Thinking Fast and Slow: How to Think More Effectively

Wednesday 23^rd March 7.30pm
The Green House Hotel,  4 Grove Road, Bournemouth BH1 3AX

With Phil James BSc (Hons) MSc
Why do we believe that air travel is more dangerous than car travel, despite statistics proving the opposite is true?
Why are judges more likely to deny parole before lunch?
And why do we forget to eat when focused on an interesting project?
In his best-selling book, ‘Thinking Fast and Slow’, Nobel Prize winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman explored the intuitive biases and irrationality in our decision making, and proposed that we have two parallel mental systems which he calls ‘System 1’ and ‘System 2’. System 1 operates on the illusory principle: ‘what you see is all there is’ - it’s fast but conclusions come to you without any awareness of how they were arrived at. System 2 studies the larger context, and we are aware of the processes it is using, but it is lazy and would prefer to defer to the quick convenience of system 1. Kahneman also details a series of heuristics we use in our thinking that can assist or inhibit the accuracy of our decision making, and considers how understanding these mental shortcuts can help us recognise the situations in which mistakes are likely so we can try harder to avoid significant mistakes when the stakes are high.
Phil James will present an entertaining exposition of Kahneman’s key psychological observations, with a special focus on how we can use our new-found knowledge of the cognitive biases, fallacies and illusions revealed in the book to improve the effectiveness of our thinking in our everyday lives.
Are you more likely to believe something printed in bold text?
Can smiling as you read this make you more confident this talk will be worth attending?
Find out in this unmissable presentation!
Phil James BSc(Hons), MSc is a Member of the British Psychological Society and currently a PhD researcher at Bournemouth University. He was co-facilitator on Dorset Humanists’ well-received ‘Happiness Course’ last year.

“Join us for a fascinating exploration of our thinking processes and how we can improve them”

Free entry (donations appreciated).     Everyone welcome!

(The Green House Hotel can also be accessed via its rear entrance in Gervis Road. The hotel has a small onsite car park, and roadside parking is also available in Gervis Road).
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