0 Prologue
After reading Thinking Fast and Slow, I wrote this personified story of System and System 2, which matches my current interview progress. Hopefully, I will pass through this journey soon.
1 Overview
Bob System 1 and Joe System 2 are siblings, and they live on a planet called “Humans”. Bob is older than Joe, deciding many of their daily activities because Joe is lazy to do things in most situations. However, whenever Bob needs help, Joe will jump out to assist him. Consequently, they have very different job preferences and occasionally they find some responsibilities in common. Moreover, they influence each other’s mental health/status and vitality over time. One day, Bob is preparing for a job interview.
2 Characters
There are TWO virtual protagonists in this story – Bob System 1 and Joe System 2, who have very different personalities. Joe trusts her big brother frequently even when Bob makes mistakes. Meanwhile, if Joe agrees on Bob’s some opinions, he feels more confident.
2.1 Bob System 1
2.1.1 Appearances
2.1.2 Characteristics
• An enforcer
• Diligent
• Think fast
• Have a free spirit
• Impulsive and intuitive
• Behave subconsciously
• Complete tasks quickly with little or no effort
• Rely on emotions, memories, and experience to make decisions
• Love sweet food
• Be careless
2.1.3 Preferences
Bob loves to stay in a good mood, which makes Joe feel sick. If he decides to obtain something or engage in a certain activity, he will use his gut feelings to make a move, which usually leads Joe to follow him. He has been trying all kinds of different jobs, and he prefers tasks with less effort, although he is diligent to work. However, he is not intelligent enough, so when encountering issues that cannot be solved, he asks for help from Joe. His ideal job is to become a generalist or an artist that requires intuitive skills.
2.2 Joe System 2
2.2.1 Appearances
2.2.2 Characteristics
• An endorser
• Smart but Lazy
• Think slow
• Rational and capable of reasoning
• Pay attention to effortful mental activities
• If starting to work, she devotes herself to tasks
• Use logic to analyze and solve problems
• Be Good at difficult math computation
• Self-criticize
• Switch from one task to another quickly and efficiently
2.2.3 Preferences
Joe’s dream career is to stay at home, being an otaku, so that she does not willingly do many effortful tasks. Also, she is not as confident as Bob, and she criticizes herself often, so she follows what Bob suggests until she doubts it. In fact, she is smarter than Bob, and she is helpful to deal with tough issues, such as complex math problems or scientific research that needs her to concentrate on. Hence, she seems to have contradictory personalities and abilities.
3 Scripts
One day, Bob has a job interview opportunity. Scripts/Scenes below present how Bob and Joe interact with each other.
3.1 Scene 1 – Before the Interview
Scene 1 - Bob is standing in front of a mirror to prepare for his job interview, and he feels confident to achieve it. In this story, he is the protagonist, so he shows more.
Joe (walks in with a calm tone): Bro, you look great in that suit.
Bob: I think so, too. Do you think I’ll get that job?
Joe: You will.
Bob: Yes, you are right. I absolutely will get it. Thanks, sister.
Joe: No Problem. I’m about to go asleep. Enjoy!
(Getting the job has become bob’s belief since Joe confirmed it.)
3.2 Scene 2 – During the Interview
Scene 2 - Bob enters into an interview room and finds out one interviewer looks familiar, also he thinks the interviewer is his middle school teacher.
Bob: Mx.X, you look like a mentor for me. Do you remember me?
Mx.X: Bob System 1? What a weird name. If I know you, I must have an impression of it. Please sit and tell me why you are here.
(Bob is still searching for memories about Mx.X, and it is hard for him to pay attention to the question.)
Bob: As you know, my name is Bob System 1. I’m a freelancer and have a degree in art. ……
(Bob doesn’t explain why he is here. Instead, he describes his background and past working experience.)
Mx.X: Let me ask you again, why are you here?
(Bob thinks he already answered the question, so he is confused and stuck for a moment.)
(Joe sneezes suddenly at home, assuming something happens to Bob.)
(The interview continues, and Bob is not comfortable at the end.)
3.3 Scene 3 – After the Interview
Joe comes to the interview location to check on his brother because she is a bit worried.
Joe (is waiting in front of the building) sees Bob coming.
Bob (hugs Joe): I didn’t expect you. My little joey/Joe.
Joe: How’s the interview going?
Bob: At first, I thought I knew the interviewer, but it turned out I didn’t. Then, I got distracted.
Joe: Hum, then?
Bob: I have bad feelings about it.
Joe (doesn’t feel so sick): Let’s grab some ice cream.
Bob (eats a chocolate cone): OK. I feel better now. Love sweet food!
(Joe smiles and is focusing on eating her ice cream.)
Bob and Joe perform their stories every day. As we understand their characteristics and preferences, we could learn to work/think more efficiently to make informed/rational decisions.
To be continued……
Reference
Thinking, Fast and Slow - https://www.amazon.ca/Thinking-Fast-Slow-Daniel-Kahneman/dp/0385676530/ref=asc_df_0385676530/?tag=googleshopc0c-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=293014791721&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=8544515900993814064&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1001970&hvtargid=pla-499612622557&psc=1 (Please forgive me about that I do not quite understand why the link is so long.)
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