Two Types Of Thinking

Daniel Kahneman popularized the idea that there are two ways of thinking - Fast thinking and slow thinking. “Thinking Fast” refers to the most primitive elements of our brain that is reflexive, hyper-attentive, and unconscious. “Thinking Slow” refers to the more advanced, developed, higher-level thinking we engage in on a daily basis. 

The majority of the time our mind’s are operating out of fast thinking as a means to react to what’s around us and keep us safe. It’s only when that seems to be insufficient or incomplete that the mind enrolls more advanced thought to figure things out.

I had a basic, everyday, personal example of this earlier this week. I’m visiting family right now, staying away from home, and couldn’t find my water bottle. Unconsciously I looked in all the usual spots - by the bed, on the couch, at the desk -and couldn't find it anywhere. I even checked those same spots 3 times in a row, operating out of automatic, fast-thinking that was taking me unconsciously to the places it was most likely to be.

When all of that failed, my mind switched to slow thinking. I thought back to the last time I had it, retraced steps in my mind, and considered other places the bottle could have ended up. This prompted me to check the dishwasher, where I found it because someone else had put it there and washed it overnight. 

It was a powerful example of how the mind runs through two different types of thinking, and the threshold a problem needs to reach to trigger conscious thought. However, conscious thought is always available to us should we want to use it, and it’s by being more intentional about activating it that we can be more thoughtful.

So the takeaway here is - let's make a point to slow down more often for the things that are important to us. Our lives change when our thoughts change, and replacing the unconscious pattern with conscious thought has the potential to change everything.