Breath of Air

An interview with Novel laureate Daniel Kahneman and a subsequent article drew my attention to what others characterize as his “slow thought” movement (couldn’t find any references by him to this phrase). As the only non-economist to be awarded the Novel prize in economic science, his explorations and findings are much more complicated than can be summed up in a few words.  Which is his point.  His fear is that increasingly we rely on quick intuition (System 1) to the detriment of deliberative thought (System 2), even though we need to balance the two.

Deliberation takes time.  Good health requires relatively regular body movement.  We can combine the two. 

1.    Mid-morning and mid-afternoon: Go for a brisk walk and grab that coffee or tea on the return journey.  If the weather is fine, walk around a couple of blocks.  If the weather is foul, climb three flights of stairs in the building (or the same flight three times).  Suddenly your brain will have the oxygen it needs and your consciousness can deliberate on an issue that needs attention.

2.    Lunch:  Go for another brisk walk.  I used to eat in cafes or kiosks about five blocks away from my office.  The exercise was relaxing.  The change of visual landscape eased the pressures of instant decisions at work.

3.    After work: We all know the drill.  Time to hit the gym or the home treadmill (mine’s a rowing machine) for real aerobic exercise.  Usually this is “mindless”, but you can engage your deliberative thought processes and feel productive on all fronts.