Slow Reading and Slow Thinking
We might be able to get through life, “Thinking, Fast and Slow” (1) but there’s only one way to read Kahneman’s book: slow. I found this book full of interesting facts buried in an over-abundance of words—often descriptions of various research experiments—which made the book difficult to read. Having said that, the overall assertion—that we have two ‘systems’ of thinking—and the implications for leadership, are numerous.
For example, The Halo Effect (2)) had me pondering how quickly I make unexamined assumptions about new people walking through the doors of our church after only a brief interaction with them in the foyer.
The Law of Small Numbers (3) reminded me—as did the previous reading, How to Read Numbers (4)—that I need to be careful not to jump to conclusions when I hear, “Everybody at the meeting was unhappy….” While there may be some important feedback to hear from those in attendance, the fact that it represented .02% of the church needs to be taken into consideration.
If I could summarize my primary takeaway from this book, it is simply this: when things matter, slow down and check the facts, take the time to ask questions, seek additional perspectives—in other words, be sure to activate system 2 of your brain. I feel like there are many leaders who wish they took more time, got more information, or confirmed the report before they acted.
Warren Buffet said, “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.” (5) In other words: you will activate system 2.
So, as leaders we would do well to, “learn to recognize situations in which mistakes [in our judgement/decisions] are likely and try harder to avoid significant mistakes when the stakes are high.”(6) If Kahneman’s book help leaders to simply do this one thing, then his book is worth the read.
One of the challenges I am facing as it relates to Kahneman’s book is ‘expert-information-overload’: I did a quick look on YOUTUBE and one short presentation by Pete Judo (7) that critiques Kahneman’s book references a Dr. Ulrich Schimmack’s. Schimmack published an article online that addresses the “replication problem” of Kahneman’s research (8). A higher replication percentage suggests that a study is more scientifically accurate—and Schimmack is concerned about Kahneman’s results. He concludes his article stating: “his thoughts are based on scientific literature with shaky foundations.” (9) In the YOUTUBE video, Judo asserts that Schimmack’s research found that, of the 13 chapters referencing empirical results, seven of the tests had a replication result of less than 50% and thus, are ‘weak evidence’ at best.
(10)
But can we trust Schimmack? My ‘System 1’ brain implicitly trust Dr. Schimmack because he’s a fellow Canadian. My ‘System 2’ brain notes that Dr. Schimmack is a Professor in Psychology at the University of Toronto specializing in statistics and research methods, so he’s likely a pretty smart cookie….but he hasn’t, to my knowledge, won a Nobel Prize in Economics like Kahneman.
So…who is right? And how could I possibly know without devoting an exceptional amount of intellectual inquiry and effort (including learning a whole new field of study in behavioural economics)?
I know this is a bit of a rabbit trail…but with the growing amount of information and counter-information at our fingertips, it seems like we are entering into an epistemological crisis where we can ‘know everything’ and, in the end, determine that we can’t really know anything for certain.
In the end, it seems I even must activate system 2 and ‘think slow’ about Kahneman’s book.
(1) Kahneman, Daniel. Thinking, Fast and Slow. London: Penguin Books, 2012.
(2) Kahneman, Daniel. Thinking, Fast and Slow. London: Penguin Books, 2012. 82
(3) Kahneman, Daniel. Thinking, Fast and Slow. London: Penguin Books, 2012. 110
(4) Chivers, Tom, and David Chivers. How to Read Numbers: A Guide to Statistics in the News (and Knowing When to Trust Them), 2021.
(5) https://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/01/7-insights-from-legendary-investor-warren-buffett.html#:~:text=%E2%80%9CIt%20takes%2020%20years%20to,the%20effort%20over%20the%20years.
