Here is a brief excerpt from an article by Bryan Collins for Forbes magazine. To read the complete article, check out others, and obtain subscription information, please click here.

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Nobel Prize winner and psychologist Daniel Kahneman wants us to consider how we make important decisions using different parts of the brain.

In his book Thinking, Fast and Slow, Kahneman proposes two systems that govern how we think, and you might not even know when one of them is at work.

System 1 Thinking

“The main function of System 1 is to maintain and update a model of your personal world, which represents what is normal in it.”

Consider driving your car from home to work on a quiet road.

Hopefully, you understand the tasks involved, such as using your car’s indicators, accelerating, decelerating and so on, but breaking down exactly what you did to reach the office safely, step-by-step, is difficult. Unless you encounter an unexpected event (like an accident), driving your car along a familiar route is intuitive.

Similarly, let’s say you meet a potential hire for the first time. You shake their hand, chat for a minute and get a feeling for them. Before the interview has even begun, you decide they’re the ideal candidate.

These examples are representative of System 1 thinking in practice. In some cases, it’s an automatic learned skill. And in others, it’s from the gut or subconscious and based on emotions.

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Here is direct link to the complete article.

According to Bryan Collins, “I’m an author and a writer who covers topics like creativity, productivity and leadership. As well as blogging, I write nonfiction books and create practical courses for new writers. I live an hour outside of Dublin in Ireland, with my wife and kids. Over the years, I’ve worked as a journalist, copywriter and freelance writer. My other big passion is long-distance running. You can find me here and here.” Collins is the author of The Power of Creativity. He writes about topics like productivity and leadership.