Reason and Intuition

People may believe that they almost always make rational decisions, even though this mode of thinking would be mentally exhausting.

Based on a number of scientific studies, researchers have suggested that there are “two minds”, or two systems of thought, that guide responses.

One, the intuitive system, operates quickly and automatically, with minimal effort. The process of intuition is the mind “seeing” an answer in the absence of explicit reasoning. In other words, it’s as if the person were on autopilot—simply going with the flow.

Consequently, intuitive decisions seem like efficient shortcuts, as they can draw upon previous and similar experiences. However, relying on these mental operations—referred to as heuristics—can lead to biased or incorrect judgments.

If instead, he had used the second system, the rational system, he would make his decision slowly and deliberately and could potentially override any intuitive answers. After all, this system must outline the logical steps of a particular choice, which requires much more effort and cognitive demand in the process.

In novel situations, such reasoning and rational thinking make sense. He’s never shopped during busy hours before and only has five minutes to spare. He reasons that the longer line will move faster than the shorter line, due to the number of items each person has.

Sometimes, intuition is hard to override—certain associations just seem so plausible, even though evidence might point to a different solution.