Thinking... Fast & Slow
"The world makes much less sense than you think."
Chapter 1
The Characters of the Story
Two modes of thinking:
2 . System 2:
Allocates attention to the effortful mental activities that demand it. It is the conscious reasoning self that has beliefs and makes choices. It can construct thoughts in a series of steps.
Most of the things we do originate in system 1 but when it gets to difficult and complex system 2 takes over.
Conflict: automatic reaction vs. intention to control.
Illusions of thought = Cognitive illusions.
Things I found interesting/questions/comments:
Two modes of thinking:
- System 1:
2 . System 2:
Allocates attention to the effortful mental activities that demand it. It is the conscious reasoning self that has beliefs and makes choices. It can construct thoughts in a series of steps.
Most of the things we do originate in system 1 but when it gets to difficult and complex system 2 takes over.
Conflict: automatic reaction vs. intention to control.
Illusions of thought = Cognitive illusions.
Things I found interesting/questions/comments:
- So you can’t do two system 2 things at the same time? Would we fail if we do this?
- I found the answer to the question above: I had seen the gorilla video before and did not see the gorilla, so I guess this answers my question; the answer would be no.
- “We are blind to the obvious and blind to our blindness.”
- I would have never thought that the book was going to be this way. There is so much stuff that I did not know.
Chapter 2
Attention and Effort
System 2: effortful but lazy.
Pupils are sensitive indicators of mental effort. They dilate substantially when a task is not so difficult and they dilate more when it is a complex task.
Effort is required to maintain simultaneously in memory several ideas that require separate actions or that need to be combined according to a rule.
System 2: effortful but lazy.
Pupils are sensitive indicators of mental effort. They dilate substantially when a task is not so difficult and they dilate more when it is a complex task.
Effort is required to maintain simultaneously in memory several ideas that require separate actions or that need to be combined according to a rule.
Chapter 3
Flow: a state of effortless concentration so deep that one may lose the sense of time, of themselves and of their problems. Flow separates into two forms of effort: concentration on the task and deliberate control of attention.
People who are cognitively busy are more likely to make more selfish choices, use sexist language and superficial judgments in social situations. (This can also happen after a few drinks or a night less sleep)
Self-control requires attention and effort, which is part of the system 2.
Other functions of system 2: monitor and control thoughts and actions suggested by system 1.
I wonder if an optimal experience or the state of flow can also happen when one is reading a book. Often, when I read a book I seem to get lost or disappear from the world, I have no sense of time, of myself or of my surroundings. The only reason why I don’t know the answer to this is that I don’t know if reading a book is actually an effortless concentration.
People who are cognitively busy are more likely to make more selfish choices, use sexist language and superficial judgments in social situations. (This can also happen after a few drinks or a night less sleep)
Self-control requires attention and effort, which is part of the system 2.
Other functions of system 2: monitor and control thoughts and actions suggested by system 1.
I wonder if an optimal experience or the state of flow can also happen when one is reading a book. Often, when I read a book I seem to get lost or disappear from the world, I have no sense of time, of myself or of my surroundings. The only reason why I don’t know the answer to this is that I don’t know if reading a book is actually an effortless concentration.
Chapter 4
The Associative Machine
Associative activation: ideas that have been evoked trigger many other ideas. (Like a chain reaction). Each element is connected and each supports and strengthens the others.
Associatively coherent: yielding a self-reinforcing pattern of cognitive, emotional and physical responses that are both diverse and integrated.
Hume´s principles of association:
Priming effect. Ideomoter effect (behavior influenced by the prime).
It is amazing how sometimes we don’t really think with our brain, but we think with our body. Our body reacts in certain ways even when we are not conscious of them. I really wonder how many expressions I make daily without even noticing them.
I also like how the book mentions BIG BROTHER.
Associative activation: ideas that have been evoked trigger many other ideas. (Like a chain reaction). Each element is connected and each supports and strengthens the others.
- Word – memories – emotion – facial expressions and reactions.
Associatively coherent: yielding a self-reinforcing pattern of cognitive, emotional and physical responses that are both diverse and integrated.
Hume´s principles of association:
- Resemblance
- Contiguity in time and place
- Causality
Priming effect. Ideomoter effect (behavior influenced by the prime).
It is amazing how sometimes we don’t really think with our brain, but we think with our body. Our body reacts in certain ways even when we are not conscious of them. I really wonder how many expressions I make daily without even noticing them.
I also like how the book mentions BIG BROTHER.
Chapter 5
Cognitive Ease
System 1 determines wheter extra effort us required from system 2. There can either be cognitive ease or cognitive strain.
Illusions of remembering (familiarity). When one believes someone remembers something just because something seems familiar.
Illusions of truth: if something sounds familiar we automatically believe it is true.
How does one know is a statement is true:
Cognitive ease helps us choose things. It makes us feel confortable and more sure about something. While cognitive strain blocks us and makes us move backwards.
This chapter really helped me realize how very lazy our system 2 is. This system tries to do as little effort as possible. What made me realize this is that the system is even lazy in memorizing long and complicated names, it tries to stick with all of the simple stuff. Then it hit me, that is why people have nicknames. When someone has a very long name, they always get a nickname. The reason for this nickname is because it is easier to memorize a short name and does not require as much mental effort.
System 1 determines wheter extra effort us required from system 2. There can either be cognitive ease or cognitive strain.
Illusions of remembering (familiarity). When one believes someone remembers something just because something seems familiar.
Illusions of truth: if something sounds familiar we automatically believe it is true.
How does one know is a statement is true:
- Linked by logic.
- Association to other beliefs or preferences.
- Information comes from a source one trusts and likes.
- One feels a cognitive sense of ease.
