The Quantum Brain: Trusting Neurodivergent Intuition
Did you know that Quantum computers are being developed by Google, IBM, Microsoft and Amazon – introducing a technology that will transcend the current limitations humans face with historically unsolvable problems?
To get a scope of what these things could potentially do, think of this – on a universal scale, we could understand what Dark Matter and Dark Energy are, simulate the origins of the universe, and crack the Theory of Everything – finally unifying general relativity and Quantum mechanics.[1] At the scale of our own planet – quantum computers will allow us to unlock unlimited energy with nuclear fusion,[2] eliminate extreme poverty,[3] and accelerate solutions to reverse climate change.[4]
How? It’s all about the way the computer answers questions with speed and parallel processing.
Without getting too technical about superposition and entanglement (not that I could if I wanted to and I’m fine with just leaving it where Einstein did with “spooky things happening at a distance”) Quantum computers analyze all possible solutions at once and collapse to the best answer. Classical computers cannot do this. Instead, they use sequential processing, checking each solution one at a time. It is difficult to comprehend the profound difference between these two systems – specifically in terms of data being processed and the speed at which it is happening.
For example, Google’s Sycamore quantum processor demonstrated “quantum supremacy“ by solving a problem in 200 seconds that would take the world’s best (digital) supercomputer 10,000 years.[5]
Digital computers (left) process sequentially, taking one path at a time. Quantum computers (right) process all paths simultaneously. (Image generated with ChatGPT)
Executive (DYS)Function in the Brain
The way quantum computers process and problem-solve is a near-perfect metaphor for what happens inside my clinically diagnosed ADHD brain. I am walking around subconsciously processing about 5 terabytes of data per hour.[6] Typically, the executive function, in the prefrontal cortex of most brains, directs and filters all that data to determine what is relevant and worth giving attention to right now, and what can be shelved for later. You can think of the executive function as a police officer directing traffic at a five-way intersection, pausing some cars, and allowing others to pass through. Cars (a metaphor for thoughts) move about orderly, and at the right time.
In my brain, the officer is asleep on the sidewalk, (executive DYSfunction) and cars are zooming through the intersection from every direction like they are driving on the autobahn. The drivers are rolling down their windows and trying to talk to each other while doing 120mph. When one of the cars catches my attention and I FEEL something strongly about the direction it could be heading, somehow all of my focus and attention collapses onto that car, and I grab ahold of it like Marty McFly on a skateboard, holding on to the bumper. For the next few hours, or days, or weeks I can see or hear nothing else. I am laser-focused, not on where the car is going, but of all the places the car could go. Drawing maps, building contingencies, and routing every possible path that answers the question the driver asked me as he was whizzing by.
Wait, what was the question again?
Let me explain how something called The Substitution Effect may be hijacking my attention.
Understanding The Substitution Effect
In Thinking Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman identifies two systems at work in the brain.[7]
| System 1 | System 2 |
| Fast, effortless, and automatic
|
Deliberate, logical, and effortful
|
| Instincts, emotions, and pattern recognition
|
Requires focus and cognitive energy
|
| Used for everyday decisions and survival-based reactions
|
Used for complex problem-solving and critical thinking
|
| Prone to biases, cognitive shortcuts, and snap judgments
|
Less prone to bias but mentally exhausting to process
|
System 1 responds automatically to the most attractive thoughts that drive by. Through pattern recognition and implicit memory, it grabs ahold instinctively to the ideas that have the highest potential for creating my desires. It does this by running incredibly complex algorithms, synthesizing past experiences and future potential, and taking all parallel paths at once. It happens in an instant, releasing dopamine and engendering euphoria, creating the sense that something just “feels right.” It is answering questions and solving problems with quantum speed and simultaneous processing, just like the computers we discussed above. Can I trust this feeling? The answer is yes….and no.
The extent to which I can trust this feeling is determined by the quality of the questions I am asking.
What I mean is this, If I am pursuing the right question then I can trust the feeling. If I am pursuing a lesser question, then the decision to pursue it needs critical inspection.
How do I know if I am pursuing the right question? …
….That’s the right question.
Questioning Your Questions
In Kahneman’s dense book, he breaks questions down into two categories – for simplicity, we will call them First Questions & Easy Questions.[8] When System 1 comes across an idea or a decision, it attempts to answer a question or solve the problem. If the First Question is a hard one that requires critical thinking (like most important things are), it automatically replaces it with a new, Essay Question and answers that one instead. It does this without me even knowing it. This is called the substitution effect, and it looks like this:
| First Questions
|
Easy Questions
|
| Will moving to another place enhance my long-term well-being?
|
Does moving feel exciting and like the right next adventure?
|
| Will building this venture allow for sustainable impact?
|
Will building this venture make more sense to the people around me?
|
| Does this move the needle on my long-term desires?
|
Does this give me short-term relief from the tyranny of the mundane?
|
| Will this make me more loving and available?
|
Will this feel like I am accomplishing something worthwhile?
|
The First Questions require critical thinking, an abandoning of bias, and sometimes death of exciting fantasies. (booooo!!) The Easy Questions, by contrast, quickly generate easy answers that give the feeling as if I answered the important First Question. But I didn’t, I just replaced it. As Kahneman says “you may not realize that the target question was difficult, because an intuitive answer to it came readily to mind.[9]”
Getting back to that proper First Question is precisely the work of System 2. But that does not mean System 2 is a Debbie-downer. System 2 will help prove or disprove whether that feeling can be trusted and get me what I really want. It will prevent me from being hijacked and distracted by the shiny cars whizzing by. It will help me focus on what really matters. The more I engage both systems, the more I will be able to trust my intuition.
