Two Thinking Systems — How to Use Them for Complex Challenges

The birth of this article itself is an interesting example. When I was debugging an autonomous driving trajectory planning algorithm, waiting for simulation results, listening to music and looking out the window, I suddenly had thoughts about thinking patterns. This emergence of inspiration perfectly validates the theme I want to share—the wonderful collaboration between conscious and unconscious thinking.

Conscious Thinking

Conscious thinking, as the name suggests, is quite simple. We think carefully and focus, then perform some specific operations.

For example, when writing code, we need to examine the code framework, clarify the functions that need to be improved, then decide which part of the code framework to modify. After modification, we need to debug. If some bugs appear during debugging, we need to find ways to solve these problems, ultimately making the code run normally and generate the required results. When analyzing results, we might discover that certain areas are not perfect, so we iteratively improve the code in reverse, forming a cycle. This is a typical example of conscious thinking.

Writing articles is the same. In the early stages, we might list an outline and form some general ideas, clarifying what aspects of content should be written in different sections. During the writing process, we need to synthesize previous thoughts, carefully refine each section, adjust logic and structure, and make other appropriate modifications. All of these require conscious thinking and high concentration.

Unconscious Thinking

So, what is unconscious thinking? Unconscious thinking is relative to conscious thinking—it's not deliberate, but may just occur randomly. You're not actively thinking about a certain problem, but it might manifest in the emergence of inspiration.

Just like how I suddenly thought of a book called "Thinking, Fast and Slow," which mentions System 1 and System 2. I wonder if the conscious and unconscious thinking in this article correspond to those concepts? This current question occurred to me while riding the subway and listening to music. The generation of this idea and the birth of this article were completely unconscious.

Examples of Collaboration

Let me share a real example showing how these two thinking modes collaborate to solve problems.

While consciously debugging and improving code, I encountered a tricky problem with an autonomous driving trajectory planning algorithm—the solver consistently failed to provide valid solutions. I tried analyzing from multiple angles, suspecting that imprecise initial guess values were the cause. After being stuck on this problem for a long time, I decided to temporarily put down work and go for a walk.

During the walk, I thought: when testing different road scenarios, merely changing one road's parameters while keeping other conditions unchanged would cause the solver to fail. This made me realize that changes in road environment require corresponding adjustments to initial guess strategies. As you can see, during the walk, when my brain freed itself from the focused analytical state, the inspiration for a solution suddenly emerged—this is a typical example of unconscious thinking at work.

However, after returning to the office to continue debugging the algorithm, I found the problem still existed—adjusting the initial guess didn't solve the fundamental issue. This result made me realize I might have been looking in the wrong direction from the beginning. Facing this renewed predicament, I decided to take a second walk, carrying new questions: if it wasn't an initial guess problem, what exactly was blocking the solver?

During this walk, while listening to music and letting my thoughts roam freely, suddenly an idea emerged: why not deeply examine the intermediate processes provided by the solver and analyze exactly which step was causing the optimization problem to become infeasible? This inspiration prompted me to immediately start debugging when I returned to the office.

When I wanted the solver to print more solving process information, I discovered my code actually already had this functionality—I had just commented it out previously. Because I had encountered similar infeasible optimization problems before, I decided to reactivate the previously commented code. Through detailed analysis of the solver output, I found the real root of the problem. It turned out that the constraint conditions I set in different road scenarios had internal conflicts: the initial vehicle speed constraint set on the first road was within a reasonable range, but the same constraint on the second road exceeded the system's overall speed limit. In other words, initial state constraints conflicted with global state constraints, causing the solver to face an essentially unsolvable optimization problem.

The solution process of this technical challenge perfectly illustrates the collaboration mechanism between conscious and unconscious thinking: conscious analysis helped me eliminate false assumptions, while unconscious inspiration guided me to find the correct debugging direction. The combination of these two thinking modes ultimately made the seemingly unsolvable problem smoothly resolved.

Relationship and Functions

So, what kind of relationship exists between conscious and unconscious thinking?

Unconscious thinking is the cradle of our inspiration. Those solutions that we can't think of no matter how hard we focus often quietly emerge when we're most relaxed. This is the essence of the word "inspiration"—it's not a product of logical deduction, but a creative breakthrough when the brain is in a free state. These ideas that emerge unconsciously, though they may not be mature enough, provide valuable starting points and directions for subsequent deep thinking.

Conscious thinking plays the role of a rational sculptor, responsible for refining, verifying, and implementing those creative sparks from the unconscious thinking. The nature of inspiration determines that it's often rough, incomplete, or even possibly wrong—this is completely normal. The value of conscious thinking lies in using logical analysis, systematic verification, and precise execution to polish these raw creative ideas into feasible solutions.

When we face thinking deadlocks with complex problems, continuing to rack our brains often yields diminishing returns. At this time, the wisest choice might be to temporarily put down the problem and let the brain enter a relaxed state—walking, exercising, resting, or "sleep on it." In this seemingly "idle" state, unconscious thinking quietly works, often bringing unexpected breakthrough insights.

This alternating use of thinking modes is key to efficiently solving complex problems. The code debugging case I shared earlier perfectly illustrates how these two thinking approaches cooperate with each other to ultimately resolve seemingly unsolvable difficulties.

Practical Suggestions

Based on my experience, I suggest consciously combining these two thinking approaches in actual work:

• When encountering difficult problems, don't just rack your brains. If conscious thinking reaches a standstill, let yourself relax—go for a walk, exercise, or listen to music. Creating opportunities for unconscious thinking often yields unexpected gains.

• When inspiration emerges, record it promptly, then use conscious thinking to refine and verify these ideas. Not all inspiration is correct, but most of it deserves serious consideration and examination.

• In actual work, leave time for unconscious thinking. This isn't being lazy, but an efficient way of working. Sometimes, the best solutions appear quietly when we're relaxed.

Conclusions

This article explored two distinctly different yet interdependent thinking modes: unconscious and conscious thinking. Unconscious thinking, like those inspirations that suddenly emerge during walks or creative sparks that flash while listening to music, often arrives unexpectedly when we're most relaxed. Conscious thinking, on the other hand, is our focused state when we concentrate fully on analyzing problems, writing code, or composing articles.

These two thinking modes don't exist in isolation but form a sophisticated collaborative relationship. Unconscious thinking provides us with innovative perspectives and breakthrough insights, while conscious thinking is responsible for refining, verifying, and implementing these inspirations. When we face thinking deadlocks with complex problems, we might as well temporarily put down our work and let our brains roam freely in a relaxed state—often in such moments, solutions appear unexpectedly.

In my work and life practice, this alternating use of thinking modes has become a natural habit. I hope through sharing this article, you too can learn to find your own thinking rhythm between focus and relaxation, letting inspiration and logic dance harmoniously in your mind.

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