The Hidden Drivers of Your Mind: Why We Think, Judge, and Decide the Way We Do

We like to believe our thoughts are rational and logical, and that we are always in control. But are we? In reality, our emotions and gut instincts more often guide us than reason. So, how exactly do we think, judge, and decide? In this post, we’ll explore the answers to these questions. What we learn here comes from our evolution from living in small family groups as hunter-gatherers to living in today’s nation-states. It also sets the stage for how we can influence or be influenced by others.

How We Think and Act: Two Processes at Work

In the simplest terms, we think and act to survive and thrive in our surroundings. In the past, psychologists viewed the brain and mind as a computer. An information-processing machine that operates in a logical manner. Then, in the 1990s, they began to realize that there are always really two processing systems at work in the mind:

1. Automatic processes that operate intuitively and subconsciously, and
2. Controlled processes that operate logically and consciously.

Haidt’s “Rider and the Elephant”

In “The Happiness Hypotheses,” Jonathan Haidt, to better help us understand, called these two mental processes the:

1. Elephant (automatic processes) and the
2. Rider (controlled processes).

The Elephant: Automatic Processes

Most mental processes happen automatically, without the need for conscious attention or control. Breathing, seeing, smelling, hearing, daydreaming, and other such activities are all automatic. So, most automatic processes are completely subconscious.

Our senses receive stimuli (triggers) from the environment. Send signals to the brain, which interprets, matches patterns, and provides responses. Even the simplest animals are wired to respond to specific stimuli. They respond to light with specific behavior, like turning away from the light.

Animals quickly learn new patterns and associate them with their existing behaviors. They can also turn such new patterns into new behaviors, such as when an animal trainer teaches a dog a new trick.

The Rider: Controlled Processes

Some mental processes, on the other hand, we are conscious of and can control. Hence, they are referred to as controlled processes. They include the kinds of thinking that:

• Takes some effort,
• Proceeds in steps (in a logical manner), and
• We are always aware of.

For example, consider thinking about what to eat for lunch. It does take some effort, doesn’t it? You think about the various options before making a choice. All the while, you are conscious of these thoughts going on in your mind. But when you finally sit down to eat, the eating process is automatic. You don’t give it a thought.

Huge Elephant, Small Rider

At any given moment, our mind handles many tasks. We automatically handle all these tasks except one. The one we can think about.

So, while automatic processing can handle many tasks simultaneously, controlled processing is limited. We can only think consciously about one thing at a time.

Automatic processing, then, is huge when compared to controlled processing. Perhaps it’s why Haidt chose an elephant over a horse. Elephants are larger and also more intelligent.

Imagine a relatively small rider on a huge elephant.

Haidt, in later years, was inspired to refer to the elephant simply as “intuition” and to call the rider “reasoning”.

Your intuition shines when driving to the airport if you are a good driver familiar with the route. Almost everything you do on your way will be automatic without much thought.

Your reasoning comes into play when planning a trip to the airport to catch an afternoon flight. What time do you leave your house? You must think about that consciously. Considering possible traffic on the road and the check-in process at the airport.

Let’s examine intuition and reasoning in greater detail, shall we?

Intuition

Intuition, or “the elephant,” as Haidt refers, comprises much of the automatic system. It includes the:

• Gut feelings,
• Visceral reactions, and
• Emotions, amongst others.

It operates automatically, requires little or no effort, and is hard to control.

Natural selection has shaped our intuition to trigger quick and reliable action. Our brains integrate information from various parts of our bodies to respond to threats and opportunities. It does this quickly and automatically, like in all other animal brains.

So, intuitions run the human mind, just as they have been running animal minds over time. They have become very good at what they do. It’s like software that has been improved through thousands of product cycles.

Our intuition involves parts of our brain that make us feel pleasure and pain. And that triggers survival–related motivations. We are wired so that food and sex give us a burst of dopamine, which acts on areas of the brain to give us feelings of:

• Pleasure,
• Satisfaction, and
• Motivation.

That is the brain’s way of making us enjoy the activities that are good for the survival of our genes. Thus, passing on our traits.

Indeed, without fail, our intuition has its finger on our dopamine release button. And so, we are drawn to:

• Novel,
• Pleasurable,
• Comfortable, or
• Familiar things.

For example, if you have several ways of achieving the same goal. Which would you rather take, the least or the more demanding course of action? I presume you take the least demanding. That’s your intuition drawing you to comfort.

We are born prepared to perceive the world around us. We recognize objects, direct attention, and avoid losses by constantly evaluating situations as good or bad. This helps us know when to escape or when it is safe to approach.

