[DeMing]

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

[lizardlady]

What you are calling intuition I call my "little voice." Personally any time I've ignored my little voice and done what my rational mind said I should it ended up badly. That includes things like relationships, jobs, even buying a car. example - hubby an I shopped for a new (used) car for him. I had a bad feeling about the one he picked. He went ahead an bought it anyhow. Car turned out to be a POS, spent more time in the repair shop than it did on the road.

Your example about deer and sharks has a flaw. Our decision about which is more dangerous based on a written question depends on intellect not intuition. In a real life situation if faced with a deer or a shark I would gauge my response to the deer's behavior. I live in the boonies and encounter deer some times. If the deer was happily grazing I'd enjoy the sight. If it was a buck in full rut I'd be looking for the nearest protection. On the other hand, if I found myself swimming with a shark I'd be out of the water before I stopped to decide if he looked friendly or not.

[Leed]

I call Intuition my "gut feeling" and I do listen to it because if I don't, it usually ends badly just like Lizardlady said. When my late husband and I bought this house, my husband wanted it, but my gut feeliing said NO, NO, don't buy this thing!!! I told my husband I didn't like it, but he wanted it, so we bought it. I was right, unfortunately, and boy did we have work to do on this place. We should have had an inspector too, but my husband did it himself (bad idea!!!). I've never like this house.

Anyway, my gut feeliing has worked almost every siingle time, and I trust it.

As for the deer/shark -- I live in the sticks - and I believe the deer statistics, and here in Michigan there are THOUSANDs deer/car accidents per year, and many many people get injured & killed each year. We're chock full of deer in our area so we're mighty careful!

[Miswimmy1]

I consider myself very intuitive. And my guy is nvr wrong about the things that matter. That is how I found my t- I rejected multiple ts without even getting past the name, and chose the t I have now bc I had a gut instinct. That's how I met my best friend. Almost every great decision I've made was an intuition.

[lizardlady]

Oh Leed, thanks for the reminder about deer/car crashes. I was thinking of direct contact. I swear some deer are suicidal!