Page 26 - The Revolution Will Be Automated

A Tale of Two Velocities

The psychologist Daniel Kahneman offers a useful metaphor for the

competing forces that make up human cognition. The mind is not one

unitary system but two interacting, and often adversial systems:

System 1 is fast, eager, always on and always ready to jump to

conclusions based on scant but suggestive evidence. System 1

needs no prompting, and underpins many of our intuitions

and rapid “blink” responses. Yet this quickness is also a

weakness: it relies on shortcuts and is often mislead.

System 2 is slower, less eager, and easily depleted.

However, System 2 is capable of analyzing a situation in

greater depth, of using rules and conscious reasoning to

reach a conclusion. System 2 lacks System 1’s rapid

responsiveness, but is more likely to be right!