Other mental activities become fast and automatic through prolonged practice. Remember the effortless driving to the airport earlier? Driving first must be learned and practiced before it becomes automatic.

Learning, Forming, and Assessing What Is Normal

We learn by association; nothing is learned in isolation. Our brains connect new information to what we already know, making it easy for us to remember. We associate:

• Causes with their effects (e.g., viruses with HIV),
• Objects with their properties (e.g., balls being spherical), and
• Items with their categories (e.g., bananas with fruit).

The more associations we make with a piece of information, the easier it becomes to remember.

Historical facts become more memorable when linked to stories, movies, or documentaries. These multiple associations reinforce learning and improve recall.

Repetition and practice also strengthen learning. We can liken them to frequently used bush paths that remain clear while unused ones fade. Likewise, reinforced associations become stronger and more durable while weak ones disappear.

In “Thinking, Fast and Slow,” Daniel Kahneman suggested that:

Intuition’s main function is to maintain and update a model of your world. Such a model represents what is normal to you.

You form the model by associations that happen often, either at once or within a short period. Such associations link:

• Ideas or circumstances around,
• Events that happen,
• Actions that take place, and
• Outcomes you observe.

As you form and strengthen these links, they come to represent what is normal in your life. They determine your interpretation of the present and your expectations of the future.

We are surprised when we encounter something different from what is normal for us. It’s how our mind works. Our surprise reactions reveal what we know about the world and what we expect to happen in it. Surprise can prompt us to rethink what we consider normal.

To see this in action, imagine you are born into a family and community:

• That’s deeply entrepreneurial,
• Where they encourage risk-taking and accept failure as part of the success journey.

You will grow up with these beliefs and practices as your norm, shaping your worldview.

It will surprise you when you come across cultures that discourage risk-taking and where failure is taboo.

Surprise and other emotions reveal intuition at work. They show how quickly our mind flags what doesn’t fit our normal. This brings us to a crucial component of our intuition: emotions themselves.

Emotions

Emotions are a significant part of intuition. They were for a long time thought to be:

• Dumb and
• Just related to deep inward feelings,
• Without any thinking involved.

But, in the 1980s, scientists increasingly recognized that emotions were filled with thinking.

Your emotions occur in stages:

1. First, your brain assesses something that has just happened based on whether it advances or hinders your goals. These assessments involve information processing or thinking.
2. After the assessment, you are set with the appropriate response.

For example, if you hear someone running up behind you on a dark street, your brain assesses and detects a threat. You respond with fear (the appropriate emotion), which triggers your fight-or-flight response. This enables you to quickly absorb more information.

We (humans) build moral systems and communities mainly using emotions like:

• Sympathy,
• Fear,
• Anger, and
• Affection.

Summing up Intuition

In general, your intuition:

• Provides the impressions that often turn into your beliefs.
• Is the source of impulses that often become your choices and actions.
• Interprets what happens to you and around you. It then links the present with the recent past and forms expectations about the near future.
• Contains the models of your world. And instantly evaluates events as normal or surprising for you.
• Is the source of your rapid and often precise intuitive judgments.

And it does these in your subconscious mind without your awareness of its activities.

Lastly, your intuition is the source of many of your biases.

Reasoning

Reasoning, or “the rider,” as Haidt refers, is our conscious, controlled thoughts. It is rational and focuses on tasks that require significant mental effort, like solving complex problems. It is responsible for:

• Concentration,
• Deliberate thinking, and
• Making us feel in control of our choices.

An example of reasoning is making a marketing plan. It requires attention and effort. And you must construct your thoughts in a logical sequence.

Attention and Effort

We decide what to do, but we have limited control over the effort of doing it. Our response to mental overload is selective and precise. Our brain protects the most critical activity so that it receives the attention it needs. Spare attention is allocated second by second to other tasks as needed.

Over time, our brains have evolved to allocate attention adequately. We adapt and respond quickly to the most significant threats or promising opportunities. This improves our chances of survival, as earlier suggested.

In this regard, our intuition and reasoning are active whenever we are awake. So, while our intuition runs automatically, our reasoning is usually in low-effort mode. In this comfortable mode, only a fraction of its capacity is engaged.

By design, our intuition takes over in emergencies and prioritizes self-protective actions.

If you’re a good driver, imagine yourself at the wheel of a car that unexpectedly skids on a slippery road. You’ll find that you have responded to the threat before you became fully conscious of it.

Reasoning comes into play when it detects that you are about to make an error. Remember when you almost blurted out an offensive remark and how hard you worked to restore control? That’s your reasoning at play.

