‘THE CHARACTERS OF THE STORY “Te observe your mind in automate mode, glance atthe image below. igre ‘Your experience as you look at the womans face seamlessly combines ‘what we normally cll seeing and intuitive thinking. As surely and {quickly as you saw that che young woman's har is dark you knew she Is angry. Furthermore, what you saw extended into the Fete. You ‘sensed that this woman is about to say some very unkind words, prob- ably in a loud and strident voice. A premonition of what she was, ‘going todo next came t mind automatically and effortlessly. You did ‘ot intend to assess her mood o co anticipate what she might do, and your reaction to the picture did not have the feel of something you {id Ie just happened to you. It was an instance of fast thinking, "Now look tthe following problems 17x24 ‘You kev immediately that this a mukipiation problem, and prob- ably knew that yu eau salve it, with paper and pen if no with. ‘ut You also hal some vague inutve knowledge ofthe range of posible resus. You would be quck to recognize that both 12,609 and 123 ae implausible. Without spending some time on the prob: iem, however, you would noc be certain thatthe answer snot 368. A preise solution did not come to mind, and you fl tht you could ‘Shoose whether of not fo engage inthe comptation. If you have not lone so yet you should attempt the muluplaion problem now, com ‘leting a leat part of You experienced slow thinking as you proceeded through sequence of step. You at retrieved from merry the cognitive pro- ‘gam for multiplication that you Teared in soo, then you imple mented it. Caring ou che computation was asin. You fet the Bustden of holding much maceril in memory, as you needed co keep track of wae you were and of where you were going whe balding ‘on co the intermediate result. The process was mental work delber 1e effort and orderly prototype of sow thinking. The compat ton was not only an even in your nd; our body wa also involved ‘Your muscles tensed up, your bloodpressure ose, and your hear rts increased. Someone looking closely at your eyes while you tacked this problem would have seen your pupils diate. Your pupils contracted [cto normal sae a son Ss you ended your work when you found the answer (which is 406, bythe wa) oF whea you gave UpPsychologists have been intensely interested for several decades inthe ‘wo modes of thinking evoked by che picture ofthe angry woman and by the mukipication problem, and have ofered many labels for them. adopt terms originally proposed by the psychologists Keith Stanovich and Richard West, and will refer to two systems in the mind, System 1 and System 2, + System 1 operates automatically and quickly, with litle or no effort tnd no sense of voluntary control + System 2 allocates attention to the effortful mental activites that demand it, including complex computations. The operations of System 2 are often associated with the subjective experience of agency, choice, and concentration ‘The labels of System 1 and System 2 are widely used in psychology, ‘but Igo further chan most inthis book, which you can read 3s a psj- chodrama with two characters, ‘When we think of ourselves, we identify with System 2, the con- selous, reasoning self chat has belies, makes choices, and decides ‘what to think about and what co do, Although System 2 believes itself to be where the action is, che automatic System 1 is the hero of the book. I describe System 1 2s effortlessly ofginating impressions and feelings thc are the main sourees ofthe explicit belies and deliberate choices of System 2. The automatic operations of System 1 generate ‘surprisingly complex pattems of ideas, but only the slower System 2 ‘can construct thoughts in an ordery series of steps. also describe cit- fumatances in whieh System 2 takeover, overruling the freewheeling Impulses and assocatons of System 1. You wil be invited to think of ‘the two systems as agents with thei individual ails, limitations, sand functions. In rough order of complexity, here are some examples ofthe auto- ‘matic activities that ae attributed to System I + Detect that one objets more distant than another + Orient to the source of a sudden sound. + Complete the phrase “bread and.” + Make a “sgust face" when shown a horrible piture. + Detect hostility in a voice. + Answer 102 42.