Daniel Kahneman – Magician and Trickster? A review of Thinking, Fast and Slow

Thinking, Fast and Slow presents the automatic and effortful cognitive processing routes, which are named system 1 and system 2 by the author.  The book includes descriptions and relatable illustrations of heuristics, biases, and other leaps of reasoning that one applies when cognitively depleted or inattentive.  The comprehensible explanations of the processes, intermixed with sometimes amusing anecdotes of a Nobel laureate’s life  and research, are likely why this book has made its way onto bookshelves of prominent academics and onto the syllabus of behavioural science programs at some of the world’s most prestigious universities.  The irony of the book is that, intentionally or otherwise, the author uses many manipulations of cognition throughout the book that likely deactivate the reader's critical ‘system 2’ thinking.

In the science of the mind, there are so many potentially confounding variables that it is rightfully encouraged by those researching this area to be cautious in assertions.  In the beginning of the book Kahneman runs through several exercises and states, ‘you are thinking…’  This is bothersome as one cannot say with complete certainty what anyone will be thinking in response to a stimulus.  You can guess what people are likely thinking and you may be accurate for most people.  It seems that Kahneman relies on this, much in the way that street magicians do.  You may feel that it is unreasonable to equate a distinguished researcher with a street magician, however there are parallels. He speaks with glee about tricking his participants in his early research which linked cognitive effort with pupil dilation. Recounting how he would regularly gather an audience at the university who would watch amazed as he would note by observing the dilation of the participant’s pupils that they had stopped attending to the task. They would ask him how he knew they had stopped working, and his response was that he could look ‘into their soul’.  While perhaps an amusing anecdote to some, it doesn’t help the many people who confuse the term ‘psychologist’ with ‘psychic’.

He goes on to speak of the halo effect, and I believe this is something he relies on through the narrative of the book.  For the less critical reader, his accurate guesses of what you are thinking in those early chapters may give him an almost supernatural quality which will likely make the reader more accepting and receptive of his subsequent writing.  He then presents simple reasoning puzzles and talks about how some of the most intelligent people in the world are fooled by them.  Imagining that the type of person reading his book is likely someone who has an interest in thinking, and is therefore also likely someone who is familiar with these sorts of reasoning puzzles, it likely that they will find this validating as they identified a problem with the puzzle when reading it.  Now that the hypothetical audience is in awe of his supernatural-like understanding of the human mind, and feeling validated by the examples they have been given, they are likely now more susceptible to suggestion. 

He continues by saying that ‘you must believe’ that the principles he discusses apply to you, ‘there is no other option’ than to believe it and then continues that he has no scientific or empirically tested basis for the theory he is presenting.  It is this language that I find particularly problematic.  If we are reasoning critically, we know that people can believe whatever they choose (even if their beliefs seem outlandish), there are always options (even if the alternatives may make you feel like there is only one) and that theories without evidence should be treated with caution. As Kahneman started his career in a hypnotherapy research unit, it is perhaps unsurprising that the ‘confidence’ and ‘forced cognition’ principles of hypnosis appear particularly evident in this section of his book.

Despite the criticism, I still feel that the book has merit.  Understanding heuristics, biases and leaps in reasoning is a life skill that awakens us to our own prejudice, ignorance and makes us less susceptible to influence.  This book certainly provides the tools with which to begin to understand these principles, but it is not the only one.  My advice to anyone that decides to read it would be to set themselves the task of identifying where Kahneman makes leaps in reasoning himself and take a critical view to the presentation of materials. 

If you would like to know more about day to day errors we make in our thinking, here are some free resources to get you started.

This free critical reasoning podcast series from Oxford University http://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/series/critical-reasoning-beginners  

Free informational videos on unconscious bias  https://www.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/pov-biased-lpclips/who-me-biased/  

APS blog ‘The bias of crowds: Beyond diversity training’, https://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/bias-of-crowds?fbclid=IwAR0q9ODPwU5X1jTFXJInvh6RPN0n1lYwQktaZeHQSbfhfWWcIpwTlk_yzWg

“How to Promote Inclusion in 750 words” by The Brauer Group Lab - a social psychology research laboratory located in the Department of Psychology at University of Wisconsin-Madison, directed by Professor Markus Brauer: https://psych.wisc.edu/Brauer/BrauerLab/index.php/campaign-materials/english/