One of the tasks of reasoning is overcoming your intuition’s impulses. In other words, reasoning oversees self-control. But it requires resources (effort) that your brain tries to conserve.

So, we have laziness built into our nature.

Lazy by Nature

Again, in “Thinking, Fast and Slow,” Daniel Kahneman suggested that reasoning has a natural speed.

Usually, monitoring what happens in your environment or inside your head demands little effort. Except if you are in a situation that makes you unusually wary or self-conscious.

So, you:

• Make many small decisions as you drive your car.
• Absorb some information as you read the newspaper.  
• Conduct routine exchanges of pleasantries with people.

All with little effort and no strain, just like a stroll.

It is normally easy and quite pleasant to walk and think simultaneously. But at the extreme, these activities compete for limited reasoning resources. That’s why navigating rough terrain while solving a complex problem will be challenging.

For most of us, staying focused and thinking deeply requires self-control (willpower). But how exactly does willpower work, and what happens when it runs low?

Complexity of Willpower

It is now widely accepted that willpower is a form of reasoning. As you recall, reasoning requires attention and energy, which are in limited supply.

Research initially suggested that using willpower is tiring.  And forcing yourself to do something difficult leaves you with less willpower for the next challenge. But recent studies show this relationship is more complex than initially thought. While mental fatigue is real, it’s significantly influenced by:

• Motivation,
• Expectations, and
• Individual beliefs about willpower itself.

When you force yourself to do something difficult, you may have less willpower for the next one. But this isn’t always a fixed limitation.

So, after a task that demands much reasoning, you may not feel like doing another. But you can often push through if you have compelling reasons. Or if you believe your willpower isn’t easily depleted.

To motivate people to complete a task, make it as easy as possible while also providing strong reasons for why the task matters.

Seeking Ease

Kahneman said that your brain is always working, whether you are aware of it or not, to answer key questions:

• Is anything new going on?
• Is there a threat?
• Are things going well?
• Should it redirect your attention?
• Is more effort needed for this task?

You can imagine your mind as a control panel with dials that monitor these essential factors. Your intuition¹ carries out the assessments. Your reasoning² only comes into play when extra effort is required.

One of the dials measures cognitive or thinking ease, which ranges from “easy” to “strained.”

• Easy is a sign that things are going well – no threats, no major news, no need to redirect attention or mobilize effort.
• Strained indicates that a problem exists, requiring more reasoning. As a result, you experience strain.

Thinking strain is influenced by how much effort you’re currently using. And any unmet demands on your attention. Strain can lead to mental fatigue unless you’re motivated enough.

So again, to motivate people to complete tasks, make such tasks as easy as possible. This promotes a state of ease rather than strain.

For example, a website designed for selling a product should make it easy to find the:

• Product on the site
• Information that promotes and helps complete the purchase
• Checkout process

Summing up Reasoning

In general, reasoning:

• Focuses on complex mental tasks requiring attention and effort.
• Makes you feel in control of your choices.
• Is responsible for overcoming your intuition’s impulses. But requires resources that your brain tries to conserve.
• Requires willpower or self-control, which fatigue and motivation levels seem to affect.
• Leans toward ease and avoids strain.

We identify with the conscious, reasoning self with rational thoughts, beliefs, and choices. But are we right?

So, what is the relationship between intuition (the elephant) and reasoning (the rider)? Understanding this relationship is key to grasping how we make judgments and decisions in our daily lives.

Our Judgment and Decision-Making Process

As earlier suggested, intuition runs our minds, just as it has been running animal minds for a long time. It’s very good at what it does, as it has been refined over time.

When humans evolved to have language and reasoning, the brain didn’t develop itself to hand over control to a new and inexperienced driver. Intuition was already in charge. Instead, reasoning evolved because it did something useful for intuition.

The rider evolved to serve the elephant.

Reasoning can help us:

• See further into the future, and so it can help intuition make better decisions in the present. Reasoning can do this because we can examine alternative scenarios in our heads. We can:
  • Imagine alternatives that are not visually present,
  • Weigh long-term health risks against present pleasures, and
  • Learn in conversation about which choices will bring success and prestige.
• Learn new and complex skills and master new technologies. Our intuition can deploy such to help us reach our goals and sidestep disaster.

Most importantly, reasoning acts as the lawyer or spokesman for intuition. Although it doesn’t necessarily know what intuition is thinking.

Reasoning is good at fabricating after-the-event explanations for whatever intuition has just done. And it is also good at finding reasons to justify whatever intuition wants to do next.

Furthermore, we gossiped about each other since we developed languages. This made it valuable for the elephant (intuition) to carry along a rider (reasoning). In essence, reasoning became a full-time public relations firm for our intuition.

