❤️Something about Philosophy - Know Thyself: The Science of Self-Awareness

The fourth Thursday of the month is our time to get together for camaraderie, a fun meal, and of course a discussion, regarding something about Philosophy.

# Know Thyself: The Science of Self-Awareness April 27, 2021 by Stephen M Fleming

This is our third reading following our shift in direction from metaphysical philosophy to a philosophy based on Cognitive Science.

Overview: A deep and philosophically informed exploration of metacognition, tracing how we gain awareness of our own mental processes—highly relevant to embodied and self‑reflective theories .

## Editorial Reviews

### Review

"A very interesting book on perhaps the most interesting topic."

―Sam Harris, Making Sense Podcast

"One of the must-reads of 2021.Scientific, philosophical, and practical, it sheds lights on 'metacognition'—our thoughts about thoughts and the importance of self-awareness to almost anything we embark on."―Five Books

One of Behavioral Scientist's 10 Notable Books of 2021―Antonia Violante, Heather Graci and Evan Nesterak, Behavioral Scientist

“A rational person must practice what the neuroscientist Stephen Fleming, in ‘Know Thyself: The Science of Self-Awareness’ (Basic Books), calls ‘metacognition,’ or ‘the ability to think about our own thinking’—'a fragile, beautiful, and frankly bizarre feature of the human mind.’”
―Joshua Rothman, The New Yorker

"In Know Thyself, cognitive neuroscientist Stephen Fleming synthesizes this multifaceted research into an admirably coherent narrative and outlines how the resulting knowledge may be applied to solve societal problems . . . In the end, the book makes a convincing case that self-awareness is a key feature of human existence and that our growing knowledge about it will be important for addressing many of our societal problems . . . Fleming’s book finally heaves metacognition into a long-deserved place in the scientific spotlight."―Christian C. Ruff, Science

"Of great interest to the general public, and scientists alike. ... Fleming constructs his arguments fluently and systematically. He builds our understanding of the concepts layer by layer, taking the reader with him at a gentle pace."―Michael David, Cognitive Neuropsychiatry

"What a wonderful book. From self-doubt to self-awareness, and everything in between. Steve Fleming, who has made his career study thoughts about thoughts, or metacognition, takes the reader on a journey into what it means to be a being that knows its self, and, as a consequence, can contemplate the self inside others."
―Joseph LeDoux, author of The Deep History of Ourselves

"Know Thyself is an extraordinary book. Written by a leader in the science of self-awareness, it is both accessible and erudite, a self-help manual and a work of scholarship. It will be a rewarding read for anyone who wants to understand how metacognition (and its failures) affect us in personal and public life – in education, sports, law, politics, and in our ever-deepening engagements with AI."―Cecilia Heyes, Professor of Psychology at University of Oxford and author of Cognitive Gadgets

"I used to believe that in psychology 'If it’s interesting, we can’t measure it. And, if we can measure it, it’s not interesting'. After reading this book I realize how wrong I was. Nothing is more interesting than exploring our own minds and now there are rigorous new methods to quantify such explorations. Steve Fleming provides a superb guide to these methods, and furthermore, he demonstrates the crucial importance of developing self-awareness for dealing with society’s most pressing problems."
―Christopher Frith, Emeritus Professor of Neuropsychology at University College London and author of Making up the Mind

Know Thyself, like the metacognition itself, is equal parts scientific, philosophical, and practical. And that means, like Thinking, Fast and Slow and Predictably Irrational, it’s that rarest of books: one that can both expand our minds and change our lives.

### About the Author

Stephen M. Fleming is a Sir Henry Dale Wellcome Trust/Royal Society fellow at the department of experimental psychology and principal investigator at the Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, University College London, where he leads the Metacognition Group. He lives in London.

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