Thinking, Fast and Slow

The idea that human judgment is rarely conscious or rational is central to the book and the hook on which Kahneman hangs the entire work. He establishes this purpose in the Introduction, where he explains that “[we] believe [we] know what goes on in [our] mind, which often consists of one conscious thought leading in an orderly way to another. But that is not the only way the mind works, nor indeed is that the typical way” (3). In short, Kahneman asserts that people generally do not understand how their minds work. This book is his effort to educate readers about the workings of the human mind, beginning with the systems of judgment that inform decision-making.

According to Kahneman, the mind has two systems of judgment. System 1 is fast-thinking and intuitive, while the slow-thinking System 2 is more rational and deliberative. The intuitive nature of System 1 leads to errors of judgment, resulting in unconscious, irrational decisions. There are several factors that contribute to this. For example, System 1’s quest for causal explanation means it tends to perceive the world at face value, a phenomenon Kahneman calls “what you see is all there is,” or

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