21A

Book: Thinking, Fast and Slow By Daniel Kahneman

1) What was the general theme or argument of the book?

The general theme of this book is an in-depth look at human intuition. The book then proceeds to divide human intuition into two “systems”. The first system is called the “intuitive thinking” which is built on the “rule of thumb” mentality of thinking. There is system two which is the more rational side to solving problems and thinking. The book uses these two systems and looks at how they compare through different situations.

2) How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003?

Thinking is a big part of all aspects of entrepreneurship and it is important in solving problems. ENT 3003 is designed to help each student learn how to solve problems and think in an entrepreneur way. This book goes into different ways of thinking and how they apply it to a different situation. This exactly what entrepreneurship is at a basic level.

3) If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve?

The exercise I would make for this book is for each student to come up with a list of problems and think of two drastically different ways to solve each problem. Then continue to analysis what why they solved each problem either in system 1 or 2. Finally, they would write a short paragraph about how they think when confronted with problems and if they solve through system 1 or 2.

4) What was your biggest surprise or 'aha' moment when reading the book? In other words, what did you learn that differed most from your expectations?

This moment for me was the Narrative Fallacy. This is the misunderstanding that we can make sense of the past and bring assumptions from it without fail. After reading the book I realize that the past is never an exact indicator of how things will end up in the future. This is a huge mindset shift for me as I like to think about past events in hope of finding the best way to solve a problem.