Are You Spock Or Homer Simpson?
We all have a bit of both in us. The trick lies in recognising when they take over our lives.
Spock and Homer Simpson are both fictional characters that appear in long-running and beloved TV shows. Spock features in Star Trek and is half-human and half-vulcan. Aside from his pointy years and ability to knock a person unconscious with just the touch of his hand, Spock is also known for being ruthlessly logical. Which is what we’re interested in here.
Homer Simpson features in The Simpsons, and is the very opposite of Spock: he’s lazy, has a low IQ and a low attention span. He often gets his family into trouble with his escapades.
However, both Spock and Homer are ‘good’ characters.
In fact, Homer and Spock represent two types of thinking that we all have in us — the first is intuitive and fast, what we refer to as ‘gut feeling’, and the second is deliberate and reflective.
The idea that these two types of thinking could be ‘Homerian’ and ‘Spockian’ was proposed by two people: Richard Thaler, the Nobel-prize winning economist and Cass Sunstein, a legal scholar in their book Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness.
Two types of thinking
Homerian and Spockian are two of many terms given to these two types of thinking. Thaler and Sunstein refer to them as the Automatic System and the Reflective System. The emphasis here is on the words ‘automatic’ and ‘reflective’. The duo built their work on the work of Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky, who shared the Nobel Prize for developing the concept of the two types of thinking. Only they referred to it as System 1 and System 2. Kahneman also referred to the two types of thinking as fast and slow.
Confusing isn’t it?
Here’s a breakdown:
Thaler and Sunstein write that “the Automatic System is rapid and is or feels instinctive, and it does not involve what we usually associate with the word thinking. When you duck because a ball is thrown at you unexpectedly…or smile when you see a cute puppy, you are using your Automatic System.”
Further, they write that “the Reflective System is more deliberate and self-conscious. We use the Reflective System when we are asked, ‘How much is 411 times 37’?”
Later in the book, they expand on why they refer to Homer and Spock:
If you are a television fan, think of Mr Spock of Star Trek … as someone whose Reflective System is always in control. (Captain Kirk: ‘You’d have made a splendid computer, Mr Spock.’ Mr Spock: ‘That is very kind of you, Captain!’)
About Homer Simpson, Thaler and Sunstein write:
In contrast, Homer Simpson seems to have forgotten where he put his Reflective System. (In a commentary on gun control, Homer once replied to a gun store clerk who informed of a mandatory five-day waiting period before buying a weapon, ‘Five days? But I’m mad now!’)
Link with ‘fake news’ and misinformation
There may be a tendency to think that that the Automatic System or fast thinking (Homer) is bad for us and that the Reflective System or slow thinking (Spock) is good for us. That is not the case. We live busy lives and our days are filled with decisions. These decisions number in the thousands. One study claims that on average, we make 35,000 decisions daily. That’s thirty-five thousand. Per day.
Without the two types of thinking, it would become impossible for us live normal lives. Imagine what would happen if we think through every single one of these daily decisions or reactions. We’d become paralysed!
In fact, it’s impossible for us to survive without the Automatic and Reflective systems. These two types of thinking are wired into us. So in order to cope with our lives, we have evolved shortcuts.
If someone is smiling with their eyes, we categorise them as friendly instantaneously. If someone is screaming and raising their hands, we adopt a defensive position (fight or flee) without thinking about it. If someone we trust tells us something, we believe them without reflection. And so on.
This system has worked for us for thousands of years. Unfortunately for us, the information ecosystem that we live in has changed radically in the last 10-15 years. Today, we’re slammed by millions of bits of information, at all times, from all directions and on all devices. WhatsApp, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, email, text messages, television, books, conversations with people, and so on — the barrage of information is relentless. In order to cope with much of this, we have resorted to using our trusty Automatic Systems or fast thinking.
When we receive unverified information or ‘fake news’ especially from our acquaintances, friends, relatives and authority figures (like news anchors, politicians), we believe it. We are easily susceptible to propaganda. We fall for bullshit. Because our lives are complex and busy, we are unable to pause and think, hey should I trust this message? or is this verified information?
We can train the Homer in us
The good news is, we can train our Automatic Systems. Think of the work that you do on a daily basis. It is very likely that you have achieved some ease in doing repetitive tasks that used to be difficult when we started out. Whether it is cooking or playing cricket or playing chess. Or driving, as Thaler and Sunstein write:
The Automatic System can be trained with lots of repetition — but such training takes a lot of time and effort. One reason why teenagers are such risky drivers is that their Automatic Systems have not had much practice, and using the Reflective System is much slower.”
Similarly, we can train ourselves to use Reflective thinking or slow thinking when glancing at the news or reading WhatsApp forwards. We can train ourselves to treat all types of unverified information with skepticism (and not cynicism). It needn’t be hard to do so either. All we need to do is pause to think each time we:
- watch the news (especially anchors who are opinionated and preachy)
- read WhatsApp forwards
- glance at internet memes
- listen to conspiracy theories
- watch entertainment (TV or movies which can be vehicles for propaganda)
- listen to political speeches
And so on.
In other words, we can all train the Homer in us to be more like Spock.
Notes and further reading:
Understanding the two types of thinking allows us to understand the central role of cognitive bias in our lives. Here are some Media Buddhi pieces and videos on bias:
Bias: A Four-Letter Word That Explains the World
Confirmation Bias Is One Reason Why Facts Don't Move Us
Feelings are more powerful than stories [video]
Books:
Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein
Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
The Undoing Project: A Friendship That Changed Our Minds by Michael Lewis
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