Health Anarchology and Authentic Being: (1/10) Cognitive Selfhood as “Thinking About Thinking”

 Health Anarchology and Authentic Being: (1/10) Cognitive Selfhood as “Thinking About Thinking”

✍️ Mahmoud Sadeghi Janbehan

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Introduction

This brief article, within the framework of Health Anarchology, examines the concept of Cognitive Selfhood, one of whose broad dimensions is expressed as “thinking about thinking.” The main aim is to clarify and analyze how reflection on cognitive processes is not merely a cognitive skill, but rather a fundamental condition for psychological and social health.

Authentic being—as a core attribute of the healthy human—is shaped by cognitive and epistemic functions that enable continuous critique of thought, liberation from biases and stereotypes, and the cultivation of a free and authentic way of life. In this short essay, I introduce and analyze five essential pillars of this process: (1) reflection on how one thinks, (2) awareness of biases, (3) courage to revise, (4) metacognition as rebellion, and (5) liberation from fixed thought-patterns. I argue that without achieving this level of awareness, neither individual mental health nor authentic and sustainable social freedom can be realized.

✅ Authentic Being and Cognitive Integrity

Health Anarchology seeks to explain, anatomize, and analyze the traits of the healthy human and the process of psychological unification. One of the most fundamental markers of a healthy and unified person is the experience of authentic being, autonomous identity, free existence, and moral, cognitive, and emotional autonomy.

Health, in this perspective, is a multidimensional and complex concept rooted in biological, psychological, social, and spiritual dimensions of human existence. Within this framework, cognitive selfhood, grounded in the valuable approach of thinking about thinking, is both a precondition and a product of authentic being.

Cognitive selfhood means that the individual moves beyond mere thinking about the external world or everyday subjects and instead makes the very process of thinking itself the object of reflection and critique. It involves a deep inclination to revisit, refine, and continuously polish one’s thoughts.

Thinking about thinking entails dimensions such as deepening awareness of cognitive processes, consciously monitoring mental activity, revisiting beliefs, reconstructing mental frameworks, critically examining thought patterns, and remaining sensitive to cognitive errors. This level of awareness allows for ongoing critique, reconstruction, and refinement of thought, empowering the individual to break free from ignorance, blind prejudice, and external pressures.

In other words, cognitive selfhood is an essential condition for living authentically. Only through it can a person navigate between inner desires and prejudices on the one hand, and external pressures and imposed norms on the other, finding a liberating, dignity-centered path. Health, therefore, is not merely defined as biological or psychological balance, but as a process of freedom and existential unification.

✅ Cognitive Selfhood and Authentic Being

The concept of cognitive selfhood directly links to the idea of authentic being—a state in which humans live not according to clichés, imposed norms, or submissive forms of knowledge, but on the basis of conscious, dignity-centered choices. This condition is tied to inner freedom, which begins with liberation from repetitive thought patterns and the mental molds that reproduce domination.

In the perspective of Health Anarchology, cognitive selfhood starts with breaking the chains of obedient knowledge—forms of knowledge constructed for compliance, repetition, and the preservation of dominant order. Though these forms appear rational, they actually restrict intellectual horizons and suffocate creativity, inquiry, and epistemic rebellion.

Cognitive selfhood is born precisely from this possibility: the experience of a free and autonomous life rooted in rebellion and questioning. Such rebellion does not mean the destruction of thought, nor irrational denial, but a conscious revolt against epistemic impositions in order to refine thought. Questioning, in this sense, is not mere curiosity, but an instrument for dismantling intellectual domination while planting the seeds of self-awareness and authenticity.

Its highest form occurs when thought thinks itself—when thinking not only addresses the external world or objects, but also reflects upon its own processes and epistemic foundations. Such thought is both the birthplace and guardian of epistemic freedom.

Outer freedom, if not linked to inner self-awareness, will sooner or later remain vulnerable to new forms of domination. Thus, cognitive selfhood is not just a mental skill or technique, but a fundamental part of anarchist existence—where the individual learns to remain free and authentic in thinking, questioning, and knowing.

