understands the importance of finding and downloading a mental program better than we have. That is why teachers, coaches, mentors, preachers of religion, and various gurus were in demand for thousands of years before us and will be in demand for thousands of years after us. They promise to have a valuable mental model and are willing to pass it on to others.
Thinking Meta: Loading a new program
You need to learn everything that those whose thoughts appeal to you know. You need to find a discrepancy between your and their thinking. And you need to choose thoughts and ways of thinking that will benefit you most.
We achieve this by establishing and maintaining close contact for a long time.
By asking questions and listening to answers.
Or reading and understanding.
Or observing and memorizing.
Then we analyze our most incredible insights and make them part of our new thinking. You continue doing so until you start thinking as the other person thinks or until the person is out of thoughts you do not know.