Büdös láb or Stinky feet (in Magyarul or Hungarian)
What follows:
- Büdös láb or Stinky feet
- Looking for Kahneman
- Nobel Prize – Kahneman’s own words
- 10 Questions for Nobel Laureate Daniel Kahneman
- C. S. Lewis – Dignity of Causality
Büdös láb or Stinky feet (in Magyarul or Hungarian)
Once upon a time, there was a missionary (me) preparing to wash the feet of a young orphan child in Miskolc, Hungary. My Hungarian translator Zoli was furious (unbeknownst to me). He felt that washing feet was a “sacrament” and should not be done casually, especially on the feet of an orphan who had not accepted Christ.
Unaware of his discomfort I began my washing and mid translation Zoli walked away. Because the Holy Spirit is in
charge of these situations, the Hungarian standing next to him immediately started to translate my words. The surprising thing was that he (the new translator) wasn’t really sure what I was doing. He and the audience were so focused on the act that no one noticed the disruption. They had never seen this done before. One hopes they saw my version of servant leadership.
I return to Eve Poole’s book, Leadersmithing and her description of Fight or Flight. She writes, “…Increased heart rate during the simulation was correlated with higher levels of learning, which remained high through the period of post-programme testing.” [4]
Certainly, I was ready to fight over this, and my blood pressure/heart rate were at an extreme high. One thing is clear, the incident forever emblazoned the lesson of talking my game plan over with translators ahead of time.
As I read Kahneman’s System 1 and System 2 thinking, I wanted to template Kahneman’s three heuristics against this particular incident: [5]
Representativeness: My mistake, I believed that Zoli was ready to translate anything I said. I presumed that like other translators he would follow my lead. I failed to realize Zoli’s rigid spiritual background and his possible response to this internal conflict. My erroneous desire to link similar previous translator qualities to Zoli, may be an example of “representativeness heuristic.”
Availability: My easy recall of doing feet washing in the United States brought me to the wrong conclusion that feet washing represents the same thing to everyone. I overestimated the likelihood that Zoli’s Hungarian Church would see foot washing as I did.
Anchoring: My first experience in reading about Jesus washing feet in the bible, was set in my mind as a strong example for servant leadership. Culturally, however, it was misplaced for this particular translator who was taught differently.
Looking for Kahneman – Nobel Prize – Kahneman’ own words
In his 1st person biography submitted for the Nobel Prize, Kahneman is a surprising gentleman of vast experience. He wrote, “The first essay, written before I turned eleven, was a discussion of faith. It approvingly quoted Pascal’s saying “Faith is God made perceptible to the heart.” Raised in Vichy, France he went on to say,” But I was discovering that I was more interested in what made people believe in God than I was in whether God existed, and I was more curious about the origins of people’s peculiar convictions about right and wrong than I was about ethics.”[6]
Looking for Kahneman – 10 Questions for Nobel Laureate Daniel Kahneman (Time 2011)
Professor Kahneman radiates a peace/shalom that makes you want to know more about him and his work. In his Time interview entitled, 10 Questions for Nobel Laureate Daniel Kahneman, [7] Almost immediately, his System 1 and 2 are applied beyond economics to describing President George W. Bush as a System 1 thinker and President Barrack Obama as a System 2 thinker.
Dignity of Causality
In the C.S. Lewis Institute, April 2011 – Getting a Bigger View of Prayer, they state, “God,” said Pascal, “instituted prayer in order to lend His creatures the dignity of causality.” But not only prayer; whenever we act at all He lends us that dignity. It is not really stranger, nor less strange, that my prayers should affect the course of events than that my other actions should do so. [8]
This statement gave me a spiritual pause in evaluating the tensions between my System 1 knee jerk reactions and my System 2 slow paced analysis. Pray, unceasingly (1 Thessalonians 5:17) is Paul’s reminder to bring every facet of our lives to Christ. Jennifer Vernam found the number 35,000 decisions are made by humans daily. While System 1 and 2 thinkers have strengths and weaknesses to contend with, imagine if we prayed continuously so that our decisions were guided by the Holy Spirit, all 35,000 of them.
[1] Daniel Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow, 1st ed (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2011), 151.
[2] Kahneman, 138.
[3] Kahneman. 127.
[4] Eve Poole, Leadersmithing: Revealing the Trade Secrets of Leadership (London ; New York, NY: Bloomsbury Business, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2017), 38.
[5] Kahneman and Tversky: How Heuristics Impact Our Judgment, 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IjIVD-KYF4.
[6] “The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2002,” NobelPrize.org, accessed March 2, 2023, https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/2002/kahneman/facts/.
[7] 10 Questions for Nobel Laureate Daniel Kahneman, 2011, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4zSc2lYl60.
[8] Reflections_2011_04-Getting-a-Bigger-View-of Praying, https://www.cslewisinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Reflections_2011_04-Getting-a-Bigger-View-of-Prayer-231.pdf
About the Author
Russell Chun
interlinkt.org is now ready for your Refugee Resettlement needs. 15 tasks, languages ESL plans coming13 responses to “Büdös láb or Stinky feet (in Magyarul or Hungarian)”
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Russell,
I appreciate that you pointed to prayer. . . Imagine if we prayed continuously so that our decisions were guided by the Holy Spirit, all 35,000+ of them, as 1 Thessalonians 5:17 challenges us in praying “always” or “unceasingly”. We could have holes in our knees. 😀. It could also be considered that as we begin our day with the Lord, our time with Him in prayer and scripture reading prepares us for a day filled with unceasing prayer, breath prayers and daily office type of prayers. The moments when we pray a “thank you God” or an “I need you, God” at any moment in the day. Or invite Him into an end of day prayer of Examen. Not sure if that would add up to 35,000 but I am so grateful to have a living, loving God that is with me in my system 1 & 2 triumphs and challenges. Thank you for the direction to prayer.
