Quick Thinking

In work and life, we prize the ability to think quickly. We use the complimentary term ‘agile’ to describe someone who can handle a tough Q&A session. Or ‘sharp’ for an entrepreneur who spots and seizes a business opportunity before anyone else. But, in ascribing quick thinking to intellect, we are generally mistaken. For quick thinking is almost always unconscious and is powered by emotion.

When we make decisions, our brains use two systems. Let’s call them fast and slow. When you see an angry person in the street, the first thing you register is that she’s angry. Before you realise the colour of her shirt, the length of her hair or her demographic. Your emotional interpretation comes first.

When, by contrast, you’re asked to work out 17 x 24, you instantly recognise that this is a mathematical sum that’s a bit tricky. The solution is probably more than 20 but less than 800, but you don’t instantly come up with the exact answer. Instead, you probably feel yourself choosing whether or not to try to figure it out.

So System 1 thinking is fast. It happens subconsciously by making associations with data stored in your emotional memory. There’s no voluntary control because this ‘thinking’ happens in the brain's emotional centres. System 2 thinking is slow: it makes a conscious effort to allocate the attention needed. This work happens in the frontal lobes of your brain.

Now look at what happens when we use both systems to solve this puzzle:

●     A bat and ball cost $1.10.

●     The bat costs one dollar more than the ball.

●     How much does the ball cost?

For most people, the number that instantly comes to mind is 10¢. It’s an easy puzzle, so we feel the answer is going to be very simple. But we’re wrong: if the ball costs 10¢, then for the bat to cost one dollar more than 10c would mean the bat costs $1.10. Making the total cost $1.20. The correct answer is in fact 5¢.

While nearly everyone hears from System 1 that the answer is 10¢, some people immediately realise the answer can’t be right - but without knowing what the right answer is. They have to do some mental work first.

The good news is that both systems are constantly operational while we’re awake. Most of what we think and do originates in System 1, but System 2 takes over when things get difficult. The partnership is highly efficient: it balances our thinking processes to minimise effort and maximise performance. But quick thinking always starts with emotion.