So, our intuition often drives our judgments and decisions. And our reasoning then typically justifies such judgments and decisions.

Note that there are times when our reasoning drives our judgments and decisions, regardless of what intuition thinks. Such times include when:

• Our reputation is on the line, and when
• We genuinely seek to promote the greater good.

Ultimately, the elephant and the rider each have their part to play. And when they work together well, they enable the unique brilliance of human beings.

But they don’t always work together well. Most times…

Intuition First, Reasoning Second

An example to illustrate that intuition comes first (drives our judgments and decisions). And then reasoning follows (to justify such judgments and decisions) is the famous Müller-Lyer illusion.

Take a look at the figure below.

Lines 1 and 2 are of the same length (identical). But you’ll always see line 1 as longer than line 2 even after you know the two lines are the same length. 

Our intuition tells us one is longer based on what it sees, even though our reasoning says it’s not.

Here is a feature of daily life that shows intuition comes first, while reasoning follows. This feature illustrates the sometimes-complex relationship between the rider and the elephant.

Failure of Self-Control and the Difficulty of Changing Behavior

Recall that familiar, pleasurable, comfortable, or novel things attract your intuition. And these are things you come across in your daily routine.

But your reasoning determines that some of these things are not good for you in the long term. If you recall, it allows you to plan and sacrifice short-term wants for long-term gains.

So, how does the rider (reasoning) restrain the elephant’s (intuition’s) wanting?

It attempts to do so through willpower (self-control). As discussed, fatigue and motivation affect willpower. Like a tired muscle, your self-control can wear down and give in. At the same time, your intuition runs automatically, effortlessly, and endlessly.

Does the following describe you?

You surf social media for a large chunk of your working hours, instead of concentrating on your work. And you have reasoned that such behavior is not good for your long-term gains and that you need to change it. Unfortunately, all your attempts at changing it keep failing.

If it does, now you understand why you struggle to change.

To successfully change your behavior, you need to first win over or attract your intuition by:

1. Motivating yourself.
2. Making the new behavior very easy to do.
3. Working with or changing the trigger or prompt that causes the old behavior.
4. Celebrating and repeating the new behavior till it becomes routine.

For changing your surfing social media instead of working behavior, this means:

1. Visualizing how successful you are in a year after putting in more work during working hours. This should serve to motivate you.
2. Making at least part of your work easy and fun to do, even when bored.
3. Finding, working with, or changing what makes you surf social media instead of working. Is it boredom?
4. Celebrating and repeating your new behavior of working even when bored. Continue to do so till the new behavior becomes routine.

So, reasoning has relatively little power to cause behavior. The rider cannot order the elephant around against its will.

The elephant mostly holds sway, as the social intuitionist model explains.

The Social Intuitionist Model

Jonathan Haidt, in “The Righteous Mind,” proposed the social intuitionist model. The model outlines our judgment and decision-making process, as was partly described above.

It helps us understand not only how we make decisions as individuals, but also how social dynamics shape our thinking. And why changing someone’s mind through argument alone is so challenging.

As the figure depicts, intuition quickly makes a judgment or decision (link 1). And reasoning comes after trying to justify such judgment or decision to other people (link 2). Friends (link 3) or social pressures (link 4) may influence intuition to change its judgment. Rarely can reasoning make a change in judgment (link 5) or sway intuition to make such a change (link 6).

So, we often make our first judgments rapidly. And we are dreadful at seeking evidence that might disconfirm those initial judgments. Yet friends can sometimes do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. They can challenge us, giving us reasons and arguments (link 3). That sometimes triggers new intuitions, making it possible for us to change our minds.

We occasionally change our minds when we think about a problem on our own. We can see things in a new light or from a new perspective. Link 6 in the model represents this process of private reflection. This line is dotted because this process doesn’t happen often. For most of us, it is not every day or every month that we change our minds about an issue. At least not without any prompting from anyone else.

Far more common than such private mind-changing is social influence. Others can sway our intuition’s quick judgments. Indeed, others influence us all the time by revealing that they like or dislike somebody. That form of influence is link 4, the social persuasion link.

Many of us believe that we have an inner moral compass that we follow. Still, history demonstrates that other people exert a powerful force on us. They can make cruelty seem acceptable and kindness seem embarrassing. And they can do these without giving us any reason or arguments. Ever wonder how genocides happen?

The social intuitionist model explains a common frustration in human interaction. It explains why arguments are so challenging to win.

Why Winning an Argument is Difficult

It is difficult to win an argument because we use our intuitions to make judgments quickly. And then use reasoning to justify such judgments.