Thanks Cathy…
Sometimes, when our books are a bit onerous, I have begun to search more about the author. I start with you tube (I like to see the person and hear them speak), and in this case I additionally found the biography that he submitted to the Nobel Peace Prize committee in his own words. It was written in a manner that well, in short, made me like him. I WANTED to read his book after reading about his journey.
Still I found the topic overly number (ish) and so I reverted to the Kahneman’s video for “dummies” where I found an example of Representativeness, Availability, and Anchoring.
Applying these heuristic biases (can’t believe I am actually using this word in a conversation) to something more concrete to me, my mission work seemed to make sense, but I realize it was a bit of a stretch. Sigh.
The article on “dignity of causality” was introduced to me by my wife (yes I discuss the books with her). I think she said wouldn’t it be nice if we prayed first before we acted? Wow. While the word causality has too many syllables for my liking (I am a picture kind of guy), the idea that God has invited us into an integral part of His plan through prayer excited me.
The post was a bit of a reach, but I like where I ended. Thanks for your thoughts…Shalom… Russ
I too found myself wondering about the role of the Holy Spirit and of prayer as we think about shifting between System 1 and System 2 thinking. I’m convicted when I think of how often I plow ahead with my day, forgetting to pause and bring my heart before the Lord in prayer. That idea of “pause” speaks to me of shifting from System 1 to System 2. May the Holy Spirit remind us and help us to be more intentional!
When I talk about our books with my wife Trudy, she always gives me these one sentence comments like “balance” for Friedman and for Kahneman “Dignity of Causality” (I didn’t know what that meant at first). She explained passionately that God has given us this tremendous role of impacting the spiritual and physical realms. This “Dignity” as C.S. Lewis calls it, is a reminder of our duty to pray and to be an active part in calling those He loves to become those He saves.
Russel, I was wondering as I read Kahneman’s book if there was a relationship between making quick decisions out of System 1 using an incorrect heuristic and our reptilian brain/flight or fight response instead of slowing down and letting the decision make it’s way to the better place of decision making in our brain, where System 2 has a fighting chance. I appreciate you bringing up the reptilian brain in your post and giving an example of how this worked in your own life and ministry.
This morning I was checking in with my peer group (we meet once a week) and we discussed that while Kahneman has successfully brought our attention to S1/2 thinking, BOTH are a part of our decision making process. Jenny Dooley stated that her S1 intuition was the start point for her NPO and that S2 thinking will research, analyze and create a quality product that will minister to her partners in south east Asia.
I rather liked the conclusion….Russ
Hi Russell, Thank you for your post and for our talk this morning. I appreciate how you brought prayer into the discussion of System 1 and System 2 thinking. We certainly need the guidance of the Holy Spirit as we seek to complete the work God has put in our hearts and minds to do. I appreciated how you noted Kahneman’s biography on the nobelprize.org website. He ended it with these words regarding his relationship with Amos Tversky, “If you have not had it, you don’t know how marvelous collaboration can be …” Where are the collaborative relationships forming for you as you develop your NPO? Any surprises or “funny” moments like Kahneman mentioned in his bio? Collaborative learning is FUN!
Thank you, Mr. Chun, for your encouragement. I am a system one individual almost all the time. Personally, whenever, I ventured into system 2, it got me surprise. I always thought to myself that I got there by accident. The truth is that His Grace leads me there. And as I got there, it made me feel guilty that I did not do my, “due diligence.” In the end, it encourages me to learn more or ask more questions. Thanks for your encouragements, Russ!
Hi Noel,
I don’t think any of us have arrived here by accident, the Holy Spirit is guiding our steps.
I learnt something from Jenny Dooley today. She said that her S1 intuitive self brought her to her NPO topic. Her S2 self will enable her to analyze, research and create an NPO that will benefit the counseling and care ministry for her South East Asia pastors and family. WOW. Holy Spirit plus S1 and S2 thinking will help you and I something in our NPO’s that will strive to expand the kingdom!
Thank you, Russell, for drawing us to the importance of the work of the Spirit when it comes to the workings of our thoughts. There is so much to think about with these readings but inviting the work of the Holy Spirit in all this is crucial. To “pray without ceasing” really calls us to constant attentiveness and awareness in all we do and think. How do you continue to stay vigilant in this area as you continue on in this rigorous program?
Hi Esther, it is with great sadness that I must state that I generally make my plans then remember to pray. Hmmm…(Bad Russ). With that being said I can really see how God is bringing my NPO requirements together. He is faithful, while I am not! So at best I give glory and honor to Him.
Hi Russel!
Thank you for your post.
I don’t know exactly whether Zoli’s actions are a manifestation of anchoring bias or not? But apparently, he is trying to defend his view of your actions which he understands as a sacrament, while you see your actions as a form of sincerity in serving. I just wonder, was there any effort from you, as well as Zoli, to discuss the act of washing your feet so that there is a common ground that results in a change of perspective from Zoli?
Hi Dinka,
The short answer is YES. We discussed it at length. The sad part it has taken about 10 years to resolve this. Zoli was an orphan himself and came from a complicated background. He became a Christian because our GoodSports International ministry. He was fiercely loyal to us, but along the way, he listened to various other organizations and people who may have altered some of his thinking. He was a bit of a people pleaser and as he has discussed this issue with other Christians, he has altered his severe stand. Right now, he is actually joining a monastery in Germany.
I wanted to try to use the three heuristics into an example NOT dealing with numbers. The example was a bit of a stretch, (and it sounded better in my head), but I enjoyed trying to apply it.
Thanks for your comments….Shalom…Russ