01 - Chapter 1: The Characters of the Story

Part 1: Two Systems

Chapter 1: The Characters of the Story

System 1

• S1 operates auto’ly, quickly, little or no effort, involuntary — e.g. see pict. of angry woman, know inst’ly her mood, anticip. her likely to say next

·         e.g.:

o   detect that one object is more distant than another

o   orient to source of sudden sound

o   complete the phrase “bread and…”

o   make a “disgust face” when shown horrible picture

o   detect hostility in a voice

o   answ. to 2 + 2 = ?

o   read words on large billboards

o   drive car on empty road

o   find strong move in chess (if you are a chess master)

o   underst. simple sentences

o   recog. that a “meek & tidy soul w. a passion for detail” resembles an occupa’l stereotype

• S1 incl. innate skills we share w. other animals —  e.g. recog. objects, orient attention, avoid losses
• S1 incl. mental activities that become fast & auto. thru prolonged practice — assoc’ns between ideas, learned skills such as reading & underst. nuances of social situations — also expert skills, e.g. chess intuition
• S1 often completely voluntary — but some can be partially controlled, e.g. chewing

System 2

• S2 is effortful,  attention req. allocation (“pay attention”) — often assoc’d w. feeling of agency, choice, concentr’n — the conscious, reasoning self, has beliefs, makes choices, decides what to think about & what to do —e.g. multiply 17 x 24

·         e.g.:

o   brace for starter gun in a race

o   focus on voice of a particular person in a crowded, noisy room

o   look for woman w. white hair

o   search memory, identify a surprising sound

o   maintain a faster walking speed than is natural for you

o   monitor appropriateness of your behavior in a social situation

o   count the occurrences of letter ‘a’ in a page of text

o   tell someone your phone number

o   park in narrow space

o   compare two washing machines for overall value

o   fill out tax form

o   check validity of complex logical argu’t

• all S2 operations req. attention, disrupted when attention is withdrawn —effortful activities interfere w. each other, difficult to do several S2 things at once, unless very easy activities — Invisible Gorilla experiment: focused attention à blind to the obvious; also, blind to own  blindness

Plot Synopsis (Organization of the book)

• impt. theme: interaction of S1 & S2
• both S1 & S2 are active whenever we are awake — S1 runs auto’ly, S2 normally in low-effort mode, using only fraction of its capacity
• S1 contin’ly generates suggest’ns for S2: impressions, intuitions, intentions, feelings — if endorsed by S2, impressions & intuitions turn into beliefs, impulses turn into voluntary actions — usually S2 adopts the suggestions of  S1 w. little or no modification — usually this is efficient (we gen’ly  believe our impressions, act on our desires) — but not always
• S2 activates when S1 does not have an answ. — S2 activated for event wh. violates S1’s model of the world — e.g. a surprise event activates & orients your attention: you stare, search your memory for a story that makes sense of the event
• S2 also monitors our own behavior (e.g. stay polite when angry, alert for danger)
• S2 mobilized when error is about to be made — e.g. think of when almost blurted out something, hard to control
• Summary: most of what you (your System 2) think & do originates in your System 1, but System 2 takes over when things get difficult, S2 normally has the last word. 

• S1 & S2 usually work well together — however, S1 has biases, leading to systematic errors in specified circumstances — e.g. S1 sometimes answ’s easier q. than the one it was asked, S1  little underst. of logic & statistics
• also, S1 cannot be turned off

Conflict

·         this test engages S2:

Your first task is to go down both columns, calling out whether each word is printed in lowercase or in uppercase. When you are done with the first task, go down both columns again, saying whether each word is printed to the left or to the right of center by saying (or whispering to yourself) "LEFT" or "RIGHT."

LEFT                                         upper

left                                            lower

right                                         LOWER

RIGHT                                    upper

RIGHT                                    UPPER

left                                           lower

LEFT                                       LOWER

right                                        upper

• conflict between auto. reaction & intention to control — S2 overcoming the impulses of S1 — i.e. S2 is in charge of self-control

Illusions

• Müller-Lyer illusion  — S1 “sees” lines are unequal, error — measuring (S2) shows they are equal
• e.g. cognitive illusion: psychotherapist feels strong sympathy for patient w. repeated treatment failures (psychopathic charm)
• N.B. cognitive illusions v. difficult to overcome — S1 automatic, cannot be turned off at will — S2 may have no clue to biases of S1 — cannot be contin’ly vigilant
• the best we can do, compromise: learn to recog. situations in which mistakes are likely, try harder to avoid signif. mistakes when the stakes are high
• N.B. it is easier to recog. other people’s mistakes than our own

Useful Fictions

• S1 & S2 are only personifications, useful fictions

Speaking of System 1 & System 2

·         “He had an impression, but some of his impressions are illusions.”

·         “This was a pure System 1 response. She reacted to the threat before she recognized it.”

·         “This is your System 1 talking. Slow down & let your System 2 take control.”