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While reading Daniel Kahneman's ,"Thinking,Fast and Slow"....about two systems of thinking[some right/left brain shift], I was struck by how we use our brains to make decisions.
System 1 thinking corresponds to fast, intuitive,emotional and almost automatic decisions, though it sometimes leaves us at the mercy of our human biases. The knee jerk variety.
System2 thinking is slower and requires more intellectual effort. Ponderous?
Kahneman posits, we are more susceptible to system 1 thinking as it requires less effort, and leads to flawed outcomes. To illustrate he poses this niggler...

Suppose that a bat and ball together cost $1.10 and that the bat costs $1.00 more than the ball. How much does the ball cost?

People relying on system1 will quickly say$1.10. The correct answer is 5 cents. Think about it.

Kahneman, a cognitive psychologist, has done much research in cognitive behaviour, also won the Nobel Prize for Economics. He is Professor Emeritus at Princeton U.
He made eonomics more realistic..in terms of decision making...eg, in law, medicine, finance etc. And the point he makes is, how much our decisions are based on system 1 thinking, highlighting our biases, especially when a more cautious,thoughtful approach can include some foresight and consequences oriented decisions.
I have just touched his basics here and oversimplified it. There is so much wisdom in his writing.
Anyone else read his work? Comments?

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