21A - Reading Reflection No.2

The book I chose to read from the second list of reading was Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman. The general theme of this book is to get the reader to realize what is happening inside their own heads to better allow them to utilize the different modes of thinking. The first being intuitive and emotional thoughts, while the second slower mode of thinking is more analytical and logical. Kahneman’s goal is to make the reader reflect upon themselves to see their own faults, and to realize that the truth may not just be what is being repeated day after day. This rings true about what we tell ourselves, and what we hear from outside of our own minds.

The one thing that made me think of class was the mentioning of the gorilla suit video. This book has a lot more to do with class than that though. In the beginning of the book Kahneman emphasizes that the future is unpredictable and it is up to us to see the opportunities that arise out of it. Reflecting upon my own business idea, I know war is unpredictable and humanitarian crises are unpredictable so my NGO would have to be able to adapt to meet the needs of those who need attention the most.

For a class exercise, I would have each student reflect upon instances where they have used their first system of thinking in terms of the evolution of their business idea and pick one or two. Then really break them down and use the second mode of thinking to create a mind map or a couple rough drawings of their thoughts. This would be useful to get people used to thinking through things with a more realistic view point as opposed to a fairly optimistic mindset that blinds us from reality.

The big “aha” moment I had while reading this book was that I should really sit down and break open working with refugees on every level and be as realistic as possible with it. This book highlighted how we are blinded by our biases and how our dreams may never come to fruition if we are too optimistic about things and only think with our emotions. I believe I should look into all the ethics, logistics, and paper work that has to go into working with refugees and get a solid game plan going now.