I shouldn’t have answered the phone.
As a general rule, I do not use my phone while driving. Several years ago, we were at a football watch party with friends. Between plays, the conversations were always interesting. On one nondescript Sunday afternoon, the conversation turned to driving while talking on the phone. Our friend Andy, who is a neuropsychologist, chimed in about the dangers of talking on the phone while driving. Essentially, he said that when we talk on the phone, our brain leaves the car and pictures itself with the person on the other end of the line.[1] Few of us believed him right away, including me.
This week I was driving to a meeting on a route I use at least 5 times a week, sometimes more. I was in a hurry to get to my destination. My phone started ringing and my husband’s name came up on my screen. Knowing I could drive hands free, and I wasn’t on an interstate highway, I pressed the button and answered. Our conversation centered around an addition we are putting on our house. The purpose of the call was to help figure out a couple of details. Still driving and talking, I stopped for a red light. When I paused to look around, I realized I had turned the wrong way and had driven fifteen minutes in the opposite direction. Needless to say, I was thirty minutes late.
In Thinking, Fast And Slow, Daniel Kahneman uses the metaphor of two systems to explain intuitive and deliberate thought, System 1, and System 2.[2] System 1 is the fast thinker. It takes little effort. We typically use it for things that feel automatic, such as speaking, brushing teeth, or answering basic math questions such as 2+2=4. System 2 is the slow thinker, more deliberate. Typically, it verifies everything. It has the ability to construct thoughts in an orderly series of steps. [3]
While driving my car, I operated in System 1 for most of the time. The route was familiar, and I drive the same car each day. With little traffic, it did not take much effort. Once the traffic picked up and I was thinking about the questions that needed answers, driving needed System 2 but I had none of that. It took more brain power and the driving safety of paying attention to the traffic signs went by the wayside. Thankfully, I didn’t hit anyone or anything.
Kahneman thought that there was more to how we make decisions and our reactions to things that are encountered. Typically, people have opinions and feelings about almost anything that is encountered. The question is how they originate. Dr. Kahneman described the concept of substituting as: “the target question is the assessment you intend to produce. The heuristic question is the simpler question you answer instead.” It may work well, but there is also risk of errors.[4] The errors arise because System 2 can sometimes want to avoid the verifying work when figuring things out and thus takes a shortcut. The problem arises when the shortcut or mental shotgun doesn’t really connect to the question. Kahneman used the example of asking a target question: “How should financial advisers who prey on the elderly be punished? To replying to a heuristic question of: How much anger do I feel when I think of financial predators?” The answer to the second question will not answer the first question.[5]
This led me to think about Kathryn Schulz’s book Being Wrong: Adventures In The Margin Of Error. Schulz discussed the fallacy of the bias blind spot where people make conclusions about others’ biases based on external appearances, but our own biases are based on introspection.[6] The problem with this type of bias is that it is largely unchecked causing errors of reason.
This leads me to ask, So What? What is the value of recognizing that what we think or believe could have errors, especially if we do not take the time to examine them? It is easy to feel that how we think and what we do about those thoughts are above the need for scrutiny. We think our own ideas are true and altruistic and our opinions are important. We know what we are doing. However, Kahneman showed throughout his book that it is important to understand that each person has errors in their judgement of others. On a personal level, getting sidetracked while driving and talking on the phone reminded me that I am not above the need for scientific understanding of the functioning of the human brain. I need to not drive and talk on the phone. On a bigger level, if I can make a mistake when I ignore the work needed for my System 2 then might I do that in other areas? When I disagree with someone ideologically, it might help me to step back and consider how I am processing the information I hear from them to see what I might be missing. Above all, clinging to the words of Jesus are also a good reminder.
Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? (Matthew 7:3-4 NIV).
[1] Andrew Ruffett, PhD, Clinical Neuropsychologist, private conversation, 2022.
[2] Daniel Kahneman, Thinking, Fast And Slow, (New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2011), 13.
[3] Kahneman, 21.
[4] Kahneman, 97-98.
[5] Kahneman, 98-99.
[6] Kathryn Schulz, Being Wrong: Adventures In The Margin Of Error, (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2010), 106.
About the Author
Diane Tuttle
16 responses to “I shouldn’t have answered the phone.”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Thank you for sharing your story, Diane.
How did your personal experience illustrate the risks of phone conversations while driving? Would you have applied system 2?
The phone conversation took my focus away from road signs. When the traffic increased and based on the nature of the call that required thought, driving needed System 2. I should have pulled off the road to talk or not accepted the call until I could have given it full attention. (Kahneman says driving is a System 1 activity when on a deserted road, that was not the case in my situation.)