So, what we hear from the other party is justification for their judgments. Judgements that they have since made and are not looking to change. At least not in an argument where their ego, reputation, and possibly worldview are at stake.

Or as Haidt explains, what we hear from the other party, their arguments, are the tail wagged by the intuitive dog. A dog’s tail wags to communicate. You can’t make a dog happy by forcibly wagging its tail. And you can’t change people’s minds by thoroughly disproving their arguments.

If you want to change people’s minds, you have to talk to their elephant. You have to use links 3 and 4 of the social intuitionist model to bring about new intuitions, not new rationales.

For example, let’s say you are arguing with a friend about the right way to start a business. You won’t make any headway by being confrontational and disproving his approach. Rather, he will dig in and stick to his guns, insisting that his approach is right.

To win him over, you need to be friendly, listen, get his point of view, and see things from his angle as well as your own. You then need to show understanding and respect for his views. Be open to dialogue with him before stating your case.

Our Process as Mental Shortcuts

As you can confirm, most of our judgments, decisions, and actions are often appropriate.

Our world is incredibly complex and fast-paced. We face countless decisions and situations every day. To cope, our intuition guides us instead of reasoning about everything we encounter. And our confidence in our intuitive beliefs and preferences is usually justified. But not always.

In “Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion,” Robert Cialdini suggested that:

We consider our judgment and decision-making process as mental shortcuts.

It isn’t perfect. Sometimes, our quick reactions aren’t the best response to a situation. We are often confident even when we are wrong. A fair observer is more likely to detect our errors than we are.

But we need these shortcuts because we don’t have the:

• Time,
• Energy, or
• Capacity to carefully think through everything we encounter.

Since intuition’s shortcuts can lead to biases, we must recognize high-stakes situations. And use effortful reasoning to avoid mistakes.

Key Takeaways and Other Practical Applications

Understanding how our minds work has profound implications for how we live, work, and interact with others. Here are the essential insights:

About Our Mental Processes

• We have two systems at play whenever we are awake:
  • Intuition (fast, automatic, emotional), and
  • Reasoning (slow, deliberate, logical).
• Intuition drives most of our decisions, with reasoning coming after to justify them. On rare occasions, reasoning overrides our intuition in making decisions. This occurs when our reputation is at stake or when we genuinely strive to promote the greater good.
• Both systems evolved to help us survive and thrive in our complex world. And both have their strengths and limitations.

For Understanding Ourselves

• Our biases and quick judgments often serve us well. But they can lead us astray in complex modern situations.
• Self-awareness about when we’re operating on autopilot versus deliberate thought can improve decision-making.
• Social influences shape our thinking more than we typically realize.

For Personal Development

• Changing your behavior requires working with your intuition, not against it.
• Make desired behaviors easy and enjoyable while addressing underlying triggers for undesired behaviors.
• Recognize when high-stakes decisions require deliberate reasoning rather than gut instinct.

For Influencing Others

• Arguments rarely change minds. They target reasoning, not intuition.
• To persuade effectively:
  • Build rapport and show understanding.
  • Appeal to emotions and social connections.
• Create social proof and environments that support desired behaviors.

Indeed, the dual-process model is a helpful framework. Although current neuroscience research suggests our mental processes are probably even more complex. And also more interconnected than the dual-process theories imply.

Additionally, individual differences mean that some people may rely more on one system or the other in different contexts.

Looking Forward

Why we think, judge, and decide the way we do sets the stage for the following articles, which explore how:

• What we learnt here came from our evolutionary roots, and how
• We can influence or be influenced by others.

Remember: influence is a two-way street. Understanding these mental processes helps us become both more effective at persuading others. And more aware of when others are attempting to persuade us.

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Glossary

Automatic Processes (Intuition/System 1): Fast, effortless, emotional mental processes that operate below conscious awareness

Controlled Processes (Reasoning/System 2): Slow, effortful, logical mental processes that we’re consciously aware of

Social Intuitionist Model: Haidt’s framework showing how intuition drives judgment first, with reasoning following to justify decisions

Cognitive Ease: The brain’s preference for mental tasks that feel effortless and familiar

Mental Shortcuts (Heuristics): Quick decision-making rules our intuition uses to navigate complex situations efficiently

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NOTES

1) In “Thinking, Fast and Slow,” Daniel Kahneman refers to automatic processes as System 1, just as Haidt refers to the same as “the elephant” and “intuition.”

2) In “Thinking, Fast and Slow,” Daniel Kahneman refers to controlled processes as System 2, just as Haidt refers to the same as “the rider” and “reasoning.”