My Problem With Kahneman

I have read about 2/3 of Daniel Kahneman's new book, Thinking, Fast and Slow.

Kahneman is undoubtedly incredibly smart. He has decades of research under his belt, and clearly understands incredibly complex problems.

There is so much to be admired in his book.

I need to finish it, and I will.

There is, however, one serious problem I have with him that he has, so far, failed to adress.

The problem comes from the book's title. Kahneman claims that the mind is best characterized as having 'two systems': system one is fast, intuitive, makes quick judgements and snap decision; system two is slow, deliberate, rational, and logical.

This distinction is fair enough. We all know that our intuitive thought processes are immediate, they happen very quickly. We all know that we know how to think slowly, how to solive a math or logic problem by trying to spell it all out explicitly. On the surface the identification of intuition with speed and logic with slowness is reasonable.

But the story isn't that simple, and this distinction, after some reflection, does not sit well with me.

The best counterexample I can point to is Guy Claxton's Hare Brain, Tortoise Mind. In Claxton's book intuition occupies the position of slow thinking, while rationality occupies that position of speed. Intuition is the tortoise mind, reason is the hare brain.

Claxton's arguments are very persuasive.

Intuitive thought processes, indeed, can take years to complete themselves. Creativity is an example of intuitive thought that unfolds over years. Ideas need to gestate for very long times, and we experience them in this quick 'aha' moment, but it is unfair to say that they are 'fast' modes of thought when in fact it took years and years.

Rational thought, on the other hand, can also happen very quickly. We can spontaneously come up with a rational explanation of something, and we will quickly accept it.

Kahneman does not give credence to the fact that reason can be very quick, and intuition can be very slow.

I need to finish the book and see if he somehow resolves this trouble.

But, frankly, I'm very discouraged by this oversight.

To say that the mind is made primarily of two systems, and that these two systems correspond to the ideas of fast and slow, seems unsatisfactory.

Something ain't right about this distinction between fast and slow.

That is not the double bind that we find ourselves in.

There is something else going on.

All of the problems Kahneman describes are very real, and he has a lot of insights, but I don't think that they can revolve around this distinction between fast and slow thought.

Something about this ain't right.