Gene Babon's Reviews > Thinking, Fast and Slow

Thinking, Fast and Slow is a tour de force exploration of how the brain works on two dimensions (or systems). The first dimension, System 1, is intuitive and fast thinking. It operates automatically and quickly. System 1 is impulsive. The second dimension, System 2, is effortful and slower thinking. It requires concentration and tires easily. System 2 is capable of reasoning.

From this vantage point Nobel Prize-winning author, Daniel Kahneman, takes a deep dive into how humans think—and don't. Much empirical evidence is explored. Along the way, constructs are presented including the following: executive control, flow, ego depletion, associative activation, priming effect, cognitive strain, confirmation bias, halo effect, judgement heuristic and mental shotgun; and that is just in the first 100 pages!

Therein, lies that challenge with this book; it is NOT a light read. It requires System 2 concentration. One of the beneficial features of this book is that every chapter ends with a "Speaking of ..." section that summarizes the key topics from that chapter in the form a sentence or two spoken by a human to explain a concept in a real world context.

Despite the wealth of information, I completed the book realizing that I had much evidence to work with, but precious few ideas on how to take advantage of using System 1 and System 2 to live a better life. One statement did catch my attention, however:

"... one recipe for a dissatisfied adulthood is setting goals that are especially difficult to attain."

If you are looking for a challenging academic read, Thinking, Fast and Slow should fit the bill. However, if you are looking to operationalize these findings, you might want to turn to someone like Tony Robbins.

Access Gene Babon's reviews of books on Business Leadership and Business Strategy at Pinterest.