#21 – Reading Reflection No. 2
Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
1) What was the general theme or argument of the book? Daniel Kahneman focuses on two systems in our brain that affect how we think and act as individuals. System 1 (fast) is automatic, instinctive and impulsive, whereas System 2 (slow) is conscious, aware and considerate. He then breaks the book up into five major sections such as heuristics and biases, overconfidence, intuition, choices, and the two selves, to explain many unique concepts about the brain.
2) How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT3003? This book highlights decision making which is connected to entrepreneurship. It’s important to know how you think as an individual, as well as understand how other’s think too. Entrepreneurs are constantly making decisions that can vary in outcome depending on what factors or prior experiences influence their thought process. By understanding how the brain works, entrepreneurs can adjust their focus and use the two different systems to their advantage to avoid making the wrong decisions and misleading themselves.
3) If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve? I think my class exercise would involve asking a bunch of different questions in a survey that relate to real-life business scenarios based off of the topics that Kahneman talked about. Like Kahneman said in his book, “the use of demonstrations provides scholars from diverse disciplines an unusual opportunity to observe possible flaws in their own thinking.” As humans, we spend a lot of time in System 1 which causes us to make wrong judgments and decisions. I think it’s key for an entrepreneur to know, and for the class to understand, when it’s an important time to switch to System 2 thinking. The survey will show how easy it is for our brain to trick us into the wrong decision, and will encourage the class to focus more on how their thought process works.
4) What was your biggest surprise or 'aha' moment when reading the book? In other words, what did you learn that differed most from your expectations? I knew the brain was a complex organ, but this book opened my eyes to so much more. I first wasn’t expecting the book to contain as many interesting concepts as it did. Kahneman did a really good job at explaining everything in detail. But I think one thing that I found really interesting was how Kahneman talked about the law of least effort. A classic example that is used goes like: “A bat and a ball together cost $1.10. The bat cost $1 more than the ball. How much is the ball?” Most people reply with an answer of “$0.10”, when the answer is actually “$0.05.” This problem exposes how our brain is lazy and limits our own intelligence because our mind likes to use as little effort as possible. Like I mentioned in question 3, our minds would rather use System 1 than System 2 because System 2 uses more energy since you actually have to think things through. Our mind thinks it can just get by with System 1’s intuition answer, even though it was tricked and lead us to the wrong answer. I was surprised that even though our brains are very complex machines and are capable of processing so much information, we still choose to complete an action in the least demanding way possible.
1) What was the general theme or argument of the book? Daniel Kahneman focuses on two systems in our brain that affect how we think and act as individuals. System 1 (fast) is automatic, instinctive and impulsive, whereas System 2 (slow) is conscious, aware and considerate. He then breaks the book up into five major sections such as heuristics and biases, overconfidence, intuition, choices, and the two selves, to explain many unique concepts about the brain.
2) How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT3003? This book highlights decision making which is connected to entrepreneurship. It’s important to know how you think as an individual, as well as understand how other’s think too. Entrepreneurs are constantly making decisions that can vary in outcome depending on what factors or prior experiences influence their thought process. By understanding how the brain works, entrepreneurs can adjust their focus and use the two different systems to their advantage to avoid making the wrong decisions and misleading themselves.
3) If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve? I think my class exercise would involve asking a bunch of different questions in a survey that relate to real-life business scenarios based off of the topics that Kahneman talked about. Like Kahneman said in his book, “the use of demonstrations provides scholars from diverse disciplines an unusual opportunity to observe possible flaws in their own thinking.” As humans, we spend a lot of time in System 1 which causes us to make wrong judgments and decisions. I think it’s key for an entrepreneur to know, and for the class to understand, when it’s an important time to switch to System 2 thinking. The survey will show how easy it is for our brain to trick us into the wrong decision, and will encourage the class to focus more on how their thought process works.
4) What was your biggest surprise or 'aha' moment when reading the book? In other words, what did you learn that differed most from your expectations? I knew the brain was a complex organ, but this book opened my eyes to so much more. I first wasn’t expecting the book to contain as many interesting concepts as it did. Kahneman did a really good job at explaining everything in detail. But I think one thing that I found really interesting was how Kahneman talked about the law of least effort. A classic example that is used goes like: “A bat and a ball together cost $1.10. The bat cost $1 more than the ball. How much is the ball?” Most people reply with an answer of “$0.10”, when the answer is actually “$0.05.” This problem exposes how our brain is lazy and limits our own intelligence because our mind likes to use as little effort as possible. Like I mentioned in question 3, our minds would rather use System 1 than System 2 because System 2 uses more energy since you actually have to think things through. Our mind thinks it can just get by with System 1’s intuition answer, even though it was tricked and lead us to the wrong answer. I was surprised that even though our brains are very complex machines and are capable of processing so much information, we still choose to complete an action in the least demanding way possible.
Hi Taylor,
ReplyDeleteThis seems like a very interesting book. I can absolutely see how it can connect with what we are doing in class. Having a better understanding about we think and make decisions is key to being successful in any venture, but it especially helps in entrepreneurship because so much of it relies on your own internal decision making.
Hello Taylor,
ReplyDeleteThe book that you pick was a very interesting choice. I agree with you that the brain is a complex organ, that to this day, we do not know how it truly functions. The example you gave of the bat and the ball and how much the ball cost, left me thinking because I was quick to answer 10 cents.
Hey Taylor,
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your review, I might have to read this book for myself. I liked your example from the book about how lazy the brain is and how we must work to combat against this programmed laziness. This ties into our class because, first of all, in order to pass, you must be proactive and fight laziness every week. I can also see how you made the connection of decision making being related to entrepreneurship.