=? + Read words on large billboards + Drive a caron an empey rad. + Find a strong move in chess (you area chess master). + Understand simple sentences. + Recognize that a “meck and ty soul witha passion for detail” resembles an occupational stereotype. {All these mental events belong with the angry woman—they occur ‘automaticaly and require litle or no effor. The capabilities of Sytem ‘include innate ake that we share with other animals. We are born prepared to perceive the world around us, recognize objects, orient attention, avoid Tostes, and fear spiders. Other mental activities ‘become fst and automatic through prolonged practice. System 1 has learned associations between ideas (che capital of France?) thas also learned skills such 25 reading and understanding nuances of social st tuations. Some sil, such as finding strong chess moves, ae acquired ‘only by specialized experts. Others are widely shared, Detecting the similarity of personality sketch to an cccupational stereoype requires broad knowledge ofthe language and the culture, which most ‘of us possess. The knowledge is stored in memory and accessed ith- ‘ut intention and without effort. ‘Several ofthe mental actions in th lst are completely involuntary. You cannot refain from understanding simple sentences in your ownlanguage or from orienting to 2 loud unexpected sound, nor can you prevent yourself from knowing that 2 + 2 = 4 or ftom thinking of Pais when the capital of France Is mentioned. Other activities, such ‘as chewing, are susceptible to voluntary control but normally run on ‘automatic plot. The contrl of attention is shared bythe two systems ‘Orientng toa loud sound is normaly an involuntary operation of Sys- tem I, which immediately nobizes the voluntary attention of System 2. You may be abe to resist curing toward the source ofa loud and ‘offensive comment a a crowded party, but even if your head does not move, your attention is initially directed to it at least for a while However, atention can be moved away from an unwanted focus, pri- ‘marly by focusing intently on another target. "The highly diverse operations of System 2 have one feature in com- mon: they require attention and are disrupted when attention is ‘drawn away. Here are some examples: + Brace forthe starter gun in race. + Focus attention onthe clowns inthe creas. + Focus on the voice of a particular person ina crowded and noisy + Look fora woman with white hair + Search memory to identify a surprising sound, + Maincain a faster walking speed than is natural fr you. + Monitor the appropriateness of your behavior in a social situston. + Count the occurences ofthe letter ain a page of text. + Tell someone your phone number + Park in a narrow space (for most people except guage attendants) + Compare two washing machines for overall value. “+ outa eax form. + Check the validity ofa complex logical argument {In all dese situations you must pay attention, and you will perform less well, or not at ll, if you are not ready or if your attention is lirected inappropriate. System 2 has some ality eo change the way System 1 works, by programming the normally automatic functions of attention and memory. When wating for a relative at a busy tein sta- ‘lon, for example, you can set yourself at wil to look for @ white- hired woman or a bearded man, and thereby increase the liklihocd of detecting your relative from a distance. You can set your memory ¢o ‘seareh for capital cites that sare with NV or for French existentialist ‘ovels. And when you rent a carat London's Heathrow Alrpor, the ftendant will probably remind you that "we drive onthe left side of the road over here." In ll ches cases, you are asked to do something that does noc come naturally, and you will find that the consistent ‘maintenance of a set requires continuous exertion of at least some fort. ‘The often-used phrase “pay attention” is apt: you dispose of a lim- ted budge of attention that you can allocate to activites, and Ifyou ‘ty to go beyond your budget, you will fal. Ie isthe mark of effortul actives that they interfere with each other, which is why itis difi- cule or impossible to conduct several at once. You could not compute the product of 17> 24 while making a let turn ino dense traf, and you certainly should not ery. You can do several things at once, but fly if they are easy and undemanding. You ae probably safe carrying ‘on a conversation with a passenger while driving on an empty high- ‘way, and many parents have discovered, perhaps with some gull, that ‘they can read a story toa child while thinking of something ese. Everyone has some awareness ofthe limited capacity of attention, ‘and our social behavior makes allowances for these limitations. When the driver of cat is overtaking a truck ona narow roa, for example, ‘ult passengers quite sensibly stop talking, They know that distrac- Jing the driver is noc a good idea, ad they aio suspect that he is t=porary dea and wil ne hear wba hey Intense focusing on a ask en make people feively blind, even 0 ‘cima thc normaly aract atetion, The most dramatic demons tion wa fered by Christopher Charis and Daniel Simons in thr ‘ook The vile Gorilla They constructed shor fim of two teas using bsheballs, on eam wearing white shirt, de ther wearing back. The viewers ofthe film are instructed to count the number of pases made by the white team, ignoring the Back players. This ask J ciialt and completely absorbing. Hallway through the vdeo, a ‘woman wearing grila Sit appears, crosses the court, thumps her {hess and moves on. The gil isin view fr 9 seconds. Many thou Sands af people have seen the vieo, and about ha of them do not otc anyhing unusual. Tis che counting task—and especialy the instruction oipore one ofthe teams-that causes the