Dec 17: Thinking fast and slow: chapters 3 and 4

Chapter 3: the lazy controller

System 2 is usually conscious thinking, but sometimes unconscious thinking still solves problems, just in the background.

State of flow: cognitive work expends considerable effort for long periods of time without having to exert willpower. "a state of effortless concentration so deep that they lose their sense of time, of themselves, of their problems".

The busy and depleted system 2

"Self-control and cognitive efforts are forms of mental work." and "self-control requires attention and effort".

Author is good at defining things by behaviour rather than labels.

"People who are cognitively busy are also more likely to make selfish choices, use sexist language, and make superficial judgements in social situations."

Possibly, theories raised in discussion:

Lachlan: People who avoid being constantly busy, then you give yourself time to be more considerate to other people.
Adam: People that focus on being socially fair, don't have enough mental load to do their job well.
Richard: This is my "Shitty First Draft" and I am going to go away and think about it with my system 2 about it and come back with a possible better version

Decided to call the two system in full names:

System 1: automatic system
System 2: conscious system

Ego depletion

Emotional effort reduces the ability to withstand pain, or have better self-control.

"After exerting self-control in one task, you do not feel like making an effort in another... the effects of ego depletion could be undone by ingesting glucose"

Going to the supermarket when tired is usually a bad idea for making good food choices. Could you measure your glucose levels in the afternoon, before making an important decision?

Bat and ball problem

He divides people into two groups: thoughtful people and intuitive people. It seems that he considers the intuitive people as lesser people.

Intelligence, control, rationality

The elite that go to high education institutions, are the ones that are being taught in a very particular logical way.

Oreo cookies experiment

Do children at the age of 3 or 4 have any concept of time? how do they know how long 15 minutes are? do they think that by eating the cookie, I can get out of the room and go and do something interesting? Do the kids even like this treat? Also the kids were not allowed to leave the table, or the experiment was terminated. That is new info on the experiment.
The research followed the kids later in life. But did they accommodate for different styles of upbringing?
We are not being automatic cynical but we are still questioning the boundaries of this research... We are probably outliers that will be eliminate from the research.

Blackmill / book-club