Slow by Daniel Kahneman Answering

¶ … Slow by Daniel Kahneman Answering an Easier Question In chapter nine, Kahneman explains the process by which people often answer difficult questions that they don't quite understand via the process of heuristics. Kahneman explains the process of heuristics as finding adequate though imperfect answers to difficult questions. Kahneman explains this comes from the belief that if there's a difficult question one can't solve, there's usually an easier question that one can find the answer to.

Kahneman also explains how the mood heuristic and affect heuristic can impact or influence one's feelings, perspectives or ability to assess. Kahneman ends the chapter by summarizing characteristics of system one in such a way that the reader should be able to build an intuitive sense of system one. For example, Kahneman writes that system one, "generates impressions, feelings, inclinations… links a sense of cognitive ease to illusions of truth, pleasant feelings and reduced vigilance" (104).

Chapter Ten: The Law of Small Numbers In chapter ten, Kahneman proves an immediate point about small numbers and small samples when he starts by posing a question to the reader about the rate of kidney cancer in rural populations. Kahneman concludes: "Large samples are more precise than small samples. Small samples yield extreme results more often than large samples do" (110).

Kahneman also explains that the bias towards thinking that small samples are a clearer reflection of the population at large is also a manifestation of the tendency of people to exaggerate the consistency and coherence of what they see (113).

Kahneman also discusses the tendency of human beings to impose patterns on where there are none: "we pay more attention to the content of messages than to information about their reliability, and as a result end up with a view of the world around us that is simpler and more coherent than the data justify" (116). Kahneman also explains that many of the events in the world are a result of chance and trying to find explanation for chance will nearly always be wrong.

Chapter 11: Anchors In chapter 11, Kahneman explains the anchoring effect, which is a phenomenon when people consider a specific value for an unknown quantity before they estimate that quantity: reliably, Kahneman explains, the estimates stay close to the number that people consider and this is where the anchor image comes in (118). Kahneman also discusses the process of adjusting, which is when people make conscious efforts to move away from the anchor. Kahneman concludes this chapter by discussing the powerful affect that anchors have on an individual's thinking, guiding and constraining it.

Kahneman also explains that System two is more susceptible to the influence of anchors. Chapter 12: The Science of Availability Kahneman introduces the reader to the availability heuristic in chapter 12, by explaining that people typically estimate the size of a category or how often an event occurs with accuracy, but actually people are reporting an impression of the ease with which the instances come to mind (128) Kahneman does eventually conclude that the process by which one makes judgments based on availability is indeed a complex process.

Ultimately Kahneman concludes, "The conclusion is that the ease with which instances come to mind is a System 1 heuristic, which is replaced by a focus on content when System 2 is more engaged" (134). Thus how easily an event or tendency can come to a person's mind can have a strong impact on how they view the event or the category of events and its effect on their lives.

Chapter 13: Availability, Emotion and Risk Kahneman examines the work of various scholars in chapter 13 on how easily one can access memories and associations and the emotions involved and how those elements affect perception, perspective and choice. Kahneman cites the work of Slovic who studied people in regards to associative memory, finding, "the ease with which ideas of various risks come to mind and the emotional reactions to these risks are inextricably linked.

Frightening thoughts and images occur to us with particular ease, and thoughts of danger that are fluent and vivid exacerbate fear" (137). Kahneman also discusses Sunstein's theory about the influence of irrational fears and how availability cascades on public policy when it comes to risk and how Slovic is correct when policy makers should consider widespread fears, even if they're irrational. Chapter 14: Tom W's Specialty In this chapter, Kahneman discusses the intricacies of probability and the factors that can influence one's perception and judgment of the probable likelihood of an event.

Kahneman ultimately concludes, "Anchor your judgment of the probability of an outcome on a plausible base rate. Question the diagnosticity of your evidence" (152). Kahneman also discusses how representativeness can also lead people to making poor.