Sunday, February 19, 2012

Intuition

Intuition is a primarily unconscious process; we are not aware of it happening as it is taking place.  We have accumulated a great body of knowledge from our past experiences; this knowledge is stored in our long term memory.  When faced with a given situation, we subconsciously evaluate it to identify its most important elements. We compare these elements with any similar or related pieces of information stored in our long term memory reserves.  Again, all of this takes place outside of our conscious awareness.  What we are consciously aware of is the outcome of the intuitive process: a "gut feeling."

It is difficult, if not impossible, to rationally analyze intuition.  In fact, when a person has made a choice based on intuition, he is usually not able to explain why he made that choice.  Just because it is not amenable to rational analysis, however, does not mean that intuition is an irrational process.  In fact, research has shown that how reliable your intuition is in a given subject area depends upon the degree of your past knowledge and experience in that area.  Reliable intuition, then, is gained from experience.  The more experience you have in a given area, the more you can use your intuition in related situations to guide decision making.

When I decided to write about intuition, what I really wanted to know was how a person can go about improving his or her intuition.  It seems the most obvious way is through experience, which takes time.  Outside of this, I was not able to find very much information about how to improve intuition.  I therefore decided that I should try to generate my own suggestions for doing this.

Everyone has intuition.  We differ in how readily we recognize it, how comfortable we are with it, and how confident we are of its reliability.  There are definitely people who rely too heavily on their intuition; there are also people who completely ignore their "gut feelings."

It seems logical to me that the first step in developing one's intuition is to start to recognize the product of the intuitive process (i.e., a "gut feeling") whenever it occurs.  Pay attention to the times when you "have a feeling" about something but can't really say why.  Take notice when you have a strong negative or positive reaction to someone or something without understanding why.  Make a conscious effort to attend to your initial impressions of people and places.  Notice your hunches, especially those that ultimately prove to be accurate.  Become familiar with the physical sensations that accompany your "gut feelings."

The next step in improving intuition would be to begin to use it as information when you are making decisions.  This doesn't necessarily mean to start "following your gut" in everything you do.  Rather, you should simply be aware of what your "gut" is telling you about a given situation.

When considering your "gut feeling" as information when you make decisions, it is important to be aware of your weaknesses.  You need to be aware of your weaknesses so you can determine exactly how to use the information provided by you "gut feeling."  Know what your weaknesses are.  If you have a tendency to consistently over-react to a certain type of situation then your "gut feeling" about this type of situation is probably an over-reaction.  This is important information.  Recognize that your intuition is probably skewing your judgment.  Either adjust your actions accordingly or seek feedback from someone you trust before deciding what to do.  If you have a history of being attracted to the wrong types of friends or romantic partners then be aware of this; you might consider doing the exact opposite of what your intuition suggests in this type of situation.  In short, recognize the areas in which your intuition is not likely to be reliable.  That doesn't mean to ignore your "gut feeling" in these areas; you can still use it as information, even if that information is, "I should probably do the opposite of what I feel in this situation."

Also be aware of your strengths.  Do not, however, be over-confident.  People who are right 9 times out of 10 are still wrong 10% of the time.  The more strongly you believe in the "rightness" of your decision the more resistant you will be to feedback that suggests your decision was, in fact, wrong.  This makes it more difficult to identify and correct your mistakes.

What are your suggestions for improving intuition?

7 comments:

  1. Great post! I'm wondering where meditation comes in here. I feel the biggest block to one's intuition is the clear vision to see it, and perhaps the slurry of feelings, emotions, and ideas it seems to mix with (though I'd like to think it comes from some pure-dharmakaya place!).

    Do you like the Myers Briggs? I'm an ENFJ (with strong Introvert tendencies, but I get my energy from interaction).

    As for intuition being tied to experience, I think so, but not always so. The studies might have been testing for intuition, but maybe what they got was 1 of 10 possible solutions. For example, I used to be a mason. When someone had a water leak in a basement, I could figure it out with my "expert mind" within two or 3 guesses, where as if someone were to use "beginer mind" I bet they could solve it without doing anything I did.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, they say that thinking actually interferes with intuition. Funny, huh?

      Delete
  2. Perhaps, it is being aware of the heavy presence of your "thinking" mind, that is invested in an outcome that will please its immediate needs or fill its emotional "holes"...whatever you need at that moment. Just relax...as in meditation( or pure awareness)...and your intuition will guide you into a better solution.
    I ignored what my intuition pointed to, not to go into surgery...that was so strong that I told the person who drove me to the hospital. The rest is history, yet I turned this with the guiding light of intuition into a better outcome. That would be that things happen for a reason, and it is up to you to run with it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Had a great inquiry today! My wife and were walking up a beautiful steep hill on the coast of northern California, where we recently moved to a Zen center and farm. At the bottom, I started taking my jacket off for the back pack because I thought, "Hmm, I ran up this hill just the other day, hiked it about 3 years ago, and it's a leg burner, so spare me the sweat with cold wind on top." My wife saw and said, "eh, it's too cold, I'll be alright."

    Sure enough, half way up, she was taking it off because it was too hot! So...this morning's experience seemed completely separate from intuition, or at least in a relative truth kinda way...And we talked about it and my question was this: What is intuition, what is experience?

    I'll stop there, but just so you know, I'm enjoying this immensely!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm an INFP. For me it's more like-- "stuff happens". And sometimes it's a little eerie. It seems that meditation may encourage or clear the way for intuition. I don't know. My early Zen study really shook me up and made me pause, look more slowly and thoroughly at everything. It made me question the existence of my intuition (and still does). But stuff happens-- still-- a "knowing" that scares me a little, that I'm not comfortable with, not sure of. The big ole ego likes to be certain of everything!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I definitely think meditation clears the way for intuition. Maybe it's the increased awareness - it makes you more aware of your intuition when you feel it?

      Delete
  5. here's a method to ALWAYS access accurate intuition.:ALWAYS TRUST YOUR FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF PEOPLE PLACES & CIRCUMSTANCES.& BEWARE OF FALSE IMPRESSIONS THAT CAN BE CAUSED BY SUNTANNING AND/OR COSMETIC SURGERY.ALSO REMEMBER THAT IF A MALE WEARS MAKE UP & FLASHY CLOTHES IN THE CONTEXT OF A POP STAR IT MEANS NOTHING.IT DOESN'T MEAN HE'S GAY.JUSTIN BIEBER WEARS MAKE UP & FLASHY CLOTHES BECAUSE HE'S A POP STAR.IT DOESN'T MEAN HE'S GAY.JUSTIN BIEBER'S A POP STAR & A WUSSY PUSSY FAME WHORE.

    ReplyDelete

My Favorites