does. No ane who watches the video without that ask would mis the gril Secing and orenting are automatic functions of System 1, but they depen on the allocation of some atenton tothe flevant stimulus. ‘The authors ote that the most remarkable observation of hee sty isthe peopl ind its results very surprising, Indeed, the viewers who flo aoe the gorila ae inal sure that was not there—dhey can. ‘ot magne missing such asking event. The gorilla stay iusetes {wo important facts bout out minds: we cn be Dd to the obvious, se wear also blind o our Blindness ‘The interaction of the two systems isa recurrent theme of the Book, and a brie synopsis of the plot i in order. In the story I wil ll, Sys. {ems 1 and 2 ae both active whenever we are awake, System I runs automatically and System 2 is normally in a comfortable tow-effort ‘mode, in which only fraction of its capacity is engaged. System 1 continuously generates suggestions for System 2: impressions, intr Inions, intentions, and feelings. If endorsed by System 2, impressions ‘and intuitions turn into beliefs, and impulses turn into voluntary ‘actions. When all goes smoothly which is mos of the time, System 2 ‘adopts the suggestions of System 1 with litle or no modification. You {generally boieve your impressions and act on your desires, and that is Fine—usually, ‘When System 1 runs into dificult, i alls on System 2 to support ‘more decalied and specific processing that may solv the problem of ‘the moment. System 2 is mobilized When a question arises for which ‘System 1 doesnot offer an answer, as happened to you when you encountered the multiplication problem 17 = 24. You can also Feel a surge of conscious atention whenever you ate suprised. Sjs- tem 2is activated when an even ie detected that violates the mode of the world that System 1 maintains. In that world, lamps do not jump, ‘ats do not bark, and gorillas do not cross basketball cours. The ‘gorilla experiment demonstrates that some attention is needed forthe Surprising stimulus to be detected. Surprise then activates and orients {yur attention: you wil stare, and you will search your memory for 2 story that makes sense ofthe suprising event. System 2 is also cred- ited withthe continuous monitoring of your own behavior—the con- tol that keeps you polite when you are angry, and aler when you are diving at night. System 2 is mobilized to increased effore when it ‘detects an errr about to be made. Remember a time when you almost blurted out an offensive remark and note how hard you worked to restore control. In summary, most of what you (your Sytem 2) think land do originates in your System 1, but System 2 takes over when things ge difcule, and it normally bs the las word. ‘The division of labor between System 1 and System 2 is highly efi ent: it minimizes effore and optimizes performance. The arrange- ‘ment works well most ofthe time because System 1 is generally very ‘good at what it does: its models of familar situations are accurate, its ‘horeterm predictions are usualy accurate aswell, and is inital fese- ‘ons o challenges are swift and generally appropriate. Sytem 1 has biases, however, systematic errors that ts prone to make in specifiedcircumstances. As we shal se, i sometimes answers easier questions than the one it was asked, and it has lite understanding of logic and statistics. One further limitation of System I is chat it cannot be ‘umed off. Ifyou are shown a word on the screen ina language you know, you will read it—unless your attention is totally focused clsewhere, Figure 2 is a variane of a classic experiment that produces a conflict bberween the two systems. You should try the exercise before reading ‘Your ft ask is tog down both cols, calling out whether each word is printed in oweraee on ypercse When ou are one with the frst tao, 9 down bath columns again, saying wheter each words pitt he et (tothe rant of center by caving (or whispering to yours) “LEFT” er RIGHT.” ust pp lott lower vit Lower RIGHT poe" lott loner tert Lower viet pper Figure 2 You were almost certainly successful in saying the correct words in both tasks, and you surely discovered that some parts of each task ‘were much easier than others. When you identified upper- and lower- ‘ase, the Iefe-hand column was easy and the right-hand column Caused you to slow down and perhaps to stammer or stumble. When you named the position of words, the efhand column was dificult and the right-hand column was mach easier. ‘These tasks engage System 2, because saying “upper/lower” oF “tight /eft” is nce what you routinely do when looking down a column cof words. One ofthe things you di to set yourself forthe tase was to program your memory so thatthe relevant words (upper and lower for ‘the first tsk) were “onthe tp of your tongue.” The prioritizing ofthe chosen words is elfecive andthe mld temptation ta read other words ‘was fairy easy to resist when you went through the frst column. But the second column was diferent, because ie contained words for hich you were se, and you could not ignore