Cognitive ease helps us choose things. It makes us feel confortable and more sure about something. While cognitive strain blocks us and makes us move backwards.
This chapter really helped me realize how very lazy our system 2 is. This system tries to do as little effort as possible. What made me realize this is that the system is even lazy in memorizing long and complicated names, it tries to stick with all of the simple stuff. Then it hit me, that is why people have nicknames. When someone has a very long name, they always get a nickname. The reason for this nickname is because it is easier to memorize a short name and does not require as much mental effort.
Chapter 6
Norms, Surpsrises and Causes.
Wonders and limitations of system 1:
Does this mean that we all have our own personal truths?
I found it very interesting how events can be perceived as normal or as abnormal. Sometimes a very abnormal event strikes us as a very normal thing, depending on the situation.
It is also interesting how system 1 sees impressions of causality when really there is no certain cause. One tends to give everything a cause, even when we see things that clearly don’t have one. Another illusion of the mind.
Wonders and limitations of system 1:
- Assessing normality.
- One main function of system 1 is to maintain and update a model of your personal world, which represents what is normal in it.
Does this mean that we all have our own personal truths?
- Capacity for surprise:
I found it very interesting how events can be perceived as normal or as abnormal. Sometimes a very abnormal event strikes us as a very normal thing, depending on the situation.
- Seeing causes and intentions.
It is also interesting how system 1 sees impressions of causality when really there is no certain cause. One tends to give everything a cause, even when we see things that clearly don’t have one. Another illusion of the mind.
Chapter 7
A Machine For Jumping To Conclusions
System 1 tends to jump to conclusions. Context helps you determine the interpretation of each element. In the absence of explicit context, system 1 generates a likely context of its own. When system 1 is engaged we believe almost anything.
Halo effect: the tendency to like or dislike everything about a person, including things that one has not observed. System 1 excels at constructing the best possible story that incorporates ideas currently activated, but it cannot allow for information it doesn’t have. System 1 is insensitive to both the quality and quantity of the information that gives rise to impressions and institutions.
Basic assessment = instinct.
We pick answers based in very limited information available. We reach conclusion just because the information sounds good (this does not mean it is true).
System 1 tends to jump to conclusions. Context helps you determine the interpretation of each element. In the absence of explicit context, system 1 generates a likely context of its own. When system 1 is engaged we believe almost anything.
Halo effect: the tendency to like or dislike everything about a person, including things that one has not observed. System 1 excels at constructing the best possible story that incorporates ideas currently activated, but it cannot allow for information it doesn’t have. System 1 is insensitive to both the quality and quantity of the information that gives rise to impressions and institutions.
Basic assessment = instinct.
We pick answers based in very limited information available. We reach conclusion just because the information sounds good (this does not mean it is true).
Chapter 8
How Judgements Happen
People judge competence by combining the two dimensions of strength and trustworthiness. We are biologically predisposed to reject candidates who lack the attributes we value.
System 1 allows motion across diverse dimensions. It also carries out many computations at one time.
Mental shotgun: when one computes much more than we want or need / excess computation.
It is interesting how people are/become biased about a person just because of how they look (square chins, big eyes, etc.). I wonder it if is impossible not to be biased by this.
People judge competence by combining the two dimensions of strength and trustworthiness. We are biologically predisposed to reject candidates who lack the attributes we value.
System 1 allows motion across diverse dimensions. It also carries out many computations at one time.
Mental shotgun: when one computes much more than we want or need / excess computation.
It is interesting how people are/become biased about a person just because of how they look (square chins, big eyes, etc.). I wonder it if is impossible not to be biased by this.
Chapter 9
Answering an Easier Question
We often have answers to questions that we don’t completely understand relying on evidence that we can neither explain or defend.
Is this the famous gut-feeling?
Target question: assessment intended to produce
Heuristic question: simpler question answered instead.
The affect heuristic:
If you dislike certain things (like tattoos, motorcycles, nuclear power), you probably dislike them because we believe that its risks are high and the benefits are not great. But our beliefs, even our emotional attitude, may change when we learn that the risk is actually smaller than we thought.
We often have answers to questions that we don’t completely understand relying on evidence that we can neither explain or defend.
Is this the famous gut-feeling?
Target question: assessment intended to produce
Heuristic question: simpler question answered instead.
The affect heuristic:
If you dislike certain things (like tattoos, motorcycles, nuclear power), you probably dislike them because we believe that its risks are high and the benefits are not great. But our beliefs, even our emotional attitude, may change when we learn that the risk is actually smaller than we thought.
Chapter 10
The Law of Small Numbers
System 1 is inept when faced with statistical facts.
System 2 is capable of doubt, because it can maintain incompatible possibilities at the same time.
The strong bias toward believing that small samples closely resemble the population from which they are drawn is also part of a larger story; we are prone to exaggerate the consistency and coherence of what we see.
“We are pattern seekers, believe in a coherent world, in which regularities appear not by accident but as a result of mechanical causality or of someone’s intention.”
That is why we try so hard to seek a pattern. It makes us feel safe, it gives us meaning. I believe that uncertainty scares human beings. So I guess blind luck does exist.
System 1 is inept when faced with statistical facts.
- Large samples are more precise than smaill samples.
- Small samples yield extreme results more often than large samples do.
System 2 is capable of doubt, because it can maintain incompatible possibilities at the same time.
The strong bias toward believing that small samples closely resemble the population from which they are drawn is also part of a larger story; we are prone to exaggerate the consistency and coherence of what we see.
“We are pattern seekers, believe in a coherent world, in which regularities appear not by accident but as a result of mechanical causality or of someone’s intention.”
That is why we try so hard to seek a pattern. It makes us feel safe, it gives us meaning. I believe that uncertainty scares human beings. So I guess blind luck does exist.