(6) Kahneman, Daniel. Thinking, Fast and Slow. London: Penguin Books, 2012. 28
(7) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qgr1uBbNQ4w
(8) https://replicationindex.com/2020/12/30/a-meta-scientific-perspective-on-thinking-fast-and-slow/
(9) https://replicationindex.com/2020/12/30/a-meta-scientific-perspective-on-thinking-fast-and-slow/
(10 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qgr1uBbNQ4w
About the Author
Scott Dickie
8 responses to “Slow Reading and Slow Thinking”
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The “epistemological crisis” you reference makes me think of Friedman’s warning to not be overly data-driven. Because of the sheer volume of information at our fingertips, we will never reach some magical point where we know all there is to know about any given subject. Therefore, leaders who are data-driven will inevitably be left feeling inadequate.
I wonder if you’re experiencing this in your NPO research and the literature review process? I definitely am. There’s not a lot of research that is directly in line with my NPO, so I find that I need to read a lot in various topics that surround it and then hopefully cobble some theories together. But the side effect of this approach is that there are always 20 more books that I need to read!
Kim…great connection to Friedman’s book…I hadn’t connected those dots and it’s helpful! To be perfectly honest…research has not begun in earnest in my neck of the woods so I haven’t yet experienced the never-ending line of books and articles to dig through…..but I’m sure I will! Perhaps more than ever WISDOM is needed–knowing how to apply the information and understanding when enough is enough. Lord help us!
Thanks for the thoughtful post. Also, thank you for using the word “epistemological…” had me running to my dictionary, which is always good.
In your pastoral role, do you believe that the Church should be creating spaces for System 2 thinking for its congregants? Or, is it too difficult to anticipate when that sort of space would be helpful?
Hey Jen…my hope is that a lot of what happens through our church ministry is either directly engaging in system 2 thinking (I could almost see a good sermon bouncing between the two–using stories, jokes, etc…to keep people with you…so that you can offer some good system 2 questions for them to consider from the text? That thought was literally a system 1 thought that I typed out….and I won’t evaluate it any further! Beyond the sermon, though….I believe the evangelical church is desperate for good structures that help people do system 2 thinking as it relates to God and life. It might be fair to say that the ‘crisis in shallow discipleship’ in the North American evangelical church is the inability to invite/help people abide in Christ, ponder His truth, evaluate their life, and listen to the Spirit. Maybe we’re too busy looking for the system 1 religious dopamine shot?
I too wondered “who is right?” That presented itself with Kahneman’s work, as well as with an upcoming book “Why We’re Wrong about Nearly Everything” by Duffy. In both cases, I found myself thinking: “OK, that’s a solid presentation, but is it accurate?” Just because the book is thick and the author has many accolades, do I just assume it’s authenticity?
The point I believe you are making, and perhaps the grand point of Kahneman, is to slow down and think. Process it properly. That’s such a difficult thing to do in our microwave culture. I admit my propensity to move too fast for earnest reflection. Have you discovered any tricks of the trade for slower reflection (ie: sabbath, meditation, etc)?
John…I go through seasons in my life when I do that pretty well and not so good. I can fairly easily ‘get out of work mode’ but it leans towards ‘escape’ and ‘shutting down’ rather than rest and reflection. But when I’m on…time alone (often on my bike) is when lots of unconscious things become conscious for me.
I agree that his main point is to slow down and to ‘process things properly’, I just think processing it has gotten much more complex in this world. I’m thinking about discipling my own young adult kids who have so many questions and can watch point/counter-point on every conceivable aspect of Christian faith…how can they have confidence in any sort of knowledge? Our three books this semester would only further undermine their attempts to ‘find truth’….because it’s likely wrong anyways! I’m being a little facetious, but I do think it is a major challenge as it relates to discipling young people (or all people?) in thinking well about life and faith.
Heavenly Father, Go before all my decisions today. Guide my S1 intuition/feelings them today. Align my S2 thinking in ways that glorify you. Amen.
Hmmm..wondering if my decision to join this program was a S1 or S2 decision.
Hi Scott!
Thank you for your comparing data. I wonder, are there any other criticisms of Schimmack regarding Kahneman’s writing? Is there any response from Kahneman or anyone else to Schimmack’s criticism? Now, I should really use my System 2, or probably system 3 if anything even slower than the system 2 way of thinking.