The illusion that we understand the past fosters overconfidence<\/p>\n
\u00a0in our ability to predict the future.<\/p>\n
-Daniel Kahneman-<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Becoming a pastor and church leader who is successful and liked by the congregation in the long term is a dream for many ministers. I also hoped for it and fought hard to achieve it. Therefore I “instill” in myself what things I must do in my ministry, what wise words I must say when members of the congregation ask for advice, what prayer formulas I must say when I am asked to pray, and what kind of sermon should I convey in my ministry. All of them are like templates that I have prepared in my ministry and I feel comfortable with them. I feel confident that I have become a successful and productive pastor.<\/p>\n But wait a minute! The encounter with Daniel Kahneman’s book truly struck me. I am forced to criticize myself in terms of my ministry, has all this time that I have written above come from system 1 of my thinking or does it also involve system 2? Have I just relied on the service template without involving my cognitive thinking in depth? Can it affect my dry and empty spirituality and my ministry? Seriously, I’m so scared to think about it! \u201cKyrie eleison!\u201d Lord, have mercy!<\/p>\n Kahneman, uses terminology from psychology, system 1 and system 2 to describe the two ways in which humans think and then make decisions. System 1 functions swiftly and unconsciously, requiring minimal effort and lacking any perception of deliberate control. On the other hand, System 2 directs attention towards mentally demanding tasks that necessitate conscious effort, such as intricate computations. System 2’s activities typically correlate with the personal feeling of agency, choice, and focused attention.[1]<\/a> Kahneman further described system 1 and system 2: \u00a0System 1 as effortlessly originating impressions and feelings that are the main sources of the explicit beliefs and deliberate choices of System 2. The automatic operations of System 1 generate surprisingly complex patterns of ideas, but only the slower System 2 can construct thoughts in an orderly series of steps.[2]<\/a><\/p>\n Indeed, there is nothing wrong with the two systems. But when someone only uses one system, especially system 1 continuously, the activity of thinking more systematically and constructively will decrease. As a result, the decisions taken tend to be instant, premature, and template in nature. Most people avoid using system 2 in thinking and making decisions, especially on an issue that requires deep thought because it requires more energy than using system 1. Kahneman explains: As you become skilled in a task, its demand for energy diminishes. Studies of the brain have shown that the pattern of activity associated with an action changes as skill increases, with fewer brain regions involved.[3]<\/a><\/p>\n Kahneman’s writing challenges me to use two systems of thinking appropriately and proportionally and not just rely on templates that have adorned my thinking so much, especially in answering questions in my ministry so far. Kahneman helped me to avoid the anchoring effect. Kahneman explains what he calls the anchoring phenomenon, where people base their estimations on an initial value, which is then adjusted to arrive at a final answer. This starting point can be influenced by the problem formulation or a partial computation. However, these adjustments are often inadequate, resulting in estimates that are biased toward the initial value.[4]<\/a> Anchoring also has another impact. Because of anchoring, people will tend to underestimate the probabilities of failure in complex systems.[5]<\/a> It sounds like, through anchoring, a minister only thinks about self-satisfaction without thinking about much better and more effective things we can do for others. This book gave me enlightenment. A good minister should think about the various possibilities that arise in the advice, guidance, and decisions he\/she gives and make, while also thinking about the anticipation and other alternative solutions through thinking activities such as that contained in the system 2.<\/p>\n This is my self-reflections according to this book. First, quick decisions are taken at the right time is a good thing. But not all decisions require speed over accuracy. Second, I learned that besides intuition, I also need rational thinking in making decisions. The use of both in the right places and situations will help many people, including myself. Finally, I was also reminded that I need other people to check and evaluate whether the thoughts and decisions that I have are correct or not.<\/p>\n [1]<\/a> Daniel Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow<\/em> (London: Penguin Books, 2012), 22.<\/p>\n [2]<\/a> Kahneman, Thinking,<\/em> 22-23.<\/p>\n [3]<\/a> Ibid,<\/em> 36.<\/p>\n