Intuition is not independent of any reasoning process. Psychologists believe that intuition is a rapid-fire, unconscious associating process --like a mental puzzle. The brain makes an observation, scans it files, and matches the observation with existing memories, knowledge, and experiences.
Once it puts together a series of matches, we get a "gut" on what we have observed.
Sometimes our gut tells us what we need to know, other times
it actually steers us toward fact-finding reasoning.
As it turns out, intuition may be the quiet voice within, but that voice is not limited to one message. Sometimes our intuition whispers,
"Follow
your instincts."
Other times it shouts,
"You need to check this out;
we don't
have
enough information!"
What silences
our intuitive voice is our need for certainty. Most of us are not very good at not knowing.
We like sure things and guarantees so much that we do not pay attention to the outcomes of our brain's
matching process.
Rather than respecting a strong internal instinct, we become fearful and look for assurances from others. Such as:
What do you think?
Should I do it?
Do you think it is a good idea or do you think I will regret it?
What would you do?
A typical response to these questions is,
"I am not sure what you should do. What does your gut say?"
We shake our heads and say, "I am not sure" when the real answer is, "I have no idea what my gut says; we haven't spoken in years!"
When we start polling people, it is often because we do not trust our own knowing. It feels too shaky and too uncertain. We want assurances and those with whom we can share the blame if things do not pan out.
If we learn to trust our intuition, it can even tell us if we do not have a good instinct on something and that we need more data. Our need for certainly sabotages our intuition when we ignore our guts warning to slow, gather more information, or reality check our expectations.
Intuition isn't always about accessing the answers from within. Sometimes when we have tapped into our inner wisdom, it tells us that we do not know enough to make a decision without more investigation.
Intuition is not a single way of knowing--it is our ability to hold space for uncertainty and our willingness to trust the many ways we have developed knowledge and insight, including instinct, experience, faith and reason.
Brene Brown ~ The Gifts of Imperfection
Once it puts together a series of matches, we get a "gut" on what we have observed.
Sometimes our gut tells us what we need to know, other times
it actually steers us toward fact-finding reasoning.
As it turns out, intuition may be the quiet voice within, but that voice is not limited to one message. Sometimes our intuition whispers,
"Follow
your instincts."
Other times it shouts,
"You need to check this out;
we don't
have
enough information!"
What silences
our intuitive voice is our need for certainty. Most of us are not very good at not knowing.
We like sure things and guarantees so much that we do not pay attention to the outcomes of our brain's
matching process.
Rather than respecting a strong internal instinct, we become fearful and look for assurances from others. Such as:
What do you think?
Should I do it?
Do you think it is a good idea or do you think I will regret it?
What would you do?
A typical response to these questions is,
"I am not sure what you should do. What does your gut say?"
We shake our heads and say, "I am not sure" when the real answer is, "I have no idea what my gut says; we haven't spoken in years!"
When we start polling people, it is often because we do not trust our own knowing. It feels too shaky and too uncertain. We want assurances and those with whom we can share the blame if things do not pan out.
If we learn to trust our intuition, it can even tell us if we do not have a good instinct on something and that we need more data. Our need for certainly sabotages our intuition when we ignore our guts warning to slow, gather more information, or reality check our expectations.
Intuition isn't always about accessing the answers from within. Sometimes when we have tapped into our inner wisdom, it tells us that we do not know enough to make a decision without more investigation.
Intuition is not a single way of knowing--it is our ability to hold space for uncertainty and our willingness to trust the many ways we have developed knowledge and insight, including instinct, experience, faith and reason.
Brene Brown ~ The Gifts of Imperfection
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