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Journal of Social, Evolutionary, and Cultural Psychology 2012, 6(2), 253-256.

©2011 Journal of Social, Evolutionary, and Cultural Psychology

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Book Review

THINKING, FAST AND SLOW BY DANIEL KAHNEMAN

*Daniel Tumminelli O’Brien

Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University

Thinking, Fast and Slow. By Daniel Kahneman. Farrar, Straus and Giroux: New York, 2011; ISBN 978-0374275631.

The endowment effect. The overinterpretation of small numbers. The anchoring effect. The availability heuristic. Loss aversion. As you read through this list, you may recognize most or all of them as fundamental aspects of how humans perceive and process their experiences. They are also connected in another way: each was co- discovered by one man, Daniel Kahneman, the author of the recently published Thinking, Fast and Slow. Kahneman has been a prominent leader in the field of cognitive science for about four decades now, an illustrious career that has included a Nobel Prize for his work on economic decision-making, done in collaboration with his long-time research partner, the late Amos Tversky.

The book, written for a general audience, chronicles this career and the scientific advances it has generated. That said, Kahneman certainly does not intend the book to be primarily a memoir, nor should it be classified as such. Rather, the goal of the book, as the title implies, is to communicate dual-processing theory, the idea that our brain engages in two different forms of thought. He uses his extensive experience—personal histories, study-by-study accounts, and likely a handful of pedagogical techniques he has developed through the years—to convey this message, the sum product being an enjoyable and edifying read for anyone, scientist or not.

At the outset, Kahneman introduces us to the book’s two main characters: Systems 1 and 2, our two modes of cognition. They also make for the title of the book. System 1 is “fast,” comprising the various heuristics and biases that immediately perceive events; System 2 is “slow,” allowing us to observe and direct our attention, and gather evidence for or against one idea or another. Through a mixture of example and metaphor, he is able to embody these two patterns fully, imbuing each with something akin to a personality. Even here Kahneman demonstrates his insight into the human psyche, and is not shy to admit it. He states explicitly that Systems 1 and 2 are a fiction, a teaching tool meant to appeal to our basic cognitive instincts. It is easier for a reader to conceptualize two new characters than it is to connect with two abstract cognitive patterns. He occasionally reminds the reader of this, encouraging us to appreciate the fiction for what it is, and warning that we not be lured into thinking that these Systems are separate, corporeal entities.

The metaphor is quite effective, not only making the material highly digestible, but also giving Kahneman the flexibility to describe the behaviors that emerge from these two processes. Take, for example, the story of Tom W, the basis for an experiment AUTHOR NOTE: Please direct correspondence to Daniel Tumminelli O’Brien, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University. E-mail: [email protected]

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published by Kahneman and Tversky in Psychological Review in 1973 (in fact, you may want to perform the exercise before moving on):

The following is a personality sketch of Tom W written during Tom’s senior year in high school by a psychologist, on the basis of psychological tests of uncertain validity: Tom W is of high intelligence, although lacking in true creativity. He has a need for order and clarity, and for neat and tidy systems in which every detail finds its appropriate place. His writing is rather dull and mechanical, occasionally enlivened by somewhat corny puns and flashes of imagination of the sci-fi type. He has a strong drive for competence. He seems to have little feel and little sympathy for other people, and does not enjoy interacting with others. Self-centered, he nonetheless has a deep moral sense. Now please rank the nine fields of specialization listed below by how similar the description of Tom W is to the typical graduate student in each of the following fields: business administration computer science engineering humanities and education law medicine library science physical and life sciences social science and social work If your response was like that of the participants in the original experiment, and

in the many replications since then, you probably ranked computer science and engineering at or near the top. This would ignore, however, the base rate. These are not in fact common areas of study, and there are many more graduate students who pursue humanities and education. Thus, regardless of Tom W’s personality, he is more likely to be in one of these more common fields. Further, the opening blurb states that the personality assessment has not been validated. What went wrong?