This dual freedom—both from external domination and from inner authoritarianism—becomes the foundation for the emergence of a healthy and unified human being who experiences freedom not as an external condition but as a way of being.

✅ The Five Pillars of Cognitive Selfhood

1. Reflection on How One Thinks

Cognitive selfhood moves the individual beyond mere engagement with content, urging reflection on the methods, structures, and quality of one’s thought. This inward reflection creates a new level of cognitive awareness that allows for ongoing refinement of mental processes.

Living freely in this sense means becoming not just a consumer of thought, but the thinking subject of one’s own thought. By focusing on how one thinks—not only on what one thinks—cognition is transformed from something static and imitative into a dynamic, creative, and self-correcting process.

This constant readiness to re-evaluate and revise one’s beliefs prevents imprisonment in rigidity, dogmatism, and closed-mindedness. Thus, reflection on how we think not only clarifies intellectual pathways but also fosters liberation from narrow thought-frames and strengthens cognitive and moral maturity.

2. Awareness of Biases and Prejudices

No human mind is completely immune to errors, biases, or blind spots. Cognitive selfhood entails the conscious recognition and confrontation of these limitations. Instead of uncritically accepting one’s mental impressions, the individual learns to scrutinize them, expose blind spots, and minimize their distorting effects.

This awareness does not aim at eliminating bias entirely—which is impossible—but at managing, reducing, and even transforming biases into opportunities for growth. Each recognition of bias is a step toward clarity and maturity.

Such self-critique fosters an open, flexible, and self-reflective mind capable of hearing diverse voices and embracing alternative perspectives. Awareness of bias is, therefore, essential for liberation from dogmatism and for entry into authentic, free living.

3. Courage to Revise Beliefs

A central component of cognitive selfhood is the courage to critique and revise beliefs. This requires openness to new evidence, fresh experiences, and lessons from past mistakes. The willingness to change frees the individual from prejudice, rigidity, and cognitive stagnation, and sustains growth.

This courage does not mean rejecting the past wholesale, but rather recognizing that no belief is absolute or final. Thought gains authenticity and freedom precisely through its capacity for revision and renewal.

4. Cognitive Rebellion

Cognitive rebellion is the conscious resistance to automaticity of thought and to social or unconscious pressures that push the mind toward conformity and repetition. It does not imply chaos, but rather the courage of free-thinking and refusal to accept inherited assumptions uncritically.

This rebellion empowers individuals to resist cognitive injustice—the mechanisms that silence alternative voices and naturalize dominant thought. Cognitive rebellion transforms thinking from passive repetition into an active, liberating, and ethical process.

5. Liberation from Fixed and Repetitive Thought

Mature cognitive selfhood manifests in the ability to break free from clichés and repetitive mental patterns. Though seemingly familiar and safe, such patterns inhibit creativity and freedom.

Liberation here means the courage of epistemic rebellion—the refusal to conform to repetitive thinking and the willingness to embrace new possibilities. Critical thinking plays a crucial role, distinguishing between what is alive and authentic versus what is dead and outdated.

Freed from the weight of repetition, thought becomes fluid and generative, continuously opening toward new horizons of freedom and authenticity.

Conclusion

From the perspective of Health Anarchology, lack of cognitive selfhood reproduces domination at three levels:

• Individual: entrapment in prejudice, unhealthy beliefs, and repetitive mental patterns that limit growth.
• Social: perpetuation of imposed, dominance-centered norms that prevent collective freedom and ethical life.
• Political: reinforcement of authoritarian structures that suppress individual and collective creativity.

Conversely, the realization of cognitive selfhood enables both individuals and societies to break free from cycles of limitation and domination, moving toward freer, more responsible, and dignity-centered forms of existence.

Cognitive selfhood, therefore, is not just a mental skill but a fundamental condition of psychological, ethical, and political health. Only through “thinking about thinking” can humans achieve authentic being—where freedom, dignity, and liberation are lived not as slogans but as ways of being.

Citation:

Sadeghi Janbehan, M. (2025). Health Anarchology and Authentic Being: (1/10) Cognitive Selfhood as “Thinking About Thinking”. Retrieved October 3, 2025, from https://anarchology.blogfa.com