Remembering Danny Kahneman

If you are new here, hello—my name is Gary Farnham, and I am curious. I like to say I never made it out of the "why" phase. I am viciously curious about the way things work, why we are here, and how humans behave. This curiosity has led me to a wide range of books and informational content, lands very unfamiliar to where I grew up, deep conversations with homeless individuals on park benches, and mansions in the Hollywood Hills. Up until a little over a year ago, all that I had learned and experienced had been confined to the inside of my own skull and the pages of my personal journals.

Then— I began to share. It started with posts on Medium, which you can find here: https://medium.com/@chatg. Since then, it has transformed into this newsletter, which is growing each day. I have always said, if just one person reads something I write and learns something new or has a brighter day because of it, I am satisfied. If you have made it this far and are still reading, thank you. I appreciate you, and this is just the beginning.

Now onto Today’s piece:

Around the time of the last solar eclipse that was visible in the US, I was reading a book titled “Everybody Lies” by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz, which I have written about in this newsletter before: https://resonance.beehiiv.com/p/everybody-lies.

In this book, one devoted to analyzing internet data to discover our true nature, Seth highlights that, according to a study of Amazon data, only about 7% of people who started the book “Thinking, Fast and Slow” by Daniel Kahneman finished it.

In my typical fashion, I of course picked up the book and was committed to finishing it, and I have been thankful since that I did.

For those who haven’t read, Kahneman introduces two characters in this book, System 1 and System 2. These are the two systems we use to approach stimuli in our lives. With these characters, Kahneman helps to expose the sub & unconscious mind and give us a glimpse into what we don’t know we don’t know about ourselves and the decisions we make.

What do you see when you look at this photo?

She looks angry, she looks upset, she is agitated or about to yell angrily. Our ability to discern all of this in an instant from just a photo is System 1 at work.

Now, what is the answer to:

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Most likely, you would need to need to stop reading and put all of your focus on only this problem in your mind. It would really get your gears turning, and would be the only thing you have the capacity to work through in your mind for a few moments(*The answer is at the end). This type of thinking is System 2 thinking.

System 1 involves little to no effort, is essentially involuntary/automatic, and done quickly.

System 2 involves effortful cognitive activities including complex computations and involves agency, choice, and concentration.

Upon hearing of Daniel Kahneman’s death at age 90 in late March, I recently picked this book back up and was instantly reminded why I loved it so much and how much it resonated with me.

Here are 2 concepts that resonated with me and I feel will be helpful for you to know on your journey:

The Busy and Depleted System 2

Now more than ever, our System 2 is busy and depleted, constantly loaded with information. We know who is where, with whom, and what they are doing; 24/7 news forces us to ponder the world's issues. Essentially, we have access to every piece of knowledge ever documented, and it is being constantly added to at a lightning-fast pace..

Kahneman describes our System 2 capabilities as an electrical grid; plug too many things in, and it shorts out.

We only have so much cognitive load, and using any part of it to ask ourselves how well we are doing in a task depletes this load quicker. Instead, all of our System 2 capacity should be put towards the relevant and impactful problem at hand rather than pointless, anxious thoughts.

I often ask myself if I am “doing this life thing right”, and have found many members of my generation do the same. This tells me the seemingly harmless or even productive act of doing this may be depleting us from performing better in whatever we are currently doing.

TLDR: Be present. Don’t question your performance during the performance.

Effect on Self Control and Discipline

It has been found that self-control and discipline require System 2 capacity.

Studies have been done that showed that people who are simultaneously challenged with a demanding cognitive task and by a temptation are more likely to yield to the temptation (Studies involved participants solving cognitive strain inducing problems and being offered the option of chocolate cake or fruit while doing so).

Other studies found that people who are more “cognitively busy” are also more likely to make selfish choices, use sexist language, and make superficial judgments in social situations.

In my experience, journaling is by far the best practice for freeing up “System 2” capacity. Sit down each morning, put pen to paper and write what you may be pondering or trying to figure out in your mind. Seeing it on the page makes it become a real tangible thing, once it is out, you can determine whether there is more contemplating to do on the topic or often times you will realize it was needlessly taking up precious space and you can continue on with your day with a little more system 2 capacity.

TLDR: Your racing thoughts are effecting your self control and discipline. Establish a practice that allows you to move through the imaginary problems you are solving in your head that are bogging down your system 2 capacity.

Priming

A simple example of priming is that if you have recently heard the word “Eat,” you are more likely to later fill in the blank in SO_P with a U rather than an A.

In another study, two groups were tasked with reading a series of words; one group had words associated with old age and the elderly, the other was filled with youthful, energetic terms. Following this session of reading, they had to walk down a hallway to exit. This walk down the hallway was the subject of the study.

The group that read terms about old age and the elderly walked down the hallway at a significantly slower pace than the other group(these were all students at NYU). Their System 1 subconsciously caused their walking pace to slow down after being primed with these terms about old age.

The words you hear, the people you surround yourself with, and the words they speak have a priming effect on your life.

As Danny calls it, the brain is an associative machine. Our brains are constantly making associations, and the beauty is we have the ability to control the associations. If you don’t believe this, you have a fixed mindset.

Everything that happens in our lives, we have the ability to choose what we will associate it with. It is up to you and you only. Clear up your system 2 capacity to be able to use that space to choose a positive and constructive response.

As we age, the associations we have made with experiences and the feelings they bring us become more and more ingrained. Often, it is more important to unlearn something than to learn something new.

Unlearn the association that lives in your brain of working out being hard. Working out is truly fun. View it as play. Unlearn the association you have with food and eating being comforting or stress reducing. Just eat real food. Avoid anything packaged and fast food. Quality, healthy food tastes just as good.

Prime yourself toward positivity and health by being cognizant of the words you are taking in on social media, in books and via the minds and vocal cords of the people around you. Your brain makes associations— if your brain associates life with bad or bodies with weak/unhealthy, that will be your reality. Change the association and watch the results unfold.

The implications of priming are broader than just personal choices; Kahneman highlights a study where they looked at the voting patterns and found that votes to support school funding and initiatives were significantly higher when the polls were located in school buildings.

Also, Subway tunnels that aren’t properly cleaned and have graffiti are more likely to have higher rates of violent crime. Surroundings impact behavior.

TLDR: The words you read, the words you hear, the people around you, and the environment you are in are all priming your brain and have an effect on your behavior. Your behavior and choices ultimately shape your life trajectory. Consume and surround yourself with people and locations accordingly. Think big.

I could go on, but I recognize this is system 2 material, so I will free up some of your capacity and let you continue on with your day.

Enjoy it, trust yourself and believe.

G

Daniel Kahneman (March 5, 1934 - March 27, 2024)

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