What is pattern language?

Example: You notice you always volunteer for extra work when you feel insecure about your standing on a team. That behavior has been running for years, but it never had a name. Call it 'competence signaling.' Now you can see it the next time it activates. You can ask: is this commitment something I actually want, or is competence signaling running again? The pattern didn't change. Your ability to intervene did — because it has a name.

This concept is part of Pattern Recognition in the How to Think curriculum, which builds the epistemic infrastructure for pattern recognition.