{"id":27824,"date":"2021-10-24T15:11:38","date_gmt":"2021-10-24T22:11:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=27824"},"modified":"2021-10-24T15:11:38","modified_gmt":"2021-10-24T22:11:38","slug":"intellectual-and-intuitive-alertness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/intellectual-and-intuitive-alertness\/","title":{"rendered":"Intellectual and Intuitive Alertness"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thinking Fast and Slow<\/em> explains the two important \u201csystems\u201d that make up our mental faculties: intuition and reasoning, or as it is popularly described, the conscious and subconscious mind. The author describes these as \u201cjudgment and decision making[1]<\/a>\u201d shaped by psychological discoveries. \u00a0Building upon decades of previous psychological research, the book critically examines the intricate workings of the human intuition and reasoning in making decisions, and by extension, providing leadership. Divided into five parts, the book deals with several topics including, but limited to, the subjects of bias, overconfidence, and choices.<\/p>\n

One crucial observation Kahneman makes is about the propensity of entrepreneurs towards taking risk. This resonates deeply with me because practically all the leaders I know that make a difference in various spheres of influence are individuals who take risks, albeit intelligent risks; yet sometimes at the expense of their lives. Mother Teresa, for example, risked her health by choosing to serve the lepers and outcasts of Calcutta. Yet history shows she made the right decision. As a leader in the missionary enterprise of the early church, Paul risked his life by choosing to proceed with the decision to go to Jerusalem, despite the warning of the Spirit that imprisonment and tribulation awaited him (Acts 20:17-24). Clifton and Badal explain that entrepreneurial risk-takers are often characterized by a \u201cbelief, sometimes exaggerated\u201d in an innate ability to control the \u201cdestiny and future\u201d of their venture.[2]<\/a> For individuals who take risks because they are inspired by the Holy Spirit, it is clear that God is the One who controls their future.<\/p>\n

Second, Kahneman highlights the importance of the intuition in decision making[3]<\/a>. It is remarkable that Kahneman\u2019s relatively recent research confirms what the Bible has proposed for a long time. Assuming intuition is the voice of our conscience, and in view of Paul\u2019s statement, \u201c\u2026 I always strive to have a clear conscience before God and man\u201d (Acts 24:16), the need for a well-developed intuition among Christian leaders becomes evident. Unfortunately, as Richard Foster aptly points out in Celebration of Discipline<\/em>, rather than lead deeply formed lives with well-developed intuitions, majority of the church only have a superficial relationship with the Lord[4]<\/a>. Foster suggests that one important step towards reviving the intuition is by Biblical meditation[5]<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In conclusion, Thinking Fast and Slow<\/em>, presents a refreshing encouragement to this generation of readers and leaders to develop their intuition in their quest for effective decision making and transformational leadership.\u00a0 This is important because the information age is one in which the emphasis is on reason, science, facts, figures. Yet as many followers of Jesus would agree, \u201cthere\u2019s a way that seems right [as far as all the scientific data shows], but its end is the way of death\u201d (Pro. 14:12). So while the book may not necessarily be categorized as theological or spiritual book, it successfully communicates a message with important spiritual significance.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Kahneman, Daniel. Thinking Fast and Slow.<\/em> (Farrar, Straus and Giroux: New York, 2013) p.7<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Clifton, Jim and Sangeeta Bharadwaj Badal. <\/em>Entrepreneurial Strengthsfinder<\/em>, (Gallup Press:\u00a0 New York,2014) p.134<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Thinking Fast and Slow, p.14<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Foster, Richard. Celebration of Discipline.<\/em> (Hodder & Stoughton: London, 1989) p.1<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Celebration, p.19<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thinking Fast and Slow explains the two important \u201csystems\u201d that make up our mental faculties: intuition and reasoning, or as it is popularly described, the conscious and subconscious mind. The author describes these as \u201cjudgment and decision making[1]\u201d shaped by psychological discoveries. \u00a0Building upon decades of previous psychological research, the book critically examines the intricate […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":143,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2074,2073],"class_list":["post-27824","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-daniel-thinking-fast-and-slow","tag-leadership-kahneman","cohort-lgp11"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27824","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/143"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27824"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27824\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27825,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27824\/revisions\/27825"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27824"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}