Have you ever stopped to think that only humans are truly capable of self-awareness? The ability to reflect, notice our mistakes and successes, assess our skills, and have an inner dialogue — these are uniquely human traits. But how do they actually work?

That’s exactly what today’s guest studies. Professor Stephen Fleming is Principal Investigator at the Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, where he leads the Metacognition Group. He’s also the author of Know Thyself, a book about the science of self-awareness.

In this episode, we talk about why overconfidence can be misleading, how being too self-critical can hold us back, and how stress and anxiety affect our ability to notice mistakes and build real confidence in our decisions.