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A mental process where one thinks about one’s own thinking, and then thinks about thinking about thinking, recursively. Cognitive recursion is the foundation of metacognition, self‑awareness, and reflective intelligence. It can be adaptive (helping regulate thought) or pathological (paralyzing overthinking). In online spaces, cognitive recursion appears when participants become obsessed with analyzing each other’s mental states, creating layers of interpretation that drift far from the original topic.
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