Intuition (Hong Kong 2)
On my recent trip to Kong Kong, I went shopping at a store where no one spoke English. I felt sure that it had the product I was looking for, but I didn't know how to communicate it. The sales clerk recognized part of the product name but not the rest. Suddenly, as I was preparing to look elsewhere, she reached behind her and handed me a product. It turned out to be the correct product. I attributed her action to intuition. That got me to thinking about intuition.
According to dictionaries and thesauruses I consulted, intuition is a quick insight, recognized without a reasoning process, often based on extensive experience of a subject. Possible synonyms include hunch, insight, instinct and sixth sense. It happens to all of us once in a while, the certain knowledge of the correct way to proceed in a situation, the "feeling" about something, the premonition about events to come, without conscious examination, without the application of logic or explicit reasoning. The key is experience. With experience, the necessary background information is present and the necessary reasoning process occurs instantaneously, without rising to a conscious level. If we waited to consciously go through the steps that occur instantly, we might miss the moment or reach a poor conclusion. It sometimes seems like magic, but the conclusions we reach in these instances are usually better than the slow, painful conscious reasoning we go through where we don't have the "feeling".
The problem with intuition arises when we or others don't believe in it. Because we can't explain our insights, our intuition, we doubt it. When asked to explain our answers, we're not able to do so. Soon we begin to ignore our intuition and laboriously reason to our conclusions. Soon we begin to repress our intuition to the point that we don't have intuitive responses to situations.
Given the explanations of intuition, it seems to me more reliable than other approaches to questions, to problems. If, as I believe, intuitive responses are based on a quick and unconscious analysis of the relevant factors, I believe intuitive responses are better, based on more information than our conscious minds can summon.
Trust your intuition. Rely on your intuitive responses. You'll be faster and better in your decisions. And, by the way, rely on those who are good at trivia games. One authority I read believes that the ability to retain and answer questions about many things is a good predictor of sound intuitive responses.
12-5-05
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