Daniel Kahneman won the Nobel Prize in Economics for his work in behavioural economics – the first psychologist to do so. One of his most celebrated theories relates to system 1 and system 2 thinking. System 1 is fast, instinctive, and emotional thinking – taking place in the brain stem and limbic system. System 2 […]

Daniel Kahneman won the Nobel Prize in Economics for his work in behavioural economics – the first psychologist to do so. One of his most celebrated theories relates to system 1 and system 2 thinking. System 1 is fast, instinctive, and emotional thinking – taking place in the brain stem and limbic system. System 2 is slow, deliberative, and logical thinking – taking place in the neo-cortex. Research suggests that some 80 – 90% of decision making occurs in response to ‘fast’ thinking – which many might not consider to be thinking at all. This means that only 10 – 20% of decision making occurs in the neo-cortex – the part of the brain that sets human beings apart from other animals. A key implication here is that most decisions do not involve higher-level thinking and might well explain the comment from Bertram Russell that ‘Most people would rather die…