Question

He provides a nice summary of this in the very last paragraph of the reading (page 58 of the photocopied book pages). In speaking specifically of System 1, he notes, “… It is the source of your rapid and often precise intuitive judgments. And it does most of this without your conscious awareness of its activities. System 1 is also… the origin of many of the systematic errors in your intuitions.”

2. In a larger sense, what is the reading (and Kahneman) saying about humans’ ability to be rational beings? Explain why you say what you do, again making specific reference to the reading.

3. Based partly on what you said in #2, what are the implications of this for Philosophy (or at least, what you know of Philosophy so far) in terms of its emphasis on logic and reason? In other words, I’ve sometimes in the past had students say, “what does this have to do with Philosophy”? How might you answer that question (and explain why you say what you do)?

4. Still reflecting more generally on the reading, what elements, ideas, or concepts in the reading would you like to discuss further in class? In other words, what aspects of what was said in the reading did you find worthy of further discussion (intriguing), or confusing/unclear (worthy of clarification)? Explain why you chose those points.

Source from page 58 of “Thinking, Fast and Slow”, by Daniel Kahneman.:

On the first week of the experiment (which you can see at the bottom of the figure), two wide-open eyes stare at the coffee or tea drinkers, whose average contribution was 70 pence per liter of milk. On week 2, the poster shows flowers and average contributions drop to about 15 pence. The trend con-tinues. On average, the users of the kitchen contributed almost three times as much in "eye weeks" as they did in "flower weeks". Evidently, a purely symbolic reminder of being watched prodded people into improved be-havior. As we expect at this point, the efect occurs without any awareness. Do you now believe that you would also fall into the same pattern? Some years ago, the psychologist Timothy Wilson wrote a book with the evocative title Strangers to Ourselves. You have now been introduced to that stranger in you, which mav be in control of much of what you do, although you rarely have a glimpse of it. System 1 provides the impressions that often turn into your beliefs, and is the source of the impulses that often become your choices and your actions. It offers a tacit interpretation of what hap-pens to you and afound you, linking the present with the recent past and with expectations about the near future. It contains the model of the world that instantly evaluates events as normal or surprising. It is the source of your rapid and often precise intuitive judgments. And it does most of this without your conscious awareness of its activities. System 1 is also, as we will see in the following chapters, the origin of many of the systematic er-rors in your intuitions.

Answer 1

2. According to the reading and Kahneman, human beings cognition is very complex and it doesn't only depend on what is on our consciousness but also what we perceive through our subconscious mind. In the reading, the experiment subliminally evoked the feeling of being watched in the people resulting in improved behaviour. This reading suggests that most of our intuitive actions are controlled by our subconscious mind which vastly affects our rationality. If a certain feeling is evoked in a person through the subconscious mind, there is an equal chance it could be either rational or irrational. And when the system on take on charge for decision making, it involves emotions which can lead to irrational decisions. Like in the experiment, people showed improvement when there were poster of eyes rather than flowers but there was not any logic for it, it was somewhat irrational if you think of it as it is.