This relative calm has given my brain a chance to be idle, which has led to some productive thinking. For a long time now, I’ve been convinced that our society is reaching some sort of breaking point with being right. News is reported in the black and white dichotomy of being right or wrong. Our focus has shifted from facts and figures to arguing over perspectives. Compromise at a large scale seems scarce and emphatic, matter-of-fact opinions ubiquitous.
The most obvious example of this trend is in politics, where the destructive power of gridlock can be seen all too well. Congress’s pathetically low approval rating (which hovered at 14 percent in 2014) is due largely in part to their low productivity, which has even resulted in government shutdowns.
Recent research looks more closely at the blind assumptions we constantly consider to be facts in today’s sound-byte society. For example, Daniel Khanerman’s book “Thinking Fast and Slow” argues that because of the way our brain works, we are easily convinced that what we perceive is reality.
He introduces two main systems our brains use: System 1 and System 2. In essence, System 1 refers to the largely instinctual part of your brain. System 1 is your subconscious persona that can carry conversation, drive a car on an empty road, or detect an irritated tone in someone’s voice on a phone call. System 2 represents the type of thinking that is deliberate and we are consciously aware of. For example, your brain will engage System 2 thinking when doing complex multiplication problems or solving a crossword puzzle.
Here’s the amazing thing. Of all the connections that are constantly being made in our brain, we only have the conscious ability to track System 2. However, a massive amount of our brain is processing information through System 1, which informs System 2, but not in a way that we can see or are consciously aware of.
So how is Khanerman’s description of System 1 and System 2 connected to absolutism? How can we take these ideas to step away from our overly assertive beliefs that leave no room for compromise?
We are not as in control of our ideas and emotions that we consciously believe. Instead, our brain has a thought process and absorption process that lives in the shadows of our consciousness yet is still a key driver of our behavior.
There are two messages here. The first one is an oldie, but a goodie. We could all stand to be more open-minded. Progress is dependent on our ability to listen to one another, to grow from others' ideas. Khanerman’s work allows us to understand that we are programmed to commit to what we believe, that the power of instinct can be incredibly strong. Ultimately, I hope to use this to allow myself to challenge previously held biases. Analyzing our beliefs before committing to them just seems like a good idea anyway.
Shruti Rao is a Trinity sophomore. Her column will run biweekly in the fall.
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