This extraordinary book by Daniel Kaheman was written for the general public and not for specialists. A psychologist who received the Nobel Prize in economics, father of behavioral economics, he broke paradigms about actions under uncertainty, also necessary in medicine, law, business administration, strategy, politics, philosophy or statistics.
Are people really rational? Are emotions the main cause of non-rational actions? No and no. To err is human. Logical biases and wrong predictions characteristic of fast thinking are as normal as slow thinking, indispensable for complex problems. They are two modes of thinking that we all normally use.
Thinking fast is necessary in the face of urgent uncertainty, we use mental shortcuts to decide and act, which become automatisms in our brain. Very useful in this fast-paced world, but oversimplification can lead us to wrong, illogical decisions, originated in beliefs, intuitions, impressions, feelings (some emotions) and automated prejudices, common brain traps in impulsive people.
A physician can err in the diagnosis when he simplifies the causes, just like any other professional when faced with an ambiguous problem. Today, the media and social networks are prey to easy associations of ideas, such as stereotypes, appearances, empty rhetoric or leaders who reduce a complex issue to 140-letter tweets on Twitter. Slow thinking" is humble in the face of ignorance, looks for evidence of facts, contradictions, includes complexity without dismissing it, and controls (when it can) fast thinking. It is deliberate, effortful, doubtful thinking that does not rule out chance as a cause and enriched with extensive practice arrives at a more complex model of the problem.
In my opinion, schools should actively encourage the development of the recognized "critical thinking," an antidote to quick thinking . We should also celebrate that at least a century after Freud, economics is getting closer to the real human being, even if the behavioral sciences still have immense work ahead of them.
Enrique Ogliastri Ph.D., is a professor at INCAE, author of 18 books and consultant on strategy and family businesses. Academic Director of the programs 'Advanced Negotiation Workshop' and 'How to make a strategic plan'.
