What is self-referential schemas?

Self-referential schemas is a concept in personal epistemology: Meta-schemas are themselves schemas that can be inspected and improved.

Example: You have a schema for how you evaluate new ideas: 'Test it against evidence before adopting it.' That's a good schema. But then you notice you only apply it to other people's ideas — your own ideas skip the evidence check. Now you're examining the schema that governs how you apply schemas. And you could go further: what schema told you to examine that pattern? You're three levels deep, and each level is itself a schema that can be inspected. This is recursion — and it's the structure that makes genuine self-improvement possible.

This concept is part of Phase 17 (Meta-Schemas) in the How to Think curriculum, which builds the epistemic infrastructure for meta-schemas.