I remember the first time I picked up Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking, Fast and Slow. That moment when I realized just how many biases I’d been falling into, over and over again, without even noticing. The part that always sticks with me is the idea that our minds run on two different altitudes. Sometimes, it’s all fast and automatic—like solving 2+2, it just happens. But when it gets more complex, like in advanced math, you’ve got to engage the system, slow down, think it through step by step.
A Spell Away from Instant Creation
As a designer and hobbyist developer, these last few years have been earth-shattering. The tools at my fingertips now move so fast. Anything I can think to prompt is there almost instantly—from images to music, to texts, websites, and even fairly complex apps. My process feels a lot like that old Kodak ad: You say the spell, press the button, we do the rest. It’s pure magic. Magic in the sense that I don’t fully understand what’s happening behind the scenes. Suddenly, I’m Harry Potter with a wand, throwing out words to see what catches fire—without ever going to Hogwarts. And honestly, it’s been transformative in more ways than I can count.
Living in a Fast-Forward World
Lately, I’ve noticed how much I rely on these tools. Sometimes I feel like I’m talking more with them than with actual people. Not exactly a good sign in a time when we’re all grappling with online infused loneliness. And if those of us who are chronically online—early adopters of these spells—are feeling it, what does that say?
I Prompt, Therefore I Am
Everything in my day-to-day is becoming System 1. I hit a button, and it generates. I’m more of a curator of fast thoughts than a creator, sometimes. I’m browsing for new spells, collecting them. Looking back, I think MidJourney’s decision to open up the Discord so you could see everyone else’s prompts was a massive unlock for many of us. Same with all the early ChatGPT screenshots that went viral. What gets me is that I had access to OpenAI’s playground long before ChatGPT came out, but it wasn’t until I saw someone tweet about using GPT to generate code that I realized I could do that, too. Now, most of my time is spent hunting for new spells to add to my library. My anti-library of spells I’ve never used is growing every day. I prompt, therefore I am.
Intuition on Overdrive
But as powerful as these tools are, they’re so intuition-driven. It’s all in how you phrase the prompt, how you pick between the generated versions. It feels like it runs on body memory, muscle memory. And it’s no wonder I keep seeing conversations about taste pop up online. Mastering these spells feels like developing a better intuition—and that only comes from long, long practice. My process has become this rapid-fire thing, intuition guiding most of it. And to be honest? It works. It’s not a bad thing.
System 1: A Dark Forest of Biases
But here’s where I circle back to the book. System 2 is where we think slowly. It’s also where we catch most of our biases. When we rely too much on System 1, we’re easy targets for exploitation. Neat little tricks and dark patterns thrive on fast thinking. The world’s always been a dark forest, but the more we live in System 1, the more exploitable we become. It feels like there’s so much we don’t know—and what’s worse, we don’t even know what we don’t know. And everything’s just getting faster.
Are We Forgetting to Think Slowly?
So, I’m wondering—are we over-indexing on fast-thinking tools? Have we forgotten the need for slow, deliberate thinking? Today, everything is about rapid launches, instant wins. It’s about making shareholders happy quarter by quarter, instead of thinking long-term and making real, lasting progress. It’s all geared toward System 1, and that’s becoming the default mode. But what about System 2? What about the time it takes to think deeply, beyond the instant reactions and quick wins?
Slowing Down Is the Next Innovation
I’m starting to think we need tools built for slow, deliberate thinking. Tools that encourage reflection and depth, not just fast output. Clarity doesn’t come from endless chats with AI—it comes from stepping away, letting ideas breathe. We’ve focused so much on speed, but maybe we need a different approach.
What Do We Lose When Everything Is Fast?
What do we lose if everything becomes System 1, all at once?
