Intuition goes by many names: hunch, gut feeling, instinct, inkling, inner voice. Malcolm Gladwell refers to it as “rapid cognition.” Cognitive psychologist John Bargh calls it “automatic processing.”
No matter what we call it, intuition is the ability to grasp something immediately without using conscious/rational processing. We know something—or have the sense that we know it—without knowing how we know it.
The myth is that intuition is a superior form of inner knowing that we can develop and learn to rely on unilaterally.
But intuition is not superior to rational, logical thinking. It’s just different: another way our brain processes information. The world isn’t divided into people who are intuitive and people who are not. All of us rely on intuition every day.
Intuition is the result of the associative thinking that takes place in the unconscious (System 1). The unconscious sees patterns and connects dots our conscious brain (System 2) isn’t even aware of. It operates quickly and it’s always on. That’s because its primary purpose is to keep us alive. System 1 makes rapid-fire assessments and communicates them to System 2. When we become consciously aware of one of those assessments, we call it intuition.
We could also call it jumping to conclusions.
Jumping to conclusions on the basis of limited evidence is important to an understanding of intuitive thinking. System 1 is radically insensitive to both the quality and quantity of the information that gives rise to impressions and intuitions. —Daniel Kahneman, Thinking Fast and Slow
The unconscious processes 11 million bits of information at a time. In order to make sense of all that information, it takes mental shortcuts known as cognitive biases. Sometimes the unconscious knows what it’s talking about, but quite often it doesn’t. The same process—jumping to conclusions on the basis of limited evidence—that can give rise to a brilliant flash of insight in one instance can just as easily give rise to unjust stereotyping in another. And since our brain is addicted to feeling right, whether or not it is right, the confidence we feel when intuition kicks in often can’t be trusted.
There are a number of potential problems related to relying on intuition. One is that System 1 processing is highly context-dependent. That means that whatever is going on at the time—the weather, our state of mind, the time of day, the last thing we ate—can influence System 1. So an intuitive assessment reached under one set of temporary circumstances could be entirely different from the one reached under a different set of circumstances.
Here’s the kicker, though: No matter who we are or what our intentions are, our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are based much more on System 1 processing than they are on System 2 processing simply because System 2 is slow and limited. When System 1 makes a suggestion to System 2, System 2 is far more likely to go along with it than to question it. That often leads to unintended consequences, such as misdirection, mistakes, and misunderstandings.
Intuition leads us astray because it’s not very good at picking up flaws in the evidence. —Tom Gilovich, Cornell University
Learning how System 1 functions can help us make more effective use of our intuition. It can also help us determine when to trust it and when not to trust it.
Find out more about the good, the bad, and the (occasionally) ugly aspects of intuitive thinking by joining us at the next MONTHLY MEETING OF THE MIND (& BRAIN).