What does it mean to think about what you are thinking?

Answer 1

The term for it is 'Meta-thought', or (the older term) 'self-reflection'. It is a profound, emergent property occurring [apparently] only in humans. As far as we know, no other animal contemplates its own existence or thought-process. It is, therefore, of profound philosophical and scientific significance. Many who believe in the existence of God and the supernatural cite it as a phenomenon that refutes the idea of materialism (the belief that there is no such thing as anything beyond the material world, and that all phenomena in the universe can be explained as the effect of a prior cause of all the interactions of matter preceding it- even human thought- meaning even it is simply one part of a set of dominoes in a staggeringly elaborate ultimate set of dominoes first set into motion at the big bang). The existence of self-reflection is said to refute materialism, because a purely material universe could not account for it, as any thought-process explained away as purely material is said to still only be overseen by the self, which is observing it from a remote vantage point. In a purely material universe free-will could not exist, because all choices and actions could be "blamed" (as it were) on the chemical interactions of a persons' brain- your "choices" are an illusion and merely the inevitable result of falling dominoes. Yet, free-will seems to exist, as evinced by meta-thought. This is the conundrum of modern philosophy and religion- an issue they are still debating. It has been said that the physical self- the body and brain- is merely a vehicle operated by a ghost (the self). Meta-thought would be the act of you (the ghost) having a look around inside of your "car" (the brain part of the physical self). The existence of meta-thought seems consistent with this idea, though science can neither confirm or deny it. Just think about it (no pun intended).