Visualizing The Right Questions
This work is challenging and not exactly intuitive yet. I can’t do it in my mind. I need to see it. I am experimenting with a “System 2 Dashboard” to visually see this process unfold. With ChatGPT I created a prototype to start working with the exciting ideas that create so much energy in me. If you would like to test out this Obsidian template yourself, just comment below and I’d be happy to share it with you.
I’m realizing that if I want to trust my intuition, I need to make sure I am asking and answering the right questions. My mind naturally moves at quantum speed, analyzing possibilities and generating energy around ideas faster than I can contain them. I want to give my energy, my time, my life to the pursuit of restoration. To solving complex problems for forgotten people, lonely places, and broken systems. I want to allow my mind to obsess over the right things. The things that align with my unique and authentic makeup. I want to answer the questions, the First Questions, the questions that propel me further down this mysterious journey of becoming fully human.
[1] “Quantum Supremacy: How the Quantum Computer Revolution Will Change Everything: Kaku, Michio: 9780385548366: Amazon.Com: Books.”
[2] “(PDF) Quantum Computing for Nuclear Fusion: Advancing Simulation and Optimization.”
[3] Pathstone, “Quantum Computing Boosts for Sustainable Development.”
[4] “Quantum Computing Just Might Save the Planet | McKinsey.”
[5] Arute et al., “Quantum Supremacy Using a Programmable Superconducting Processor.”
[6] N, P, and R, “Understanding Unconscious Bias.”
[7] Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow, 19.
[8] Kahneman, 98.
[9] Kahneman, 99.
About the Author
Christian Swails
Christian is the founder of CoCreation - a Startup Hub for social entrepreneurs in Savannah, Ga. He serves as the Spiritual Director for Wesley Gardens Retreat Center and Wesley Monumental United Methodist Church.7 responses to “The Quantum Brain: Trusting Neurodivergent Intuition”
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Christian thanks for the insight into your brain! I feel like I know you better through the post. How have you found that you can prime your brain for the first and not the easy questions?
Thanks for the question, Robert. Priming my brain for First Questions may come from something called First Principles Thinking.
First Principles Thinking is the mental process of breaking down a problem into its most basic, non-negotiable truths and then rebuilding a solution from the ground up. Aristotle first introduced the concept in Metaphysics, calling first principles the fundamental building blocks of knowledge—ideas that cannot be deduced from anything else. René Descartes expanded on this in Discourse on Method, emphasizing the importance of reducing problems to their simplest elements before solving them. In modern times, Elon Musk has famously used First Principles Thinking to revolutionize industries by questioning assumptions and reconstructing solutions from scratch (Waitzkin, 2017, The Art of Learning).
In the context of cognitive biases and decision-making, First Principles Thinking counteracts the Substitution Effect by forcing System 2 to engage. Instead of allowing System 1 to latch onto an easier question and run with it, First Principles Thinking requires me to pause, strip away assumptions, and define what is fundamentally true about the situation. Once those foundational truths are clear, I can reason upward toward the best solution—without being hijacked by emotion, bias, or the influence of others.
To apply this in real life I’m trying to:
1. Pause & Identify – Notice when I’m feeling a strong emotional pull toward an idea. Then ask myself: “Am I answering the real question, or am I just grabbing the easiest one?”
2. Break It Down – Reduce the problem to its fundamental truths. What do I absolutely know to be true about this situation? Remove assumptions, industry norms, or what others believe.
3. Rebuild from Scratch – Using only those core truths, I can ask: What is the best way to solve this? Instead of relying on analogies or conventional solutions, what is something aligned with my experiential values?
This is still new for me, but seems to resonate.
Christian, thanks. How do you prioritize what you will strip down entirely using first-principles thinking and what you will just let go? It seems like an intense process.
Also can you share that Obsidian flow with me? Can you email it to me?
First, I have to identify the assumptions present in the idea. What am I assuming is true?
This opens things up dramatically to show the different components of the idea.
From there I can ask What is the real problem I am trying to solve? or What am I really trying to accomplish?
From here, First Questions begin to arise from the base components of the idea.
The stripping away happens naturally from these deliberate filters.
Christian,
I love this post. I can feel the energy in what you wrote! You touched on something that I would love to hear more about. When someone is working in their System 1 brain and rapidly working through something but runs into a hard question for which it deploys the substitution effect (instead of going to System 2) and moves on with that substitution answer without the person realizing it happened…How do they know to go back and re-evaluate? Or do they just move forward in ignorance until an unintended negative thing happens?
Darren, this is a great question. How do I know if I am stuck in substitution? This is precisely what I am trying to work out.
My sense is if there is no filter in place to help check my pursuit, then the latter part of your assumption would hold true. I would keep going with the easy question pursuit until an unintended negative thing happens. Or hopefully, I would begin to see less consequential red flags that signal something isn’t right. Like comments from my spouse or people I trust. Neglect of my life-giving rhythms, or something of the sort.
I think with all the information we take in, the only way to catch some of these substitutions is with pre-built in systems or filters for processing your motivations.
Jeremiah asked me the same question just a bit ago. Is it feasible in your mind that part of that solution may be human?
Living in close “community” with others and allowing them to speak into our lives.
The challenge is, how would we share all the thoughts flying around in our heads with someone so they can check for bias?