Intuition is Not Pseudoscience, Say Researchers

"I don't trust books. They're all fact, no heart. And that's exactly what's pulling our country apart today. Because face it, folks, we are a divided nation. Not between Democrats or Republicans, or conservatives and liberals, or tops and bottoms. No, we are divided by those who think with their head, and those who know with their heart...”
~ Stephen Colbert, The Colbert Report

From an anecdotal perspective, nearly everyone has as some point in their life felt compelled to do something for a reason they couldn’t quite define that turned out to be a smart move. Sometimes it’s even an instantaneous response to something that wouldn’t normally elicit such a reaction, but ends up being a good thing. Maybe you just get a bad feeling about someone without knowing why and find out later that they’ve got a violent temper. Or maybe you make a snap judgment about working with a particular individual because there’s just “something” about them that makes you think they’ll be successful. You could write it off as a lucky guess, since not every intuition turns out to be true. But whatever the case may be, researchers at Leeds say these “feelings” are likely as real and valuable as our logical deductions, and that we should therefore take our “hunches” more seriously

Historically, however, scientists have ridiculed the concept of intuition. They put it in the same camp as parapsychology, phrenology and other phenomenon considered to be ‘pseudoscientific’. The study of intuition has also commonly been considered a spiritual discipline lacking any real scientific weight. However, new research is showing that intuition goes a lot deeper than we might have thought. In fact, maybe Stephen Colbert’s character on The Colbert Report is right; thinking with your gut may be as valid as thinking with your brain. In any case, intuition is more than just a hunch, according to a new Leeds University study.

Intuition is the result of the way our brains store, process and retrieve information on a subconscious level says Professor Gerard Hodgkinson of the Centre for Organizational Strategy, Learning and Change at Leeds University Business School. According to his research, intuition is a real psychological phenomenon which needs further study to help us harness its potential.

Through analysis of a wide range of research papers examining the phenomenon, the researchers concluded that intuition is the brain quickly drawing on past experiences and external cues to make a decision on a non-conscious level. In other words, it happens so fast that we’re not aware that the intuition actually stemmed from a supercharged burst of logical thinking.

“People usually experience true intuition when they are under severe time pressure or in a situation of information overload or acute danger, where conscious analysis of the situation may be difficult or impossible,” says Hodgkinson.

Hodgkinson cites the recorded case of a Formula One driver who braked sharply when nearing a hairpin bend without knowing why he was doing so. As a result, the driver avoided hitting a pile-up of cars on the track ahead, which undoubtedly saved his life.

“The driver couldn’t explain why he felt he should stop, but the urge was much stronger than his desire to win the race,” explains Professor Hodgkinson. “The driver underwent forensic analysis by psychologists afterwards, where he was shown a video to mentally relive the event. In hindsight he realized that the crowd, which would have normally been cheering him on, wasn’t looking at him coming up to the bend but was looking the other way in a static, frozen way. That was the cue. He didn’t consciously process this, but he knew something was wrong and stopped in time.”

The research published in the current issue of the British Journal of Psychology, suggests that intuitive experiences are based on the instantaneous evaluation of such internal and external cues – but does not speculate on whether intuitive decisions are necessarily the best ones. However, if intuition is anything like it’s slower counterpart known as “logic”, then it is not infallible as amply demonstrated by men like George W. Bush, who often say they are “going with their gut” as opposed to thinking the matter through. As with all things, there is such a thing as too much of good thing. Of course, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t mean it’s useless either.

“Humans clearly need both conscious and non-conscious thought processes,” he adds. “But it’s likely that neither is intrinsically ‘better’ than the other.”

Hodgkinson, who is a chartered occupational psychologist, is interested in studying how intuition works within a business framework, where executives and managers often claim to use intuition over deliberate analysis when a swift decision is called for.

“We’d like to identify when business people choose to switch from one mode to the other and why – and also analyze when their decision is the correct one. By understanding this phenomenon, we could then help organizations to harness and hone intuitive skills in their executives and managers.”

Posted by Rebecca Sato.

 

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link:
British Journal of Psychology
http://www.bps.org.uk/publications/journals/bjp/bjp_home.cfm

Comments

[Sarah]

There's a fantastic book called 'Blink' (can't remember the author, sorry) that tracks the 'science' behind 'intuition' & suggests that the desire for logical, rational decisions may actually hinder making a 'better' decision based on subtle, intangible clues. It's the long-term accumulation of 'logical', hard-won knowledge that, once acquired, enables the brain to make 'leaps' in judgment, bypassing the A,B,C process and jumping straight from A to F. This is supported by Edward de Bono's work on how the brain learns and processes information.

[Mitch the Bitch]

Its "The force Luke"... To much Hollywierd and not enough common fn sense...

That flushing sound is Sarah's Daddies (and likely MY TAX) money being flushed on some degree that hides the emotional train-wreck that is Womanhood.

Typical leftist BS. When an entire party gets it's "news" from comedy shows like Colbert and the Daily show you really have to wonder. Throw out a couple of meaningless titles from some useless professor at some useless college and the Liberals can create any fact they choose. Manmade Global Warming comes to mind.

As this article clearly shows Liberalism is a patholgy not an ideology.

Get some help quickly...

[Dave]

I see Mitch is being as useful as ever, with insightful commentary and witty repartee...
Knowing how Colbert is I suggest that the comment at the beginning was sarcasm. Or it should have been. The relationship between thinking with your heart and using intuition, relying on faith and the like all smacks of the hand wringing socialist and religious zealot who whine that reality is too harsh and oOoOoO think of the children!! But as Sarah lucidly and coherently observes, intuition is how the brain works at a deeper level than rational thought, similar to how you don't rationally think of how you keep your balance while walking, whilst you are at the same time breathing, thinking about lunch etc. The word 'intuition' just has a bad flavor to it and is often used by those to infer spiritual meaning when such is not the case. Intuition is the mind honed to it's finer point.

[Mike]

Interesting to say the least, but I have to admit that I'm still somewhat a skeptic. The article does offer some good evidence to support their claims, which I prefer to all the hocus pocus that you normal see attached to the subject.

[E.Velez]

I was having a discussion with a women last year at work. She went on and on about this new guy and how she didn't trust him. Her dislike turned to hate as I continued to bait her diplomatically with questions.

She called it intuition. I pressed her on it because I knew what was coming (I've heard it a thousand times before from many people, mostly women).

Finally she admitted... she didn't like the way he looked.

Turns out the guy was ok, after a few weeks of proving himself at the job. Actually a nice guy. What bothers me are the people who rely on what they call intuition instead of facing up to their built-in prejudices and other stereotypes.

Yes... intuition and stereotypes have their place in science. In fact, some argue that that much of this can be quantified. The problem, however, remains the very people who support this type of notion while at the same time scoffing at the scientific method and worse yet... refusing to look at themselves honestly.

Traumas, jealousies, self-loathing, competition, prejudices, a closed-mind and a ton of other factors play a role in how people view the world. That is why the most important part of looking outwardly is to look inwardly first.

[blanco]

i really believe and feel intuition. what i dont know is how to use it when i really want, how to know where it comes from.
many times telepathy has happened to me, and now i want to discover to use it deeply and totally.
i dont have any doubt about reading minds. no doubt at all.