The reason I want to do this is that what the neuroscience tells us is that having a mental picture (literally a picture) of the brain is what helps you use your knowledge to change things. But the system 1 & 2 insights are all explained in words! So it struck me it would be really helpful to try to map the words onto the picture. The good news is it turns out to be pretty easy - my own version of the brain model is shown below, and super-imposed on the picture are Kahnemann's thinking systems. Once you see the linkage you can also see how managing the limbic and PFC helps you manage systems 1 & 2.
System 1 is your autopilot - your limbic recognises the situation and automatically selects the appropriate programmes or data to address that situation. The various biases of System 1 (Paul's mnemonic was MINDSPACE) can all be explained by the limbic's emotional perception. Eg M stands for Messenger - we tend to believe someone who is "like us". It seems clear to me that the reason we distrust someone "unlike us" is that the limbic perceives difference as a threat, and the appropriate response to threat is to avoid / reject. You can similarly work through the rest of the mnemonic for yourself. So managing system 1 is really about managing the limbic.
System 2 is your intentional thinking - it needs to use the PFC to deliberately choose the programmes and data to use, or even to create new programmes and data. We know from neuroscience that the PFC is easily over-worked and also shut down by negative emotions - which explains why system 1 is often used just when we might need system 2 most, eg in critical decision-making situations. So once again, the key to using system 2 when you need it would appear to be managing the limbic.
There are two other things this linkage tells us. One is that we can use system 2 to re-train system 1. The limbic learned by experience and can be re-trained by using the PFC to deliberately create alternative experiences - real or imagined in your head. That is essentially what we are doing in coaching, self-reveiew journaling or other developmental practices. We can also develop system 2's ability to monitor the activity of system 1. Practicing mindfulness mindfulness improves the PFC's function in both emotional regulation and monitoring. You may still be on autopilot using system 1 - but you can at least your system 2 can be aware that you are!
Daniel Kahnemann can sometimes be a bit negative about the chances of changing our biases or improving our inherently bad decision-making. But with this link to the brain model, I think we can all be a lot more positive.