Diane,
Guilty as charged. I too will talk and drive. Interestingly Ohio has outlawed any cell phone usage while driving, that means holding the cell phone in some manner with your body. The exception is holding the phone to your ear to talk. I actually have found that to take away more attention than being on a speaker phone. Have you identified other activities that you allow System 1 to take care of while you engage your mind elsewhere? I can do this while hiking or biking. I spend a lot of time doing those activities while processing work and school only to discover I have not really been paying attention to where I am going.
Hi Jeff, There are a couple of quirky things I do. When I talk on the phone at my office, I pace. Sometimes I am not even aware I am doing that until the call ends and I sit down. It started as a prompt from my watch to walk around. It stayed with me.
The other think I sometimes do is talk with someone while I am signing checks. Usually, if the topic is very important, I will need to stop and give a speaker full attention. While I sign checks, staff might come into my office to ask a question. If the question isn’t too complicated, I keep signing. However, if the topic is more costly to all involved. thx. diane
Diane,
We all need a friend who is a nueropsychologist, even if he might not be the life of the party. It seems like your comfortableness with both the road you were driving and your husband whom you were talking to led you to ignore your system 2 thinking. You had everything on autopilot. However, I wonder if you were driving in an unfamiliar area or if you were talking to an unfamiliar person would you have zoned out as much or do you think you would have been more focused?
Thanks for the question Adam. My frame of reference is that while I am capable of doing it, I have never liked driving in Washington, D.C. There are lots of lanes, traffic and possible ways around the city. When I do drive through D.C. I do nothing but focus on where I am going and the cars around me. So yes, I agree the situation has made a difference. But what is a bit scary is that in the familiar, where Kahneman says we can have errors with System 1 thinking, when driving the error might not be that I went in the wrong direction next time. It might be that I hurt someone in an accident.
Thanks Diane and nice call back to Shulz’s book! What role do you think a communtiy of critique and discernment can play in our biases? How do we cultivate this?
Hi Ryan, Good question. Precisely because blind biases are just that, blind, we don’t even know they are operating within us. Having a community that is able to critique and help discern whatever the topic or situation might be, helps to bring them biases to the light. It allows the person who is open to that discerning community to revisit the biases with greater understanding to determine if they indeed make sense with new information and scrutiny or need to be revised. This allows for a more informed decision and an understanding that our ideas may indeed be flawed. I believe this is cultivated personally by remembering that God is God and I am not perfect. In my work setting, it is cultivated team by team where the culture allows for open and honest discussions without fear of retribution. Thanks for asking.
Diane, I bet most of your readers can relate to your scenario. I certainly can. I appreciate you wanting to apply this personally to your life. You say, “When I disagree with someone ideologically, it might help me to step back and consider how I am processing the information I hear from them to see what I might be missing.” I am curious what may be some warning signs for you that indicate it is time to reevaluate your processing?
Hi Kari, that’s a good question. I think when I start to feel a reaction that might feel angry or fearful would be a good indicator.
Hi Diane, I always enjoy reading your posts. I’m curious how you see system 1 thinking in your role as a CEO? I imagine that your work often requires complex strategic thinking in system 2, but what are the ways in which you often engage in system 1 as a CEO?
Hi Christy, I think my morning routine at work is a system 1. I usually come in and drop my things in my office then walk around the building to say hello to anyone already there. It’s a habit and I don’t consciously decide to do it each morning, I just drop and walk out. I like that morning quick connection with people. Signing checks can also be mindless, which I probably should be a little intentional to make sure I am not signing a check to a wrong person. Thanks for asking.
Diane! Dont feel bad I drove 30 after being engaged in a triangle! As a result of this weeks reading how do you look to engage your staff as you have a lot on your plate?
Hi Daren, I think engaging with my senior leadership team is one of the most important things I do. I am pretty intentional about scheduling 1 on 1 time monthly with each direct report person. We also have senior staff meetings monthly for my entire team to be together. I think the real answer though, is that I intentionally make time for my staff. I think it is one of the most important piece of my job. thx. for the question. diane
Hi Diane, thank you for the great reminder of those verses in Matthew chapter 7. Additionally, thank you for the reminder of not talking on the cell phone when driving! In Mauritania, using a cell phone while driving is very common. I am sometimes guilty of doing this.
I am going to piggyback off of Kari’s question. When you start to feel those warning signs (e.g. anger and fear) in conversations with people who have different ideology than you, what do you do in the moment to not be overtaken by those emotions? Do you physically remove yourself from the conversation? I ask because I have been navigating this for years in conversations with people in North Africa. I am still figuring out what works best for me.
Hi Elysse, Thanks for the question. I usually pause and say something like, let me think about this for a bit and let’s make a time to talk. If I am really reacting strongly I might say that I disagree but again then say I would like to collect my thoughts before talking more.