The voice of a liar
For as long as I have known, I have been lied to. Daily. Whispers in my ear that have directed me to do all manner of things, stopped me from doing others. Sometimes, it has benefited me to hear these lies. Often however, it has cost.
Some call this intuition, some call it the gut, I call it the liar. For me, it has caused more harm than good to listen to what it has to say, it has stopped me from doing all manner of things that looking back, I wish I had done.
The reason intuition so often lies I think is because it is not some magic power that looks into the future, it is a subconscious habit that draws from the past. This means that intuition can both support good action and poor.
It supports the good if past experiences have been of the kind that have been beneficial and has built the right thinking or feelings that further progress. It supports the bad when the past experiences have are detrimental to better experience.
In some areas, my experience has not created the thinking or habits to get the most out of my potential. It is what people would call limited thinking or poor attitude. The problem is that as situations take place, the intuition kicks into gear and directs me to avoid or do something.
The times it acts well get rewarded and remembered and the times poorly, excused and forgotten. This creates an availability bias for its success and effectiveness and therefore gets used again next time.
It also means that when it does not have an adequate reply, it chooses default options. Either no action or action as the case may be. It often uses the default for complex problems or where investment is required to learn.
Many smart investors likely used the default option and chose not to invest in bitcoin years ago. It is something that was new and they had no habit or knowledge for it so, the default action kicks in and for many traders that is, stick to what you know. This might have benefited some tech nerds also as the early adopter default may be 'give it a go'.
Intuition can also make one accept information without reviewing it adequately. Our intuition is trained to trust doctors, newspapers and the police. Well, depending on experience. The police are a good example as some people in a community may intuitively trust them based on their experiences while another group in the same community may intuitively be cautious or even hostile based on their experience.
The way many still consume the news is based on intuition too, which is how they feel about the information provided. Statistics give the feel of legitimacy, as does quoting a doctor from a study. The intuition says 'this is okay to accept' and doesn't look back to see if it was actually right. Many have the habit to assume that for information to be published, it must be researched well.
Intuition is just another judgement tool that gives blind feedback without understanding. It really does feel magic at times and when it saves us, we praise its intelligence. But as we don't remember the failures, we do not see the inherent flaws.
There are many examples where the best way forward is often counter-intuitive, which means it goes against what one assumes is correct. An easy example might be asking for a follow and an upvote on Steemit as it is generally not warmly received. Those that do follow the request are likely to be the ones that are just as desperate. It may be better to ask for critique instead or perhaps spend the time to comment well which means reading, understanding and thinking. A big investment I know.
For me, the liar in my head has held me back in jobs, investments, relationships and a hundred other things. Intuition tells me if the pattern is recognised, not whether it is good or bad. If I could change that voice in the head to be one that says, 'hey buddy, time to think deep' instead, I would be in a much better position.
If I could go back and rather than use my intuition to guide me, use critical thought, I have no idea where I would be today but my intuition tells me it wouldn't be in the same place.
Do you rely on intuition? Do you remember all of the times it has served you poorly?
Taraz
[ a Steem original ]
Posted with Steempress
I think of it as my subconscious trying to pull me back. It is the same during a dream state. My mind is trying to talk to me about the pitfalls that might be in front of me. I should not be something we just adhere to, but part of a broader counsel that we take into consideration. Most times there is no basis for the fear - just intuition or gut feeling so there should be little weight applied to it but still, it should be part of the broader conversation you have with yourself in relation to what you hope to achieve. Risk vs reward right?
Very deep thought @liquidtravel. Hmmm I think it's the fear of the unknown, of being out of your confortzone
I agree. Intuition isn't useless and it has an advisory role but one that is not dictatorial.
Intuition keeps you grounded as obviously your one doesn't like risk. It is a good thing really and even if it has cost you it will stills serve you well over the long run going a less risky route. it may not seem great at the time if you have missed something but looking back you will realize you will still be on target for whatever it is you are looking for.
I tihnk it depends a lot on whether the intuition is trained or not, battle tested by life so to speak. If one has a lot of wide experience, intuition can serve them well but just about everyone feels that their intuitions are right, experience or not.
I'll take the image from your post to exemplify, @tarzkp. Intuition is that little bird over there singing in your ear. But to learn to read or listen to that song, you must have experience because it is very easy to make mistakes. Intuition, like having a good sense of smell, is a virtue that you must develop and perfect. He has failed me particularly many times, but I rescue the times when I have been saved from abysses. For example, in love and at work! When it comes to picking the fastest queue at the bank, I think it always fails me there. Hahahaha. Nice Tuesday.
You speak of experience and this is a very good point. The ore examined and broad experience one has of the world, the better the intuition performs. The problem is that the feeling of it being right comes no matter if there is depth of experience or, only ignorance.
Hmm very great point man, intuition is something very weird and perhaps like a sixth sense. We are learned to be rational over feelings. I'm not sure actually what I rely on. I think first initution and then I think over it and then make my choice.
Intuition shouldn't be ignored, but it has to be tempered by thought and other factors. Too often people act on what they feel without the experience to know if their feelings are justified.
I'm not sure what you mean exactly by intuition. I see intuition solely as a cognitive faculty and very reliable. For example, you hear footsteps around the corner - you know intuitively that a person is approaching you even without seeing that a person is there, if the sound is familiar you may even guess which person it is (and yet, here I would stop myself for fear of pulling a prank on the wrong person). But, lets try a complex example - I work with machines, I have formed in my mind from experience the ideal way a machine can and should work. Like I have a 3D model of a machine running in my mind. When I approach a machine that doesn't work so well, I intuitively know where to narrow down the problem, how to fix it and which parts to replace.
You must have reliable information for intuition to be reliable. When you don't have reliable information - like investment or with people, intuition becomes a problem because a pattern or a face may appear familiar but non sequitur. Its not the problem with intuition, the problem is the amount of entropy in the given information which makes it almost impossible to predict. Making decisions in unreliable or unknown situations is not intuition, its gambling - its chaos, guesswork, mind overstepping its bounds.
The problem is that no matter the experience(information) intuition throws up a feeling. If there is a lot of experience in that narrow area (like your machines) then it can be accurate. But, when approaching something unknown, it will still create the feeling based on possible very poor information. What is felt feels the same in both instances however and, if one spends a lot of time with the narrow (correct) intuitive feelings, they will likely weigh their intuitive ability more heavily as they have experience in being right. This means that in the unknown areas where the intuition is performing poorly, ther is a risk to overweigh its judgement.
What you describe here, may not be intuition. But then again, intuition is what we call something that is not actually understood. So it may also be, as you partially explains, miss judged intuition. "i get this feeling here, does it mean this, that or the other?"
So currently I take note of what we call intuition, but observes what actually happens in relation to what intuition tells me. IN a sense asking it: What are you actually telling me?
Personally i dont think, what we call intuition, is just one thing or just one sense, if you will.
Great Post! I think you mention quite a few very relative and important points for many aspects of life.
It seems that our intuition becomes a habit, and as such, becomes the "comfortable" and default response to future situations. I can think of countless times that my default intuition has failed me personally.
Like you mentioned, being able to respond to present circumstances with critical thought is easier said than done, but vital to our continued success. Thanks for the insightful post,