We've all had this experience. We have a decision to make. Our rational mind weighs the pros and cons and concluded on one point, yet deep inside of us, a voice whispers another alternative. This voice, we usually call intuition.

Intuition is a "feeling that appears in consciousness without us being fully aware of the underlying reasons for its occurrence" (Cholle, 2011). So is it wise to listen to our intuition?

Well, psychologists have considered the reasoning behind intuition as a defense mechanism that allows us to judge quickly and act quickly. Imagine hearing rustling sounds in the forest, is it a prey or a predator? Should I approach to kill or start to run? Instincts could also be our subconscious mind picking up minute details that our conscious mind missed. These details could be the same details we've seen before something bad happened, hence we get the instinct of something bad.

Yet, our instincts are not fool proof. We've judged wrongly all too many times. In fact, some instincts consistently causes us to make bad decisions that Psychologists have given names for them. Consider this question: Which animal kills more humans each year, shark or deers?

Most would think it's a shark, but no... Deers kill 12x more people a year than sharks. I have just demonstrated a flaw in our instinct called the availability heuristic. Just because we have been more exposed to news of shark attacks and movies, we think sharks kill more than deers.

So it seems, intuitions are sometimes our friends and other times are foe. I would like to hear some stories from you. Do share instances when you listened or ignore your instinct.

Ref:
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/...w-do-we-use-it

http://www.psychologytoday.com/colle...the-mind-works

http://www.psychologytoday.com/artic...tuition?page=3

http://www.psychologytoday.com/artic...ng-intuition-0