THINKER'S ALMANAC - October 19

How is a rider atop an elephant an excellent metaphor for the workings of the human mind?

Subject:  The Human Mind - The Rider and the Elephant Metaphor

Event: Birthday of Jonathan David Haidt, 1963

To understand most important ideas in psychology, you need to understand how the mind is divided into parts that sometimes conflict.  We assume that there is one person in each body, but in some ways we are each more like a committee whose members have been thrown together to do a job, but who often find themselves working at cross purposes. -Jonathan Haidt

In his book Thinking Fast and Slow (2011), Daniel Kahneman explains that the human mind consists of two separate processing systems:  System 1 and System 2.  System 1 is the older system, processing automatically.  It is the emotional system and includes our instinctive, subconscious thinking processes.  If we see a stranger in the grocery store who is angry or frustrated because of a long checkout line, we can see the emotion in their facial expression.  It’s not exactly easy to articulate how we know the person is angry, but the System 1 processes allow us to instinctively read emotion via facial expressions. 

System 2, in contrast, is the newer processing system.  It is the reasoning, logical system and includes our conscious thinking processes.  When we are working on a complex math problem, for example, System 2 provides the processing power to consciously follow a reasoned sequence that leads to a solution.

In his 2006 book The Happiness Hypothesis, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt -- who was born on this day in 1963 -- created a brilliant metaphor that helps us better understand the interaction of System 1 and System 2:  the rider and the elephant.

                                               Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay 

Haidt asks his reader to picture System 1 as an enormous elephant and System 2 as a lone rider perched atop the elephant.  The Rider - System 2 - is holding the reins and can attempt to guide or direct the elephant; however, because the elephant has a mind of its own - the older and powerful System 1 - the rider is not always able to tame or direct the beast he is attempting to control.  

As Haidt describes the complex relationship between the rider and the elephant as follows:

We are like a rider on top of a gigantic elephant. We can steer the elephant, and if he's not busy, he'll go where we want, but if he has other desires, he'll often go where he wants. How can one control the elephant? In part, this comes with maturity. In part, this comes with the development of your frontal cortex, so the frontal areas of the brain are especially involved in self-control, in suppressing your initial instinct to act.

Haidt’s metaphor is so effective because it helps us visualize the unequal interactions of our two thinking systems.  Often, we mistakenly assume that human reason will rule over emotion.  The rider and the elephant metaphor, however, reminds us that the rider is more of an advisor than a boss.  The rider can direct the elephant, providing conscious, reasoned thought and a vision of the future, but the elephant has a will and intelligence of its own that is guided by gut feelings, intuition, and emotions.  Long before Haidt or Kahneman were born, the Scottish philosopher David Hume summed it all up clearly and concisely in a single sentence:  “Reason is, and ought only to be the slave of the passions, and can never pretend to any other office than to serve and obey them” (1).

Recall, Retrieve, Recite, Ruminate, Reflect, Reason:  How does the rider and the elephant metaphor sum up and illustrate the mind’s two thinking systems?

 

Challenge - Metaphorically Thinking:  Metaphors and analogies help us to better understand and to better visualize new ideas by comparing them to what we already know.  Do some research on other metaphors or analogies that have been employed to help understand and illustrate the complex workings of the human mind.  Pick the one you like the best, and explain why you think it is effective.

Sources:

1-Haidt, Jonathan.  The Happiness Hypothesis.  New York:  Basic Books, 2006.