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 how we label it, what intuition is is the ability to “know” something without knowing how we know it.
One thing intuition is not is magical or mysterious or superior in some way to rational, logical thinking. It’s just different. The world is not divided into people who are intuitive and people who are not. We all 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, by the way, it’s what keeps us alive. And keeping us alive is what our brain is designed to do. 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
System 1 reacts exactly the same way (jumps to conclusions) whether we have a clue or not. So sometimes its assessments are accurate and sometimes they’re not. Intuition is good for making short-term predictions when it’s based on training, experience, and practice. But even when the training, experience, and practice are in place, intuition is not good for making long-term predictions or forecasts. There are just too many unknown variables for it to account for.
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 our thoughts. 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.
Another problem is that good intuition in one area of our lives where we have expertise doesn’t carry over to other areas where we don’t have comparable expertise.
A third and bigger problem with intuition is the strong feeling of confidence it often engenders, whether or not that confidence is warranted, because that sense of confidence is all too easy to confuse with clarity.
What You Can Do:
Don’t automatically assume your intuitive guesses are accurate across the board. Just because you feel confident about something doesn’t mean you’re right. If you are skilled or knowledgeable in an area, your intuition is more likely to be accurate—at least when it comes to short-term predictions. But if you have no particular skill or knowledge, your intuition isn’t any better than a wild guess.
As Kahneman says, “Do not simply trust intuitive judgment—your own or that of others—but do not dismiss it, either.”
Additional Reading: How Important Is Your Need to Be Right? and Do You Confuse Clarity with Certainty?
Having always doubted it my intuition I’ve not much to say except at least look back and keep track it’s amazing how I’ve sabotaged myself and at least try to practice entertains the thought” ” I know”and of course not I should have but” I did know”and now I know better to at least listen to what My intuition tels me at least listen!give some consideration.If I were keeping score I’d have to say most of the time my intuition is correct and really made some unwise decisions by not at least listening. Geez is that one sentence ?
Kelly,
Well, that is a heck of a sentence. 🙂 I think if you know yourself, you have a better chance of knowing when to trust your intuition and when not to trust it. All or nothing is usually not a good idea.
Sorry for the delay in responding. I was without my internet connection for two days. Now I feel whole again…
Thanks for commenting!
In your article, it certainly sounds like you were advocating intuition, until the “What You can do” part! 🙂 The popular notion is that intuition saves the day every time. I wonder if that’s because we are more aware (and delighted!) when our intuition turns out to be correct, and less aware of the times when it didn’t.
Jeremy,
I think you’re exactly right. We’re always paying attention selectively, and the confirmation bias leads us to notice instances of what we believe–or are looking for–and to fail to notice all those other instances.
The idea that intuition is superior to rational, logical, linear thinking is easy to understand. It’s certainly much FASTER. But it’s just a different type of thinking. The trick is knowing when to trust it and when not to trust it.
Thanks for reading and commenting. 🙂