Two different modes of Human mind

The psychologists were interested in learning the human mind’s two different modes. Mode I operate instantly and naturally, with ease or little work and with no feeling of voluntary control. Mode I will perform such operations as adding two single-digit numbers, reading a phrase on large billboards, walking in the nearby parks, etc. where the actions are mostly done with the subconscious mind. Mode II operates with concentration on the burdensome mental work which demands it, including complex processes of thought. The human mind’s Mode II is frequently concerned with works involving experience, choices, and attentiveness. Mode II will perform operations such as filling out a bank form, learning a new concept in the related area, comparing two cell phone specifications for the overall value, multiplying two 3-digit numbers, etc., where the activities require more concentration and where there is no concentration while performing it that results in output below average.

We know that multiplying 2 by 2 involves the same arithmetic as multiplying 22 by 19, but we prefer to respond more quickly to the first one rather than the second calculation. First calculation is performed by our mind’s Mode I while second one is performed by the mind’s Mode II. In several times a person would have encountered the first scenario that is stored in his subconscious mind, but the second case is very unusual, and it will take more time for his mind to calculate the second than the first. More precisely, we can say that mode I is a random system and that mode II is an effortful system. We can suggest from the above that mode I is faster, and mode II acts slower. Mode I will respond to heuristics based situations and Mode II will respond to logic based situations. Sometimes when mode II takes more time to do some action, our mind is planning to move out of that situation. For example, by not using pen, paper and calculator you can ask the students class to multiply 1963 with 8057. Some students would say don’t know the answer to the question, rather than telling it. If the problem is harder for the mind’s Mode I, it will redirect the problem to the mind’s Mode II and if it is even harder, our mind will stop concentrating on a given issue.

Mode II has the potential to change the way Mode I operates, e.g. a bat and a ball costs Rs. 1100 and the difference between bat and ball costs is Rs . 1000. When a person responds randomly to this question without doing any calculation will say that the cost of the ball is Rs. 100 and bat is Rs. 1000. If it is done using Mode II then that person will perform the calculation and will say the cost of the ball is Rs. 50 and the cost of the bat is Rs.1050 and the difference is Rs.1000. Where they are simple and undemanding, many acts can be done at a time. Probably we are safe to carry on a conversation with the friend while walking in a park that is performed by system mode I. Yet if he drives a car and overtakes another vehicle on a narrow road it is not possible to have a conversation with the mate. If he focused intensively in his driving, in a given time he could hear nothing out of the conversation. Intense focus on a particular task can effectively make people blind, even to stimuli that normally attract attention. Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons gave the most dramatic example in their book “The Invisible Gorilla”.