Most of Our Thinking Is Not Deliberate
We live in an age of unprecedented complexity, interconnection, and existential risk. Yet our brains—magnificent as they are—still rely heavily on ancient circuitry designed for a world of immediate threats, scarce resources, and tribal survival. The very mechanisms that once ensured our safety may now be misfiring in ways that threaten our collective future.
Our automatic responses—fight or flight, tribal loyalty, dominance hierarchies—are not random quirks of personality. They are the output of ancient neural circuitry, shaped over millennia to meet the survival demands of a radically different world. In environments marked by immediate physical threats, scarce resources, and small group living, these reflexes once helped our ancestors avoid predators, secure mates, and defend territory.
Today, however, that same circuitry is firing in contexts it was never designed for. We react to online disagreements as if they are physical attacks. We cling to tribes of people who think as we do as if our lives depend on it. We resist change not because it’s dangerous, but because our brains equate uncertainty with threat.
Cognitive science suggests that 90 to 95 percent of our thinking is governed by automatic thinking, often referred to by scientists as System 1 thinking—the type of thinking that’s fast, automatic, and emotionally driven. We use System 2 thinking, the slower, more deliberate mode of reasoning, only five to ten percent of the time.
This imbalance means that our ancient reflexes are not just occasionally active—they dominate our mental landscape. In essence, we’re using Stone Age software to guide our lives in a planetary-scale civilization. Unless we intervene consciously, these ancient reflexes will continue to shape our decisions, relationships, and societal structures in ways that may no longer serve us.
Understanding how our minds create these frameworks might help us to break free of habitual responses that no longer serve us and form a basis for developing new frameworks that better align with our needs in today’s modern world.
How Automatic Responses Have Helped
System 1 thinking helps us survive in the most efficient manner possible. That’s great, and it would be foolish to say we need to get rid of our System 1 thinking mechanisms. But today, because our efficiency and survival needs are in many ways different from what they were in the past, we need to make a conscious effort to redirect our automatic thought processes.
Consider, for instance, the following examples.
- Fight-or-flight responses: When faced with perceived threats, we default to reaction rather than reflection—even when the “threat” is just an uncomfortable conversation, not a saber-tooth tiger.
- Tribal thinking: Historically, sticking with one’s group increased survival odds, but today, this instinct can manifest as us-vs-them mentalities, reinforcing division rather than unity.
- Pattern recognition: Our ancestors relied on quick decisions based on the patterns they perceived at the time, such as automatically assuming a fighting posture when an outsider approached the places where they lived. But today, this instinct can trap us in rigid thought cycles, preventing us from adapting.
Clearly, these types of automatic mechanisms still influence our behaviors today. But today, they can limit us—especially when they lead to automatic judgments, reactive behaviors, or resistance to change.
While these types of mechanisms may have been essential for our survival in the past, today and moving into the future, our survival will depend on different types of automatic responses. For instance, going forward, responses such as seeing opportunities to bridge the differences between us, seeing opportunities for peaceful co-existence, and embracing diversity, are all likely essential to our future survival as a species.
How Automatic Thinking Hurts
The biggest danger of running on autopilot is that it keeps us repeating the past, even when the past doesn’t align with the world we live in now.
Some of the most problematic ways this plays out include:
- Accepting our inherited religious beliefs as irrefutable facts – Many people inherit spiritual beliefs and customs without actively evaluating them, missing opportunities for deeper understanding and progress.
- Political polarization – Tribal instincts push us toward alignment with our chosen group, making it harder to listen objectively or seek common ground with differing perspectives.
- Reacting defensively instead of openly – When challenged, our instinct is often to protect our existing worldview, rather than consider whether a new perspective could be valid.
- Accepting outdated societal norms – Cultural traditions often persist simply because they’ve always been there, even when they no longer serve a meaningful purpose.
When beliefs and behaviors become too deeply ingrained, we risk unintentionally contributing to harm simply because “that’s the way things have always been done.”
