THE WHEELS OF THE BUS

Metacognition – Thinking about thinking. I came across the word one day and apparently had way too much time on my hands … or more likely I had a boring to-do list for the day … because once I stopped to think about thinking, I found I had wasted the entire afternoon. In looking up an explanation for the word, I dipped my toe into the world of cognitive sciences, and the recognition of the cogent argument for being cognizant of our thoughts.

In fact, I found myself not so much thinking about thinking, as identifying all the cogs that appear in our world of thought and learning. I mean, just where do all those little cogs come from.  Once you see one you sort of OD on the little buggers, and discover they are everywhere!! If you search on line for “words containing cog” you get a seriously long list. Just to illustrate, this is an abbreviated look at where cogs show up in our everyday world.

Cogent – clear, logical argument

Cogitate – meditate, reflect, or think deeply

Cognation – related by blood

Cognition – mental action or process taking place in the brain

Cognizant – having knowledge, being aware of

Cogwheels – another word for cog

Discography – a descriptive list of recordings

Excogitate – To think out, devise

Incognito – false identity

Lexicography – the practice of compiling dictionaries

Metacognition – thinking about thinking

Precognition – foreknowledge of events

Recognize – identify from having encountered previously

Recognizance – an agreement made with a court of law to show up when told to

Clearly the little trio gets around. Much of their time is spent hanging out with the brains … the thinkers and cogitators of the world. And yet, if one looks for a definition of the word cog, all one will find is a description of cogwheels. However, I would venture to say the little cogs of the world make our thoughts go round … just like the wheels of the bus, go round and round, round and round, round and round. The cogs of the world go round and round, all through the town.

But having said that, I recognize that cogwheel works as a definition after all. Just like the metal gears one finds in machinery all over the world, our little mental cogs have a toothed edge that grabs you as you pass by and holds you long enough to activate your mental gear shaft so you spend an entire afternoon in a cerebral do-loop, cogitating the recognition of cogs. Crafty little buggers.