Catching Hugi: Being thoughtful about your thoughts

In Norse mythology, Thor, Loki, and Thor's servant Thialfi, journey to Utgard, the realm of giants, where they are challenged by the giant king Utgardloki to prove their prowess. Among the contests, Thialfi, known for his exceptional speed, races against a giant-child named Hugi. Despite his best efforts, Thialfi loses every race. It's later revealed that Hugi is none other than the embodiment of Thought itself, demonstrating that no matter how fast Thialfi runs, he cannot outpace Thought.

This tale illustrates the speed of our cognitive processing or thinking.

For example, what do you read in the image below?

If, like most people, you read it as “A walk in the park”, and failed to notice the extra ‘the’, you thought at the speed of Hugi. This is an example of System 1 thinking.

Understanding Thinking

The idea that we think in two ways was popularised by Daniel Kahneman, distinguished Nobel Laureate, in his book Thinking Fast, Thinking Slow.

He researched the two kinds of thinking that we engage in: System 1 and System 2.

An example of quick, automatic, effortless System 1 thinking is when someone asks your name or asks you to add 2 and 2. System 2 thinking is a more deliberate, conscious mental processes that requires effort, analysis, and critical reasoning.

We need both kinds of thinking.

Sometimes we need to think on our feet, react instinctively, and take quick decisions without having the time to analyze every detail. E.g. while playing a sport that requires quick reflexes, or when a car suddenly brakes in front of us.? Other times, we need to engage in more deliberate thinking as for example, when dealing with a complex problem at work, or learning a new language.

By balancing System 1 and System 2 thinking, we can take better decisions.        

But System 1 often overtakes System 2 thinking, especially when we are tired or stressed: at the end of a long day, for instance, the mental effort to choose a healthy dinner might be bypassed in favor of grabbing some chips—an easy, System 1 decision.

More critically, System 1 can lead to automatic negative thoughts (ANTs), which are quick, often irrational judgments that can be disproportionately pessimistic.

For example, if you send out an email with ideas and don’t immediately receive feedback, System 1 thinking might lead you to conclude your ideas are disliked, or worse, that you're at risk of being fired. This is known as Catastrophic Thinking, a type of ANT where the mind jumps to the worst-case scenario.

Other Common ANTs include:

Black and White Thinking or thinking in absolutes: "I always mess things up," or "You never listen to me."

Fortune Telling: Anticipating the worst will happen, like "This is never going to work" when a new idea is presented.

Overgeneralization: Viewing a single negative event as a never-ending pattern of defeat. For instance, failing at a task might lead you to think, "I fail at everything I try."

In a day, hundreds of ANTS crawl across our minds, causing us stress and depleting feel-good neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine. Over time, repetitive ANTS enlarge our brain’s fear centre, cause psychiatric illness, and even change the brain down to it’s DNA level.        

Controlling the negative spiral isn’t easy, as Thialfi found while racing Hugi. But it isn’t impossible.

Build mindful awareness to recognise negative thoughts when they occur, challenge them, and replace them with positive thinking.

Over time, identify triggers for negative thought patterns and be better prepared to catch the pesky ANTS when they pop up.

This process of managing our ANTS requires actively engaging in System 2 thinking.

You can only do that when you are not hurried and exhausted. So, give your brain a rest. Turn off the digital devices with their constant stimuli. Exercise more. Eat good food in the company of good friends.

Managing our ANTS can help us take better decisions, reduce stress, improve interpersonal interactions and overall well-being. And surprisingly, improve our metabolism!        

Scientist Dr Lisa Feldman-Barrett says: Stress within two hours of a meal leads your brain and body to metabolise what you eat in a way that adds the equivalent of 104 calories to the meal. That’s about an extra half a kilo a month. (How a short negative news detox could revive your metabolism. BBC Science Focus. https://www.sciencefocus.com/the-human-body/why-news-bad-for-you-psychology).

Now that’s some food for thought!

What are your most common ANTS? Write in.

Until next time!