them. You were mostly blero respond correctly, but overcoming the competing response was ‘strain, and it slowed you down. You experienced a conflict berween & task that you intended to cary out and an automat response that nerfered with it. CConflic besween an automatic reaction and an intention to control it is common in our lives. We are all familiar with the experience of tuying not to stare at the ody dressed couple atthe neighboring table ina restaurant We also Know what ts like to force our attention on boring. book, when we constantly find ourselves returning to the point at which the reading lost te meaning. Where winters ae hard, many drivers have memorics of thet car skidding out of control on the ice and ofthe struggle to follow well-rehearsed instructions that negate what they would naturally do: “Steer into the skid, and what- fever you do, do nor touch the Brakes!” And every human being has hha che experience of not telling someone to go to hell. One of the tasks of System 2is to overcome the impulses of System 1. In other ‘words, System 2 is in charge of self-contal‘To appreciate the autonomy of System 1, as well as the distinction ‘between impressions and belie, take a good Took at gure 3 ‘This picture ie untemerkable: nwo horizontal lines of diferent lengths, with fins appended, pointing indifferent directions. The bot~ tom lin is obviously longer than the one above it. That is what we all See, and we naturally believe what we see. Ifyou have already encoun- tered this image, however, you recognize i as the famous Malle-yer ilusion. As you can easily confirm by measuring them with rule, the horizontal lines ae in fact dentcal in length Figures [Now that you have messured the lines, you—your System 2, the ‘conscious being you call T'—have a new belie you know that the lines are equally long. If asked about their length, you will say what ‘you know But You sil the bottom line a longer. You have chosen to believe the measurement, but you cannot prevent System 1 from oing its thing: you cannot decide to sce the lines as equal, although you know they are. To resist the illusion, there is only one thing you ‘an do: you must lean to mistrust your impressions ofthe length of lines when fins are attached to them. To implement that rule, you ‘must be able to recognize the illusory patern and recall what you ‘know about it Ifyou can do this, you wil never again be fooled by the [Maller-Lyer lusion. But you wil sil se one line as longer than the ‘Not ll illusions are visual. There are illusions of thought, which we call cgntv isons. AS a graduate student, I attended some courses ‘on the art and scence of psychotherapy. During one ofthese lectures, ‘ur teacher imparted a morsel of clinical wisdom. This is what he tld ‘os: “You will from time to time meet patiene who shares a disturb- {ng tale of multiple mistakes in his previous treatment. He has been seen by several clinicians, and all faled him. The patient can lucidly escrbe how his therapists misunderstood him, but he has quickly perceived that you are diferent. You share the same feling, ze con Vineed that you understand hin, and will be able to help” Ar this point my teacher raised his voice as he sid, “Do not even think of tak- {ng on this patient! Throw him out ofthe office! He is most Ukely a psychopath and you will not be abe o help im.” ‘Many yeas later [learned that the teacher had warned us against pychopathie charm, and the leading authority in the study of psy- ‘hopathy confirmed thatthe teacher's advice was sound. The analogy to the Miller-Lyer illusion is close. What we were being taught was ‘ot how to feel about tha patient. Our teacher took i for granted that the sympathy we would fel forthe patent sould not be under our control; It would arise from System 1. Furthermore, we were not being aught tobe generally suspicious of our feelings about patients. ‘We were told that a strong attraction to a patent with a repeated hie tory of failed treatment isa danger sign—ke the fins on the parallel Tines. Iv isan ilusion— cognitive illusion—and I (System 2) was ‘taught howto recognize it and advised not to believe tor act oni.‘The question that is most often atked about cognitive ilusions is whether they can be overcome. The message ofthese examples is not encouraging. Because System 1 operates automatically and cannot be tured off at wil errors of intuitive thought are often dificult to pre- vent. Bases cannot always be avoided, because System 2 may have no clue tothe eror. Even when cues to likely errors are available, errors ‘an be prevented only by the enhanced monitoring and eforful actv~ fry of System 2. As a way to live your lf, however, continuous vigi- Tance isnot necessarly good, and it is certainly impractical. Conseandy questioning our own thinking. would be impossibiy tedious, and System 2 Is much too slow and inefficient to serve as @ substitute for System 1 in making routine decisions. The best we can do isa compromise: learn to recognize situations in which mistakes ae likely and