Reading Reflection 3

Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman

Theme

            Your mind can be visualized as two systems.  System one involves immediate, intuitive thought.  System two encompasses more time-consuming, intellectual thought.  Relating to the title of the book, system one thinks fast and system two thinks slow.  Kahneman presents a wealth of experiments and research which demonstrate how system two believes it possesses control at all times, however, in reality system one has more influence than you might consciously think (system two).

Connection to ENT3003

            Entrepreneurship is a mental game.  It requires overcoming the intuitive answers and the immediate response to avoid failure or discomfort.  This requires a conscious effort and deeper thought than the fast thinking parts of our minds can currently offer.  Thus, we need to spend more time truly focusing our attention, using system two.  Eventually, because of the purposeful experiences we put our minds through, the entrepreneurial mindset of taking calculated risks will become more intuitive.

Class Exercise

            There are quite a few figures and examples of experiments in the book.  I think it would be interesting to pose about three of them in an assignment.  Doing so would help students understand their own minds better and learn to recognize when a thought appears intuitively versus after adequate consideration. 

Biggest Surprise

            The most interesting part of the mind about which Kahneman wrote involves the degree to which the mind can be conditioned to think in a certain way.  In a particular study, students were told some information associated with old people and then asked to walk down a hall.  Turns out, those students walked down the hall at a slower pace than normal, like an elderly person.  I think it’s incredible how little we actually know about how our minds work and how external, or even internal, stimuli can have such a significant impact on our actions.  It’s scary stuff!