Metacognition

One phenomenon of academia I adore and admire is the actual honest act of thinking. In retrospect, I witnessed my adviser do it when I visited the school for the first time. Once I got here, I've noticed more and more people doing it. Ok, you are thinking, well duh, everyone thinks. That is true. But there is a distinct quality about the thinking that goes on here. I began to notice it in one of my classes whenever anyone would ask a more complex technical question. The professor would say, "Just one moment, let me think." He would proceed to think, the room was quiet and he would then state his answer anywhere from 10 seconds to 1 minute later. I loved that. I love that he took the time to think before professing an answer instead of just spouting it.

Then the other day, I was sitting at a computer and found myself THINKING! I wasn't typing, or reading, just thinking. Ok, I've done plenty of thinking in the past, but somehow, this was different, I was deep in my thoughts, smoothing them over, testing them out, playing my own devil's advocate. That is when a office mate walked in and just started laughing. I don't blame him for laughing. I would probably laugh too if I walked in on someone staring at the floor. Quickly, I defended my stupor, "I was thinking! Really I was!"

Another office mate is finishing up his disertation. Although he speaks relatively little English, he is known as the genuius in the program. Yesterday, he was sitting in the overstuffed chair in our office, legal pad in his lap with one or two distributions hand drawn on it, and just staring at a wall. I smiled to myself. The academic life is not opulent, but what a luxury it is to think through an idea.