I hope that over the past few weeks you’ve become more aware of the shifting patterns, visible and invisible, in your world. This is an important step in seeing in terms of relationships. We’ll finish our exploration of patterns by talking about a specific way of recognizing them, that is, through intuition, often called our sixth sense. It has a certain mystery about it, but it’s really not as mysterious as you might think.
“Intuition is the edge between unconscious and conscious pattern recognition. It is the ability to perceive sub-threshold patterns and the emergence of a pattern into consciousness. Aha!, we say, suddenly grasping what has been just below the surface of our recognition all along.” ~ Laura Sewall, Sight and Sensibility
Daniel Kahneman is a behavioural economist who has done a lot of research in this area. His book, Thinking Fast and Slow, shares the results of this research, where he refers to two modes of thinking. System 1 is intuition or thinking with our body. It’s our default mode because it gives us enough information to make quick decisions. System 2 is reason or thinking with our mind. It’s slower and more deliberate. We use this when we have a problem to solve.
Intuition is that feeling in the gut that tells you to pay attention; it’s that lightbulb that goes off when you suddenly get an insight. Intuition also comes into play in the mundane tasks of daily living. Here’s an example.
For the past eight years, I’ve kept oven mitts in a cupboard beside my stove. Recently, I moved them to the drawer below. It took at least a month before my husband and I could locate them in the drawer. Intuition subconsciously made us reach for the cupboard every time. You may not have thought of this as intuition but it’s exactly how intuition works. In this case, there was a previous pattern that allowed us to find those oven mitts without too much thought. By moving them, the pattern was disrupted and it didn’t match the new circumstances.
In certain circles, intuition is presented as the ultimate form of knowing, while in other circles reason is king. However, they each hold different and important information. Body wisdom and mind wisdom must work together.
The Benefits of Intuition
You may think that your reasoning mind rules the show. But Kahneman and his research partners learned through their research that intuition is the source of most of the judgments and choices we make, especially when quick decision making is necessary. Intuition gives our mind a rest. It helps us to think more effectively.
When is it especially helpful? As mentioned previously, we use it every day in doing mundane tasks or locating things we use every day. Experts trained in a particular area are naturally more intuitive when making decisions in that area. They see potential problems or opportunities quicker than a non-expert.
Since intuition is embedded in the body, it can be useful In the area of health. It gives you messages when your body needs food or water or rest or when something’s not right. You may even get a sense of what might remedy the situation. However, when the stakes are high, for example, with a serious health issue, you may need to check with a reputable health professional.
Athletes use intuition in the form of “muscle memory.” They practice a skill or play over and over to the point where they don’t have to think much about it. When the performance is on the line, they have to get out of their heads (and the accompanying fears) and let the body do what it’s trained to do. Of course, the mind plays a part too.
Artists use intuition as a way to bring out their unique expression. Of course, they still have to be trained in technique but it’s intuition that may take a piece of art from good to great. With regard to my own photography, I feel that I compose quite intuitively after years of studying visual design. The composition comes in such a way that feels right to me and I’m not interested in whether anyone thinks I should have composed differently. That would be their photograph, not mine.
The Drawbacks of Intuition
The patterns revealed through intuition are unique to you and your experience. They tell a story based on previous experiences, whether conscious or not. But, as Kahneman has found, our “story” isn’t always right for the current situation, my oven mitts being a case in point.
Intuition is based on limited information and we can jump to conclusions based on flimsy evidence. When a problem needs solving or the stakes are high, intuition needs to be checked with reason or outside sources or updated information.
Intuition can be helpful in alerting us to red flags in people, especially when meeting someone new. But, it’s not generally a good idea to judge someone based on a first impression. Intuition can be misleading. In longer term relationships, jumping to conclusions can cause irreparable damage.
When it comes to solving any kind of complex problem, you need to bring in deliberate reasoning and to see how your assumptions and biases might be getting in the way. With any big decision, whether personal, financial, or business-related, it’s best to combine intuition with reason. Check your intuition with expert advice or trusted friends or family.
The bottom line is that relying solely on intuition can be harmful when the stakes are high. Kahneman’s advice: Don’t simply trust intuitive judgment – your own or that of others – but don’t dismiss it either.
Practice
My goal this week is to get you to notice how intuition plays a part in your life. When do you trust it and when do you check it with reason? How do you balance your System 1 and 2? Seeing clearly means that you’re always updating your intuition with new information.
If you’re more of a head person, like me, relying too much on reason, you may have to practice becoming more aware of the signals from your body. That means moving more (dance, exercise, walking), and noticing physical sensations and emotional responses (meditation). Try doing something physical, with awareness, every day this week.
We’ve already done some body practices and you could revisit one or more of them - listen deeply, reach out and touch, and seeing with the heart.
If you’re more of a gut person, trusting your intuition over reason, notice when you’re having a strong intuitive response. You may be an artist with finely honed intuitive responses to creating art. But this doesn’t always apply to other areas of life. Start with relationships. Have you ever been wrong about somebody? How do you check your intuition with facts or other views? When have you made an intuitive decision and it turned out to be wrong? If you say never, I suggest you go deeper, maybe even read Kahneman’s book.
I’d love to hear your experiences in the comments. Or share an intuitive photo on Instagram and add the hashtag #seeingclearly2021.
Resources
The Clearest and Strongest Way of Seeing, Part 1 and Part 2 by Guy Tal
The Difference between Perception and Intuition
Remember when we practiced “ditching the story” as a way of seeing more clearly?
I had a bit of an aha about intuition today. Often, I talk about noticing our judgments, questioning them, and getting curious instead. Quick judgments may be a form of intuition. Today, I made a quick judgments about a person’s decision, when I was reminded by a member of my family about something that had happened to this person in the past that made their current decision more understandable. I had forgotten that piece of information but once I was reminded, it made me rethink my judgment. I saw the situation more clearly. Not that I had any business judging them anyways but that’s a different topic.