by Daniel Kahneman
The focus on error does not denigrate human intelligence, anymore than attention to disease in medical text denies good health.
“The situation has provided a cue; this cue has given the expert access to information stored in memory, and the information provides the answer. Intuition is nothing more and nothing less than recognition”
Heuristics are employed when we are faced with a hard question but instead choose to answer an easy question. Is ford a good stock to buy? —> do I like ford cars?
System 1 is the intuitive self, system 2 is the critical thinking self
System 2 is activated when an event violates the model of the world that system 1 holds
We can logic past illusions but we cannot change the way we perceive them, only the way we process them
Sympathy can often cloud our perception
Count # of letter F’s on the page, then count # of commas —> latter is harder because we are used to looking Fs. This might be why some companies want to hire young people —> clean slate
Self control and deliberate thought apparently draw on the same limited budget of effort
Activists that impose high demands on system 2 require self control and the exertion of self control is depleting and unpleasant
Glucose reverses effects of ego depletion — in a study of parole officers approval rates spike right after meal times and gradually decrease there after
Some people have lazier system 2’s than others (delayed gratification cookie test)
You know far less about yourself than you think you do
Priming is powerful — in a study: telling young people words that are associated with elderly people caused them to walk much slower to the next room without them realizing it
Priming people with money makes them work harder but also makes them act more selfishly