What I want you to do first is read my powerpoint slides for “This is Water”. It is under documents. It is only 17 short slides and talks about System 1 and System 2 (this is from a book called Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahnamen (who a Nobel Laureate in Economics). As you can see from the slides, System 1 is our natural default setting. It is about fast thinking. System 2 is about slow thinking. It is about doing something that is not automatic. However, by doing System 2 for a very long time you can make it into System 1 (for example if you play chess long enough you will see a move without having to think about it).
Then I want you to listen (you can only listen to it—as there is no video) of a commencement speech by David Foster Wallace called “This is Water”. Go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CrOL-ydFMI
The speech is 22 minutes long. It is a commencement speech from 2005 Kenyon College in Ohio.
After you listen to the speech answer the following discussion questions:
- In the grocery store when you are waiting in line and you are really tired (part of the speech) what behavior would be your default setting (System 1)? Why?
- Now what does Wallace think we should do instead if we can (System 2)?
- Assuming we can do what Wallace advocates in question 2, what will happen to us? That is, what are benefits of what he is talking about?
To me the answers to questions 2 and 3 are really important in life. If you can do what he advocating in questions 2 and 3, you will be a better worker, a better manager, a better finance professional, a better spouse, a better parent, a better teacher, etc. It is hard to do this all the time but with practice it is possible. What he is talking about is very behavioral—maybe not economics or finance—but very important in leading a better life in my opinion.
Feel free to completely ignore this if you do not like it. I admit it is a little weird and maybe a bit too preachy. But I am just trying to conclude the class in an unconventional, interesting way.
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