:Analogies for Sustainable Development/System 1- System 2

Overview

Behavioral psychologist and economist Daniel Kahneman, as well as other psychologists, have introduced the notion of two modes of thinking in the human brain - a fast, automatic, involuntary and unconscious mode, and a slow, deliberate and conscious mode. These two modes have been called System 1 and System 2. They are not physical places in our brain, but rather different cognitive networks that developed throughout the evolution of the human brain, with System 1 being the older and System 2 the more recently evolved.

"I describe mental life by the metaphor of two agents, called System 1 and System 2, which respectively produce fast and slow thinking. I speak of the features of intuitive and deliberate thought as if they were traits and dispositions of two characters in your mind. In the picture that emerges from recent research, the intuitive System 1 is more influential than your experience tells you, and it is the secret author of many of the choices and judgments you make.” Kahneman (2011)

Analogy Map

The notion of two systems in our brain is not exactly an analogy since it does not refer to a familiar phenomenon, but rather a simplified yet powerful model for human reasoning and decision making.

From Wikipedia page Dual process theory - sytems

System 1	System 2
Unconscious Reasoning	Conscious Reasoning
Implicit	Explicit
Automatic	Controlled
Low Effort	High Effort
Large Capacity	Small Capacity
Rapid	Slow
Default Process	Inhibitory
Associative	Rule-Based
Contextualized	Abstract
Domain Specific	Domain General
Evolutionarily Old	Evolutionarily Recent
Nonverbal	Linked to language
Includes recognition, perception, orientation	Includes rule following, comparisons, weighing of options
Modular Cognition	Fluid Intelligence
Independent of working memory	Limited by working memory capacity
Non-Logical	Logical
Parallel	Serial

Discussion

Kahneman and Klein (2009) concluded that human intuition (System 1) can be expected to be reliable when two conditions are met: a) it was acquired in an environment that is sufficiently regular to be predictable; b) there was ample opportunity to learn these regularities through prolonged practice.

Quote Bank

Kahneman (2011) :

“We easily think associatively, we think metaphorically, we think causally, but statistics requires thinking about many things at once, which is something that System 1 is not designed to do.”

“System 1 operates automatically and quickly, with little or no effort and no sense of voluntary control...System 2 allocates attention to the effortful mental activities that demand it, including complex computations. The operations of System 2 are often associated with the subjective experience of agency, choice, and concentration.”

“The capabilities of System 1 include innate skills that we share with other animals. We are born prepared to perceive the world around us, recognize objects, orient attention, avoid losses, and fear spiders. Other mental activities become fast and automatic through prolonged practice.”

“The highly diverse operations of System 2 have one feature in common: they require attention and are disrupted when attention is drawn away.”

“Systems 1 and 2 are both active whenever we are awake... System 1 continuously generates suggestions for System 2: impressions, intuitions, intentions, and feelings. If endorsed by System 2, impressions and intuitions turn into beliefs, and impulses turn into voluntary actions. When all goes smoothly, which is most of the time, System 2 adopts the suggestions of System 1 with little or no modification. You generally believe your impressions and act on your desires, and that is fine—usually.”

“The division of labor between System 1 and System 2 is highly efficient: it minimizes effort and optimizes performance. The arrangement works well most of the time because System 1 is generally very good at what it does: its models of familiar situations are accurate, its short-term predictions are usually accurate as well, and its initial reactions to challenges are swift and generally appropriate. System 1 has biases, however, systematic errors that it is prone to make in specified circumstances….it has little understanding of logic and statistics. One further limitation of System 1 is that it cannot be turned off.”

“One of the tasks of System 2 is to overcome the impulses of System 1. In other words, System 2 is in charge of self-control.”

“The defining feature of System 2 is that its operations are effortful, and one of its main characteristics is laziness, a reluctance to invest more effort than is strictly necessary. As a consequence, the thoughts and actions that System 2 believes it has chosen are often guided by System 1.”

“Whenever you are conscious, and perhaps even when you are not, multiple computations are going on in your brain, which maintain and update current answers to some key questions: Is anything new going on? Is there a threat? Are things going well? Should my attention be redirected? Is more effort needed for this task? You can think of a cockpit, with a set of dials that indicate the current values of each of these essential variables. The assessments are carried out automatically by System 1, and one of their functions is to determine whether extra effort is required from System 2.”

“when System 2 is otherwise engaged, we will believe almost anything. System 1 is gullible and biased to believe, System 2 is in charge of doubting and unbelieving, but System 2 is sometimes busy, and often lazy.“

Further Resources

Analogies for Sustainable Development