When the Autopilot Fails
A couple of months ago, I had my first Tesla experience. When my plane landed in Austin, TX, I headed straight to the rental car counter to gain access to my ride for the next week, a 2023 Tesla. Among the many curiosities I had about driving a Tesla, I was looking forward to experiencing the “Autopilot” feature. This is Tesla’s semi-autonomous driving feature that is akin to “cruise control” but way cooler. After I got in and figured out how to actually turn the car on and get it moving, I was making my way down the interstate. 
It was then that I remembered reading something a few years back about Tesla’s autopilot feature being to blame for fatal accidents and something about an investigation. So I proceeded cautiously, using the autopilot and a “White knuckled” grip on the steering wheel. While I had imagined the “Autopilot” feature would allow me a more relaxed ride, I found it made me more anxious and alert. When thinking of the life of the mind, there are some interesting parallels between Tesla’s autopilot and our own systems of thinking. In the road of daily life, our minds are constantly processing information, making decisions, and responding to situations and people.
In his book “Thinking, Fast and Slow,” Daniel Kahneman claims that amidst our fast-paced mental activity, there exists a duality. Two systems running simultaneously but at different speeds. In this post, I will examine two important realizations, a conundrum and a takeaway regarding Kahneman and his “Thinking Fast and Slow.”
Reckless and Lazy
In the first couple of chapters, Kahneman introduces the two systems of our mental activity.
- System 1 operates automatically and quickly, with little or no effort and no sense of voluntary control.
- System 2 allocates attention to the effortful mental activities that demand it, including complex computations. The operations of System 2 are often associated with the subjective experience of agency, choice, and concentration.[1]
Through various activities and exercises, he demonstrates the presence of these two systems and the way they interact. It was helpful to see how the two are necessary, but neither is sufficient. I appreciated how Kahneman personified the two systems as characters throughout the book. Characterizing System 1 as fast-paced and, at times, reckless and System 2 as slow but potentially lazy. 
While both systems are necessary in our cognitive world, they both have challenges to face to function well. System 1 requires self-control to be at its best, while System 2 requires effort.
Jumping to Conclusions
System 1 can be gullible and biased, while System 2 can be lazy. When tired and busy, we tend to make decisions using System 1. System 2 questions and doubts, except when it’s tired and lazy. So, we will jump to conclusions that require much less effort and are far more reckless. When tired, our thinking is highly susceptible to the path of least resistance, and we exercise a confirmation bias, or what Tim Harford describes as a “Biased assimilation,” which interprets information in a way that supports the conclusions we want. [2]
Conundrum
In Chapter 7, Kahneman introduces what appears to be a variation of jumping to conclusions, which he calls “Exaggerated Emotional Coherence.” Also known as the “Halo Effect,” is the tendency to like or dislike everything about a person—including things you have not observed. As I read “Thinking, Fast and Slow,” I found myself mesmerized by the exercises and studies. I was fascinated by concepts like “Priming” and “Cognitive Ease.” But before I put a “Halo” over Kahneman, I was reminded of a few authors who recently challenged me to avoid being a “Data Junky”[3] and “Be curious,”[4] especially with numbers and data. So I dug a little deeper into how others interacted with Kahneman’s work. I came across a Blog entitled “Replicability-Index: Improving the Replicability of Research.”[5] While their findings demonstrate some challenges to several of Kahneman’s theories, what I found most interesting was Kahneman’s response to their findings. They made the comment, “The implicit priming literature is not trustworthy and that many of the claims in Kahneman’s Chapter 4 are not based on solid empirical foundations.”[6] Kahneman later acknowledged and agreed with their conclusion.[7] I do not think his honesty discredits his theories or minimizes some key insights into our thinking systems. It reinforces that we need to be curious and humble as we engage in our research.
The Takeaway
I live and think at a pretty fast pace. I like to keep a lot of plates spinning and engage in many projects at once (like becoming the senior pastor while at the same time starting a doctoral program, raising three children, buying a puppy, and loving my wife.) My System 1 can definitely be reckless, and my System 2 lazy. However, this book has reminded me of the need to rest and take time to pause, so I can allow both of my thinking systems to function at their best. I need to develop a strategy and rhythm for rest and focus so my mental “Autopilot” doesn’t fail.
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[1] Kahneman, Daniel, Thinking, Fast and Slow, (Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Kindle Edition, 2011).
[2 Harford, Tim, How To Make the World Add Up, (London:The Bridge Street Press, 2021).
[3] Friedman, Edwin H., A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix (New York: Church Publishing Incorporated, 2017), 106.
[4] Harford, Tim, How To Make the World Add Up.
[5] Dr. Ulrich Schimmack, “A Meta-Scientific Perspective on “Thinking: Fast and Slow,”” Replicability-Index: Improving the Replicability of Research, December 30, 2020, accessed February 29, 2024, https://replicationindex.com/2020/12/30/a-meta-scientific-perspective-on-thinking-fast-and-slow/.
[6] Schimmack, “A Meta-Scientific Perspective on “Thinking: Fast and Slow.””
[7] Schimmack, “A Meta-Scientific Perspective on “Thinking: Fast and Slow.””
About the Author
Chad Warren
A husband, father, pastor, teacher, and student seeking to help others flourish.3 responses to “When the Autopilot Fails”
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Thanks for your post, Chad. Since System 2 is definitely lazy what are the places in your work where it would be beneficial to intentionally engage System 2? How might you go about doing that?
Hi Chad, I like how you related that the autopilot of the Tesla was supposed to make driving relaxing but it had an opposite effect on you. You ideas for taking time to rest and relax are useful. How would you put that into practice with your busy life?
Thanks for this post, Chad! Like Diane, I too am curious about how you’re currently thinking about what rest and relaxation will look like to allow both systems to function at their best…
Additionally, your remark “While I had imagined the “Autopilot” feature would allow me a more relaxed ride, I found it made me more anxious and alert” gave me a nice pause. On one hand, we default to System 1 for ease, yet I wonder how often we think we’re getting into System 1 activities when in reality, we need System 2🤔 Kahneman got at this as well, but reading your remarks gave me a laugh as I thought about how many times my mind tricks me in this way… Have you noticed any patterns regarding times you’ve thought System 1 would suffice but in reality it didnt?