Who Really Calls The Shots In Your Life?

Only half of you does the thinking - the other is on automatic

Dec 25, 2023

Happy Holidays to you, your family and friends! Let’s make 2024 a GREAT year!

In our last post1 we talked about the work of Daniel Kahneman2 related to how we think and make decisions. We looked at the relationship of System 1 to System 2. We saw how System 1 handles the day-to-day stuff that we don’t even think about. Putting on our clothes. Drinking coffee while eating cereal. Driving on the Interstate over long distances with perfect weather and little traffic. System 1 is the master of the mundane and likes to maintain the status quo3. But, when something happens that doesn’t meet System 1’s expectations, it calls on System 2 to check it out. This week we look at System 2.

System 2 is the analytic member of the team. It is called upon when things don’t fit the common routine as expected by System 1. System 2 will engage for short periods of time to address whatever requires extra attention.

To get a better idea of how the two systems interact, think about the old “Where’s Waldo” game. For those who have never played it, the person playing the game is presented with an image with all kinds of faces, shapes, figures, etc. and your job is to find the figure that represents Waldo. Here is a sample of a Where’s Waldo puzzle4 and this is what Waldo looks like5.

REQUEST: For our purposes, please reserve a little brain power to watch your brain in action as you search for Waldo.

As you see the various figures in the image, your System 1 is automatically registering man, woman, tent, ball, beach, water, boat, etc. without your thinking about it. System 1 is eliminating the obviously not Waldo figures and passing the possible Waldo figures to System 2 who investigates further. You continue this process until you either find Waldo or give up in frustration.

At some point, System 2 will scream “Eureka! There’s Waldo” when it finds the matching image. Pop the Champaign! You found Waldo!

Interestingly, from this point forward when you look at the image you easily find Waldo. Why? Because System 2 has agreed that the image selected is indeed Waldo, and System 1 updates its processes to now reflect the instructions from System 2 which include Waldo’s location. For those of you who still haven’t found Waldo, let me assure you that he is there6. Check out this footnote if you want a hint on how to find him.

Think about the interplay we just witnessed between System 1 and System 2. We were given the task of finding Waldo, and the two systems went to work, doing what each does best. System 2 manages the process but is heavily dependent on System 1 to do the rapid scanning. System 2 might decide to focus on the water area, and System 1 will start to scan that area for Waldo. Any likely suspects are passed to System 2 for Waldo verification. If it is not Waldo, System 1 will continue to search while System 2 is thinking about what to do next. This process will continue until we find Waldo and the goal is reached.

Should you have a hard time finding Waldo, System 2 might decide that this is a “stupid game” and stop playing. Interestingly, if the image is still visible System 1 will continue to look for Waldo because it is now an automatic Waldo-searching machine. The only way to stop it from playing is to put the image someplace where you cannot see it, so you do. There will likely be a Waldo-searching residual that lingers in your mind’s eye after leaving the image, but it will quickly fade when something else comes along to draw your attention.

I find this interplay between the two systems fascinating, elegant, and a little scary. The seamless nature of the handoff between the two systems is amazing, but at the same time open to pitfalls.

Kahneman notes that when we think of our identity, we are thinking with System 2. This is the conscious, rational part of ourselves that determines the beliefs, choices, and actions that comprise our lives. But notice that System 2 is only actively engaged when something out of the ordinary happens. The rest of the time, our lives are arguably on automatic, being run by System 1 based on prior interactions with System 2 that determined the System 1 norms. Think back to some of our earlier newsletter posts to see the by products of this interaction.

This interplay between the two systems may create problematic blind spots because the cooperation between the two systems is seamless.

To add another nuance to all of this, System 2 has a limited ability to simultaneously process multiple thoughts, which makes it heavily dependent on System 1 to keep things operating as normal.

We think we are System 2 but in reality most of our life is run by System 1. Wow! That got my attention when I first realized it.

We will continue to look deeper into the implications of this interaction in the coming weeks. Stay tuned …

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