Redirecting our Autopilot Thinking
Since autopilot thinking, or, as cognitive scientists would say, System 1 thinking, isn’t going away, the real question isn’t how to eliminate it. It’s how to create better frameworks, so that when we inevitably fall back into autopilot mode, it works in our favor. The good news is, it’s entirely possible due to the neuroplasticity of our brains, which allows us to create new default ways of thinking based on learning and repetition.
Here are some perspectives on how we can begin the process:
- Recognize when you’re running on autopilot. Pausing to ask if you’re reacting out of habit, or responding with awareness can make a huge difference.
- Question ingrained narratives. Don’t fall into the trap of believing things are the way they are just because they are. Ask why.
- Reframe your perspective. If people seem stuck in their positions, ask yourself if there’s a broader, more interconnected way to interpret the situation.
- Practice mindful engagement. Slowing down and being present in conversations, experiences, and emotions disrupts autopilot mode, allowing for deeper awareness.
Rebuilding Our Mental Defaults for a More Interconnected World
There can be hardly any doubt that we would be better off today and moving into the future if we were more interconnected across the globe—not just from a trade or digital perspective, but from the perspective of our human evolution as well.
Here are some considerations on how to build automatic responses that will lead us toward the more interconnected world we need:
- Surround yourself with diverse perspectives. Exposure to new cultures, ideas, and ways of thinking reshapes mental patterns, broadening our sense of reality.
- Engage in philosophical questioning. Asking deep, challenging questions about existence, morality, and interconnectedness trains the brain to think beyond its default limitations.
- Design new social norms. If enough people adopt collective frameworks built on cooperation and understanding, those structures begin to shape unconscious thinking at a societal level.
- Commit to lifelong adaptability. Instead of clinging to a fixed mindset, embrace curiosity and flexibility—the more we practice this, the more it becomes our automatic response.
- Create spaces for collective dialogue—whether through art, writing, or community forums, that invite deeper inquiry and shared understanding.
Shaping the Future Starts with Shaping Our Thinking
The real challenge isn’t changing how our brains work. Our brains will always need to relegate much of our day-to-day responses to autopilot mode, otherwise we would be overwhelmed by the number of decisions we would need to make. The real challenge is in recognizing those automatic responses that no longer serve us and replace them with responses that will help us move toward the future in a more interconnected manner.
Of course, it would be naïve to think it’s easy. We’ve been evolving as a species for thousands of years based on automatic responses that allowed us to survive in a world where reactions such as fight-or-flight were essential to our well-being.
But it’s quite clear, at least to most authorities today as well as to our own common sense, that we need to develop new habitual responses. It begins first by being conscious of the need, and then by taking proactive steps toward shaping our thinking in ways that will lead to our continued survival as a species.
The real challenge isn’t changing how our brains work. Our brains will always need to relegate much of our day-to-day responses to autopilot mode, otherwise we would be overwhelmed by the number of decisions we would need to make. The real challenge is in recognizing those automatic responses that no longer serve us and replace them with responses that will help us move toward the future in a more interconnected manner.
Books:
- Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman – Explores how our brains rely on automatic thinking and cognitive shortcuts.
- Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely – Examines how unconscious biases shape behavior in ways we don’t always recognize.
- The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg – Discusses how habits form and how they can be intentionally reshaped.
- Mindware: Tools for Smart Thinking by Richard E. Nisbett – Strategies for overcoming cognitive shortcuts and improving decision-making.
- The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt – Explores how moral reasoning is often driven by unconscious processes rather than rational thought.
Websites & Articles:
- New Study Shows Humans Are on Autopilot Nearly Half the Time – Research on how much of our daily thinking is automatic.
- Brain on Autopilot – Examines how the brain’s architecture influences unconscious thought patterns.
- Autopilot Brain: Navigating Life on Mental Cruise Control – Explores the neuroscience behind automatic behaviors and decision-making.
