fast-vs-slow-thinking
One useful way to think about decisions: some are fast and automatic — your gut fires before you know you've been asked. That works when you've practiced (sports, driving). But there's a slower, more careful mode that only kicks in when forced. Most errors come from trusting the fast mode in situations where you haven't actually built the experience to back it up.
In their words
“The most important thing about System 1, that intuitive system, is that you believe it. And it believes itself.”
— Daniel Kahneman, The Knowledge Project
“There's no point learning not to make errors because we are just going to make them. That's in our nature. And we have to develop ways around it.”
— Daniel Kahneman, The Knowledge Project
Related ideas
Ideas connected to fast-vs-slow-thinking.
Cognitive biases are what happen when System 1 runs unchecked
Expert Intuition vs Pattern MatchingExpert intuition is trained System 1 — fast thinking that actually works in some domains
Deliberate CalibrationCalibration is the practice of forcing System 2 to check System 1's confidence
StoicismStoic pause is the ancient version of engaging System 2 before System 1 reacts
OODA LoopOODA's Orient phase is where you decide whether to trust System 1 or engage System 2