Navigating the two minds : Understand fast & slow thinking.

I believe the best way to actually succeed in every aspect of your life is to able to understand human psychology. In everything you do, you have to interact with people and if you can understand what makes people tick you’ll be able to pivot in any direction you want!

I personally have been reading Thinking, Fast & Slow by Daniel Kahneman and it has been a great book about ‘how’ we think, and plus every one who I actually think is really intelligent ALWAYS recommends this book so that was also one of the reasons why I gravitate towards it!

So for the next blogs, I will be diving into 3 chapters from the book to give myself a deeper understanding on how we think.

Kahneman overall talks about how our mind operate on two distinct levels one which is fast, intuitive and emotional whereas the other is slow, deliberate and logical. These two mode of thinking are known as system 1 and system 2!

The Book Cover ^ 

World of cognitive psychology

BTW these systems are not actual physical parts of the brain but rather metaphors for the different ways our mind actually operate at times, and if you’re aware of what actions/decisions requires which system I’m sure you’ll be able to hack your life easier.

System 1: This is when our brain is fast, automatic and often works without using our conscious awareness. It is the system that allows us to find a face in the crowd, understand simple sentences or react quickly to dangerous situations. This ‘system’ is highly efficient because it more relies on shortcuts, heuristics to process information much faster. However of course, with speed it comes with a cost and that system 1 is prone to biases and errors especially in more complicated or unfamiliar situations.

System 2: In the other hand, system 2 is slow, deliberate and requires conscious effort. This is the system we engage when we solve a difficult math problem, plan a trip or create a strategy. System 2 is methodical and logical because it requires more cognitive resources so our case we’ll want to avoid using it unless it’s absolutely necessary.

In this case, for me personally I’d train my system 1 to act fast based on information I’ve generated through system 2 so that my cognitive function is much more efficient and effective. Of course it comes with a risk of me being wrong, but that’s just how I personally use these two systems!

Simple right?

Though, with system 1 and system 2 comes with pros and cons and I’ll be talking in the next couple blogs about them. You’ll have to be aware of them to avoid putting yourself in sticky situations!

' A NOTE TO NOT RELY TOO MUCH ON SYSTEM 1 ( QUICK THINKING AND DECISIONS, I KNOW WE CAN GET LAZY AND JUST OPT INTO WHATEVER OUR FIRST THOUGHT IS BUT DOING THAT MIGHT LEAD TO POST EVENT CLARITY. )

Attention & Effort - Demands Of Using System 2

Okay cool now we get the gist of what system 1 and 2 is right?

I want to talk about attention!! Media buyers love the word attention but we’ll be using it in a different context today.

In simple, attention can like the brain’s spotlight which allows us to focus on specific tasks in our current domain while filtering out irrelevant information.

But, attention is a limited resource. We as humans cannot focus on everything at once, and trying to do so of course can lead to errors and oversights.

We cannot MULTI-TASK. (Cleveland Clinic, 2021)

We cannot multi-task, we just switch rapidly between tasks and each switch costs us cognitive/attention energy.

Our brain has limited capacity to process information, especially when tasks require conscious and deliberate thought ( System 2).

Tasks that require more mental effort can slowly deplete our cognitive resources, making it harder for us to concentrate or make better decisions we become more mentally fatigued. This is why doing something as simple as driving while texting/talking on the phone can lead to mistakes, the mental load of both tasks divide our attention.

Don’t stretch yourself too thin, whether it’s time, energy or moneyyy!

Another thing with attention is, when we often engage in a ‘selective’ attention, we often focus on one task while ignoring others. This can lead to ‘inattentional blindness’ where we actually miss things happening right in front of us because our ‘mental/attention resources are devoted to something else.

IN my personal experience, this ALWAYS happens to me. When I’m focused on a task and my mum comes in and asks me a question, the question completely flies over my head and she think’s I’m ignoring her but in reality it’s just ‘inattentional blindness’ happening. Sorry mum.

A great example of ‘Inattentional blindness is the invisible gorilla experiment. Watch it and see how limited and selective our attention can be.

Using system 2 can be super duper draining, contextually and subjectively use it without burning yourself out!

Don’t let you be this guy. Be efficient and effective. Live a life without constantly burning out!

Cognitive Ease

We.. we naturally prefer to be lazy and find the easy way out.

Hence the author highlights that System 2 is lazy.

While system 2 is responsible for conscious thought and it’s decision making, it actually doesn’t engage when absolutely necessary. IN most situations, people prefer to rely on system 1 because it’s easier. System 2 requires effort and attention, so we try to avoid using it as much as possible.

This is when Cognitive Ease is introduced by the author which refers to the comfort and low-effort state of mind when we rely on system 1. When something feels easy, we don’t question as much right? Only when something is actually difficult we start to question it, and that’s when our friend system 2 comes in to analyze and solve the problem.

When we are cognitively overloaded, system 2 tends to disengage and fall back on the easier, faster and more error-prone system 1. Exactly, why when we’re tired or even distracted we are more likely to create impulsive decisions, ignore important details and rely on simple heuristics.

IN CON-GLUESION

Understanding how system 1 and 2 can make life so much easier.

System 1 is fast and great for quick decisions, but it can be known to make mistakes when things get complicated. System 2 steps in for the tougher stuff, but it’s lazy and only kicks in when it really has to.

The key is to know when to rely on each system.

Don’t let System 1 lead you into making quick decisions you might regret later. And don’t drain yourself by overworking System 2. Find a balance, stay aware, and make sure you're efficient without burning yourself out! 😇