Reading notes 'Clear Thinking'

 Reading notes on 'Clear Thinking' by Pherson, Donner, and Gnad.

Chapter 2

System 1 thinking reaches judgment quickly and effortlessly. It is simplistic processing. It is more prone to unconscious errors. Heuristics help but can also introduce misinterpretations. System 1 operates automatically and quickly. You do not summon it.

System 2 kicks in when we need to think deliberately. It is slow thinking.

The brain is a collection of neurons (which hold memory), connected by synapses. Synapses are dynamic.They constantly build, rebuild. The more frequently we access memory in a neuron, the stronger the synapses linked to it become. The stronger the connection, the faster we can retrieve the memory. The more frequent a neuron is accessed, the synapses connected to it become wider, like the growth of a tamped path into a highway.

Neuronal plasticy means the brain physically changes.

Intuition is recognition of a pattern we have seen before. Ween we have stored a train of thought a certain way, it becomes difficult to retrieve this information in some other way.

This fixed arrangement is called a schema. We have innumerable schema. Examples of schemas include: appropriate foods for breakfast. Where to eat breakfast in the house, how to write a complex report.

System 1 is is our interpretation of reality. It is how we perceive our environment.

System 2 kicks in when we do not automatically have an answer to a problem, an we are aware that we do not.

My own example: if you meet a tiger in the forest, you immediately seek cover. This is system 1 in action. After you have successfully found saftey, you begin to think of how to get out of this situation with the tiger still lurking. This is system 2, especially when you have not been in this situation before.

Analysis work often means coming to conclusions while working with incomplete data. System 1 is very proficient in recognising patterns but often jumps to conclusions prematurely.

System 1 does not present alternatives it rejected.

(Note: System 1 sounds very similar to AI when it fills in incorrect information)

Reflection on Roger Schank's 'Expectation Failure'. Schank suggests that learning is achieved through expectation failure. You have a mental model for how something works, then you encounter an event or data that breaks your mental model. You incorporate that new information and adjust your mental model. 

The strongest way to learn is to have a hypothesis and then act on it. For example, knowing how a saw works in your head and then actually using a saw to cut wood and realising it's rather hard to cut perfectly straight. 

A weaker version of expectation failure is encountering new information you were not looking for. For example, reading leisurely about France and learning that it was called Gaul in ancient times.

The implication is that the learning by doing is a far more effective way of learning than reading and absorbing facts. Unused facts dissipate from memory far more quickly.

Two of the best aphorisms that conveys the truth of this world:

Time and tide wait for no man. The world keeps moving on. It won't wait for you. Don't waste time. Opportunities come and go. They won't wait for you. Someone else may spot them and grab them. Be ready to grab opportunities. 

You go to war with the army you have. War (any undesirable circumstance) occurs. They are inevitable. You are forced deal with them with the capabilities you have available, so always be building up your capabilities. It's also a reminder that the way you should engage the 'war' reflects the capabilities you have, not the capabilities you wish you had. Be practical and realistic, know yourself and your capabilities.