{"id":36209,"date":"2024-02-29T09:01:48","date_gmt":"2024-02-29T17:01:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=36209"},"modified":"2024-02-29T09:02:37","modified_gmt":"2024-02-29T17:02:37","slug":"to-die-is-gain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/to-die-is-gain\/","title":{"rendered":"To Die is Gain"},"content":{"rendered":"

In his book, Thinking, Fast and Slow<\/em>, Daniel Kahneman talks about two different thinking \u201csystems\u201d of the brain, which he labels \u201cSystem 1\u201d and \u201cSystem 2.\u201d[1]<\/a> I like to think of \u201cSystem 1\u201d as the gut and emotional reactive part of the brain. It functions on learned behavior, instinct and is subconscious.[2]<\/a> \u201cSystem 2\u201d is what we may consider the cerebral part of the brain. This system uses deliberate learning and multifaceted processing to attain facts and information.[3]<\/a> Under normal circumstances, I would be much more interested in this topic and Kahneman\u2019s cognitive theories and studies. This week, I have been coasting through life on \u201cSystem 1\u201d as my \u201cSystem 2\u201d is taking it easy. \u00a0Life is currently happening through routine and instinct with minimal conscious decision-making. \u00a0I have moments where \u201cSystem 2\u201d comes to full life and other times where she is taking a nap. This is the beauty of these two systems. They play different roles and functions and yet are interconnected.[4]<\/a> So, what is happening within my two thinking systems?<\/p>\n

\u201cSystem 1\u201d is picking up overtime this week because my emotions are engaged at a significantly higher level than normal. This weekend I lost a dear friend to a tragic vehicle accident.[5]<\/a> Sunday morning, I woke up to a text message about a massive collision in Tanzania. My friend, Lordienne, was vising Tanzania at the time. It was known that she was at the site of the accident, but her status at that time was unknown. On reading this news, my \u201cSystem 2\u201d kicked into gear. I started searching the news, reading articles, and listening to reports about the accident that had occurred the evening before. As I gained more information and statistics, I mentally calculated the number of casualties, the nationalities, and the probabilities. Statistically, it did not look good for the survival of my friend. A few minutes later I received confirmation that she was one of the victims who died in the accident. As my emotions soared, \u201cSystem 2\u201d stopped logically thinking and \u201cSystem 1\u201d took over.<\/p>\n

I spent Sunday going through the motions and allowing my emotions to express themselves. Lordienne was a precious friend. She had spent her adult life investing in people for the sake of Christ. She desired for others to experience the freedom and the hope she had found in Jesus. She was a leader, a pioneer, a coach, a mentor, a teacher, an optimist, and a friend. We worked together for several years in the capital city until she decided to move five hours north. In this little city in the middle of the Sahara, she started a training program desiring to equip young local leaders. In the meantime, she continued her own personal development by pursuing a masters in global leadership. She was, of course, was thrilled when I started my Doctor of Leadership in Global Perspectives.<\/p>\n

She and I had the kind of friendship where we would stay in touch through textin\"\"<\/a>g. Once or twice a year we would have face-to-face times to deeply connect. Our last face-to-face was on Saturday, December 23, 2023. She was in the capital for Christmas. We decided to try a new coffee shop which was supposed to have been opening that day. As is often the case in Africa, unbeknownst to us, the opening date was changed. The owners were having a few private tours that day and invited us to stay, look around the gift shop, and have a cup of coffee. Neither of us are shy, so we laughed and said, \u201cWhy not?!\u201d We were given a private explanation of the local products sold there, offered a lovely espresso, and were even served some local delicacies. We had the seating area to ourselves as we caught up on life. We exchanged stories of our experiences on leadership development in our host country. Before we parted ways, I pulled out my phone to snap a \u201cChristmas selfie.\u201d My intuition told me to take that picture. My heart now has a treasured photo (above) of the last time I saw my precious friend.<\/p>\n

Kahneman\u2019s words on optimists are as if he knew Lordienne personally. \u201cOptimistic individuals play a disproportionate role in shaping our lives\u2026 This reasoning leads to a hypothesis: the people who have the greatest influence on the lives of others are likely to be optimistic and overconfident, and to take more risks than they realize.”[6]<\/a> Indeed, this is true of my friend. I believe that even in her death she will continue to make a deep impact on the lives of others because she believed the words of Paul in Philippians 1:12, \u201cFor me to live is Christ, and to die is gain (ESV).\u201d<\/p>\n

Even when faced with death, I have hope because of Christ AND it has still been a hard week. As I read Thinking, Fast and Slow, <\/em>I can appreciate how my thinking shifted due to emotions. There are times like these where our learned behaviors and instincts of \u201cSystem 1\u201d need to take over.[7]<\/a> There are other times where \u201cSystem 2\u201d brings the best results. God has equipped us with remarkable brains. Time is short. What will you do with your thinking to impact your world?<\/p>\n

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

[2]<\/a> Ibid.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Ibid.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Ibid, Chapter 5.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> This accident made world news: see https:\/\/www.thecitizen.co.tz\/tanzania\/news\/national\/nationals-of-7-countries-among-25-killed-in-arusha-road-smash-4536740<\/a><\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow, Chapter 24<\/em>.<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> Ibid, chapter 1.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In his book, Thinking, Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman talks about two different thinking \u201csystems\u201d of the brain, which he labels \u201cSystem 1\u201d and \u201cSystem 2.\u201d[1] I like to think of \u201cSystem 1\u201d as the gut and emotional reactive part of the brain. It functions on learned behavior, instinct and is subconscious.[2] \u201cSystem 2\u201d is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":206,"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":[2967,2052],"class_list":["post-36209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dlgp03","tag-kahneman","cohort-dlgp03"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36209","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\/206"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36209"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36209\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36212,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36209\/revisions\/36212"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}