try harder to avoid significant mistakes when the stakes fate high. The premise of this book is that itis easier to recognize ‘other people's mistakes than our own. You have been invited to think ofthe rwo systems as agents within the mind, with cheir individual personalities, abilities, and limitations. will often use sentences in which the systems are the subjects, such 2, “System 2 eleulates products.” "The use of such language is considered asin inthe professional cit- cles in which Travel, because it seems to explain the thoughts and actions of a person by the thoughts and actions of lle people inside the person's head. Grammatically the sentence about System 2 is simi- tar to "The butler steals the pety cath.” My colleagues would point ‘ut that the butler’ action actully explains the disappearance of the cash, and they eighty question whether the sentence about System 2 explains how products are calculated. My answer is that the brief ative sentence that atribates calculation to System 2 Is intended as a 4escrpton, noc an explanation. Is meaningful oaly because of what ou already know about System 2. I is shorthand fr the following "Mental armed is a voluncary atc that requires effort, should ot be performed wile making lft turn, and is associated with Gilad pups and an accelerated hear rate" Similar, te eacement that “highay driving under routine cond ‘ions set to System I” means that sering the ca around a bend is tstomatie and amos effces. i also implies that an experienced dkiver can die on an empty highway while conducting a converse ton Finally, “ysters 2 prevented James for eating fois to the insult means that James would have been more aggressive In his response if his capacity for efforfl contol had been daruped (or ‘zampls, ihe had ben unk). ‘System 1a System 2 are so central to he story Il inthis book chat I must make absolutely clear that they are fettious characters Systems 1 and2 are not systems inthe standard sense of enties with Interacting aspects or parts. And there x no ane part ofthe Brain that cither ofthe systems would call home. You may well sk: Whats the poin of introducing Sestious characters with ly names Ino ase ‘us book? The answer is that the characters are useful because of Some quirks of our minds, yours and mine. A sentence is understood more easly it describes what an agene (System 2) does than scribes wha something is, what properties thas. In other Words, “system 2 isa beter subject fora sentence than "mental aithet* ‘The mind—epecly Stem 1™-appars to have a special aptude for the construction and in of stories about atve agents, who Ive personales, Ibis, apd aides. You quchy formed ¢ bad ‘pinion of the thieving butler, you expect more bad behavior frm ‘im, snd you wil remember hm fora while. This is also my hope for the language of systems. ‘Why cal ther System 1 and System 2 rather than the more descip- tive “automati system” and “efforfl system”? The reson i simple: "Automatic system” takes Longer to say than “System 1° and thereforetakes more space in your working memory. This mates, because any- thing thar oecupies your working memory reduces your ability £0 think. You should erat “System 1° and “System 2° as nicknames, Uke Bob and Joe, identifying characters that you will get to know over the course ofthis book. The fctous systems make it easier for me 10 think about judgment and choice, and will make i easier for you to understand what I sy “He had an impression, but some of his impressions are illusions.” “This was a pute System 1 response. She reacted to the threat before she recognized it” “This is your System 1 taking. Slow down and let your System 2 take control” ATTENTION AND EFFORT In the unlikely event of this book being made into a film, Sytem 2 would be a supporting character who believes herself to be the hero. ‘The defining feature of System 2, in this story, i that its operations are effortul, and one of ft main characteristics is laziness, a rluc- tance to invest more effore chan is strety necessary. As’ conse ‘quence, the thoughts and actions that System 2 believes it has chosen are often guided by the figure at the center of the story, System I. However, there ae vital tasks that only System 2 an perform because they requite effort and acts of eel control in which the incuitions and Impalses of System I are overcame. Ifyou wish to experience your System 2 working at full lt, the fol Towing exercise wil do; it should bring you tothe limits of your cogai- tive bilities within § seconds, To start, make up several strings of 4 ligt, all different, and write each string on an index card. Place @ blank card on top ofthe deck The ask that you will perform Is called ‘Adé-1, Heres how i goes: ‘Star beating seady chythm (or beter yer, set a metronome at 1/sec). Remove the blank card and read the four digits aloud ‘Wait for two beats, then report a string in which each of the ‘xiginal digits is incremented by 1 I the dgis on the card are 15294, the: correct response Is) 6305. Keeping the rhythm is important