You Know More Than You Realize
Intuition is unconscious accumulated experience informing judgement in real time.
–Alain de Botton
You have a mysterious superpower tucked in your unconscious, sniffing out subtle patterns your logical brain might miss.
But beware — it’s also prone to chasing imaginary patterns, concocting wild hunches that can lead you on a wild chase down the wrong rabbit hole!
You may know it as a sixth sense, a feeling in your gut, or intuition.
Your unconscious mind gathers and processes information far faster than your conscious mind can.
It trades precision for lightning-fast hunches and the chance to spot hidden patterns.
The rational mind is slower but also more accurate, though not infallible.
These two systems are designed to work together.
However, each tends to dominate and squeeze the other one out.
Because intuition works in the background, it is often the one squeezed out.
While you and I might not fully grasp intuition’s mysteries, neurologists have mapped its neural processes through extensive research.
We can improve our intuition using that insight.
The more expertise you have in a specific field, the more patterns you can detect.
A chess grandmaster sees patterns where a novice sees random pieces positioned randomly on the chessboard.
A major component of expertise is the ability to recognize and process patterns.
The more general knowledge you have, the more patterns you can detect.
Sometimes, expertise keeps us from seeing patterns that those outside our field notice.
General knowledge can make us better experts.
Applying knowledge and techniques from one field to another is a powerful tool for discovery and innovation.
We can also learn to tap into beginner’s mind to see with fresh eyes.
The more you test your intuition, the more accurate it becomes.
Intuition learns much the same way as the rational mind, by trial and error.
Make predictions and see how accurate they are.
When the prediction misses the target, analyze where your intuition led you astray.
The more you understand how intuition can be hijacked, the more you can protect yourself.
Your intuition can be hijacked by your own biases.
· Confirmation Bias — Favoring information that aligns with existing beliefs.
· Availability Heuristic — Overemphasizing recent or vivid events.
· Anchoring — Fixating on initial information.
· Overconfidence Bias — Overestimating the accuracy of intuitive hunches.
· Stereotyping — Applying generalized assumptions to individuals.
Your intuition can also be hijacked by others trying to influence you or manipulate you.
Start improving your intuition today.
Test your hunches when the risk is low and fine-tune them with feedback.
Balance your expertise with a beginner’s mind.
Be on guard against biases and manipulation.
Unleash your unconscious superpower but keep your rational mind as its trusty partner.
Out now on Amazon: The Courageous Heart: Wisdom for Difficult Times, an Eric Hoffer Award Finalist. Grab your copy today.