As Kahneman goes on to elucidate, the task itself, which entails analysis, comparison, and ranking of nine career paths, can only be performed by System 2. System 2, however, does not start from scratch, but with the impressions generated by System 1, based on efficient, but error-prone, biases and heuristics. In this case, the description invokes stereotypes, or a sense of representativeness, as Kahneman calls it, that catch System 1’s attention. In addition, System 1 places information itself at a higher premium than validity, and most participants gloss over the point that the personality assessment here has no scientific value. It is possible for System 2 to invoke the base rate in order to arrive at a more accurate answer, but Kahneman repeatedly points out that it is a relatively “lazy” system. Rather than completely reevaluate, it is just as inclined to use first impressions as the basis for the ensuing analytical process, often generating seemingly rational arguments that endorse the outcomes.

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The book includes dozens of similar examples, some from Kahneman’s own work, others from the work of colleagues. Each serves the dual role of further illustrating the co-operation the System 1 and System 2 modes of thought, while also teaching the reader about yet another important aspect of human cognition. It is Kahneman’s hope that, as readers grow a deeper understanding of these patterns, they will be able to master their own thought process, avoiding pitfalls like those exposed by the Tom W experiment.

A striking aspect of Systems 1 and 2 is how their structure describes the nature of their adaptation. Kahneman only references evolutionary logic in a few scant examples, and even then it is meant to be illustrative rather than rigorous. It is hard to ignore, however, how the various biases and heuristics that create our impressions reflect the tasks they have been shaped to accomplish. They are not in fact selected for accuracy, but to generate adaptive behavior more often than not, and to avoid the sorts of errors that might be quite costly. There is also something curious in the way System 2 prefers to lazily follow these mechanisms. Is it an adaptation of efficiency? Or does that as well produce adaptive outcomes more often? The book holds dozens of implicit evolutionary riddles like this one, and evolutionary scientists reading the book might find inspiration from them. Kahneman might also help researchers from other subfields of psychology to conceptualize the proximate mechanisms that underlie the behaviors they study. The book does not, however, provide an account of how and why these cognitive structures evolved.

Though dual processing theory is the book's explicit theme, it is also very much a memoir. As much as it is a story about Systems 1 and 2, it is also the tale of scientific pursuit, of a prominent life dedicated to the expansion of our knowledge about human behavior. The book progresses through topics in a chronology that roughly approximates Kahneman’s life, and each chapter describes the context, relationships, challenges, and breakthroughs preceding each new discovery. We watch Kahneman as he revels in the process of contemplation and the challenge of new problems. We also are given a peek behind the curtain at one of the more successful collaborative duos in recent memory. He describes how he and Amos Tversky met, and how they pursued new ideas and concepts through conversations and debates. It is clear the two had a deep friendship and intellectual connection, one that made it possible for them to be so productive over the course of the 1970s.

Overall, it is an exceptional book, one that popularizes a scientifically current conception of human behavior, while also being thorough enough to be a scientific publication in itself. I have my reservations that it will achieve its auxiliary goal of encouraging people to monitor and manage their cognitive processes; it is effortful and difficult to be constantly aware of our biases and heuristics, and that comes from someone who studies human behavior and considers such mechanisms regularly. Those without this pre-knowledge will probably spend much of the book saying, “Wow, I do that.” Conversely, even though most readers will not retrain their daily behaviors, simply knowing more about them is valuable on its own.

I would recommend the book to anyone looking to understand more about human cognition. For the general audience, it is readable, engaging, and thought-provoking. It serves all the same purposes for scientists, but I would argue that it offers a little something extra. Squeezed in between the names of mechanisms, the seminal studies, and the illustrative metaphors of Systems 1 and 2, is the autobiography of one of the great scientists of our time. It reads at times as an official statement of retirement, one that

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shares with us what the author accomplished in those many years of hard work. It is instructive in its spirit as much as its process, and I think any scientist will see in it a dozen reminders of why he or she has chosen the same path.

Received February 14, 2012; Revision received March 12, 2012; Accepted March 13, 2012

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