Assignment #4 – Reading Response – Mundane Acts Made Hard

This text reminded me of the book «Thinking, Fast and Slow» by Daniel Kahneman, in which he talks about the two modes of thinking. The first is «System 1», which is the intuitive and fast way of thinking, and the other is «System 2», which takes more effort and conscience. Often, when we learn new things, we think with System 2. Eventually, it becomes more «automatic» and therefore turns into System 1. One example of this is how we learn how to multiply as children. For instance, to solve «2 x 3», at first we count on our fingers. It is a more conscious effort, therefore involving System 2. Over time, we learn the solution to «2 x 3». Thinking the solution to that multiplication becomes automatic, therefore turning into a System 1 way of thinking. The bottom line is through repetition, we do things more intuitively, without thinking much about them. In relation to Norman’s descriptions of poor design, there seems to be some things which will never be systematic, though they should be easy to use. The example of the doors is well fitting. We push and pull through a number doors everyday, yet there will still be moments in which we push instead of pull, or push on the wrong side of the door. An example that came to mind when I read this was SD cards and SD card readers. As a film major, I cannot begin to count the amount of times I have had to insert an SD card into a reader. Yet, I never manage to put it in the right way. The worst part is: it gets stuck if you put it in the wrong way. For something that should be so easy, it takes a lot of mental effort to do. Even when the SD card symbol is on the reader in order to instruct in which way to insert it, it just does not come to me. I would think that maybe it is just a me issue, but I have seen this happen with so many people, whether they be filmmakers who do this repetitively or not.