Friday, April 29, 2005

Instinct

I have had many discussions about instinct or "gut" feelings here lately. So what is it about your gut that can help you make decisions that you may intellectually not know which way to go on? I think everyone has had this experience....you are faced with something and you can't logically make a decision...maybe you lack some of the information, or maybe both the pros and cons add up the same. So then it boils down to intuition.

What is intuition anyway?

Is this a left-over from our evolution? Some sixth sense that modernization has gotten in the way of? Growing up with horses allowed me to develop a real "ear" for this. It has served me well, without fail, throughout my life and continues to do so. I think as life begins to take us over; job, family, mortgage...we become less and less able to hear that voice of intuition. Unless one stops, and shuts off that extraneous noise, one may loose that particular internal auditory sense altogether.

Our lives used to be much simpler; wake, take care of bodily functions, eat, go seek food and survive. Survival was difficult, but that was it. There was time to listen.

You just gotta take the time. Something we have less and less of. But that voice is so valuable...make the time.

1 comment:

Macrobe said...

There's a difference between 'instinct' and 'intuition.' The latter is non-verbal decision process in a social context and based on experience. Whereas the former is innate, natural. I suspect that instinct may be more associated with 'hard-wiring' in the brain than 'intuition.' Animals also have instincts, but do they have intuition? Are my intuitions the same as yours?

For an interesting perspective on this: http://www.scn.ucla.edu/pdf/Intuition.pdf.

Perhaps both 'evolved' before we as a species mastered verbal languge.

In association with this, a recent 'study' suggests that 'female intuition' is a myth.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4436021.stm
Although, I don't necessarily agree with this interpretation of the study. For instance, women tend to take more time for decision making (the behavior of women drivers is one example :) They also tend to be less linear thinking, which can also influence the study results. (e.g. women are better at multitasking and systems/non-linear thinking than men). So I don't necessarily agree with their interpretation without these factors considered in context.

Yes, I'm a mind/body/behavior nerd, too. (aka: what makes people 'tick'? :)