Intuition

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Definition

Intuition is an abstract term that refers to the manner we perceive information fluently without the need to be reasoned. Intuition is a form of intelligence that is beyond the rational mind and based on the acquired knowledge. Therefore related also to beliefs and what we interpret as beliefs. As explained in the article devoted to... Intuition in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy it can be defined also as "mental states or events in which a proposition seems true in the manner of these propositions".
The Royal Spanish Academy defines it as the intimate and instantaneous perception of an idea that appears as an evidence for those who have it.

The etymological origin comes from medieval Latin intuitio and at the same time from intueri, to look at something or contemplate. If we take literally the etymology, it might be confused with perception, but while perception is related to the senses and how we identify and interpret the information through them, intuition is an inner process. Intuition is based on acquired knowledge and interconnection of ideas which might conduct without the interference of the reason and logic, to new knowledge or an idea that from the object experience might be seen as true or reasonable.

From a physiological perspective, the English expression gut feeling might relate directly with intuition, since there is a wide neuronal connection between the right hemisphere (related with the intuition) and the gut.

Intuition and lucidity, therefore, is also related to a mental state of lucidity and The intuitive thinking is

Intuition is a shortcut the brain takes to help make quick and precise decisions using past experiences, without consciously analyzing a situation. By gaining more experiences, an Individuals Intuitive abilities can be developed.

Intuition in biology

Despite the deceiving name, gut feelings don´t originate in your gut, but are rather a result of anxiety, fear or the knowledge of certainty that something is wrong. These feelings can trigger a response in the gut-brain connection causing stomach twinges, pain or nausea in the gut area, giving intuition the synonym ´gut feeling´ ( https://www.healthline.com/health/mental-health/trust-your-gut#causes Titel: Gut Feelings are real, but should you trust your gut? By Timothy J. Legg. PhD, PsyD, uploaded: January 27th 2021 to “Healthline” acquired 23.01.2022 at 17:26). Humans are not born with the ability to predict outcomes of situations based on nothing but instinctual intuition. The intuitive feeling grows and evolves with each individual as they gain life experience. Both conscious and subconscious memories can be recalled and help predict outcome based on these experiences. The usage of subconscious memories is an explanation for the seemingly ´out of nowhere´ appearance of the gut feeling, which also misleads the impression that Intuition is an instinctual tool caused by evolution.

Example of biological intuition

An example of biological intuition is the uneased feeling most people get, when hearing the results of a strong wind. Whether that be whistling, or an item being pushed across a table. Most people have negative associations with strong winds. Maybe something was broken by wind or even the slight loss of balance a person can experience in a storm can result in the human brain saving this experience as a danger in the subconscious mind, leading to intuitive disliking of strong winds.

Intuition in philosophy

“A new idea comes suddenly and in a rather intuitive way. But intuition is nothing but the outcome of earlier intellectual experience.” — Albert Einstein.
For Schopenhour intuition implies understanding, and in the end relates with perception, as he explains in the Perception of the Ideas Plato, Spinosa

Intuitive thinking

Intuition, in Philosophy is a meaningful tool as it allows you to obtain information and Knowledge, which cannot be acquired by observation or reason ( https://www.britannica.com/topic/intuition Titel: intuition by James W. Lomax uploaded: September 2nd 2021, acquired 23,01,2022 at 17:38 ). Intuition is an independent source of Knowledge. It takes Truths and moral principles into account which are especially relevant in Philosophical topics, and can as a result lead to a variation of conclusions dependent on the state of mind of the individual analyzing the Topic. Intuitive thinking is a Vital part of any Philosophers process and takes a strong influence in the result of his or her conclusion. As once said by famous Philosopher, mathematician and scientist Albert Einstein, “ the only real valuable thing is intuition”.

Intuition in psychology

The overlap between the biological and psychological approach is significant. Psychology obtains the realization that intuition is generated in subconsciousness, however, also changes its view on where intuition is used. Biology portrays intuition as a safety mechanism to keep out of harm’s way using previous experiences, whereas psychology interprets intuition as a trait which can positively influence all decision making ( https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/intuition Titel: Intuition by (anonymous), verified by Psychology Today, upload: unknown, acquired 23,01,2022 at 17:31 ).

Example of psychological intuition

An example of an experiment to prove the legitimacy of intuitive thinking is the following conducted by a team of Australian researchers. “21 participants were shown fields of moving dots. Most of the dots were moving chaotically, in random directions, but each image included a few dots moving purposefully toward either the left or the right -- a tiny bit of signal amid the noise. In each case, the participants were asked to name the direction of the motion as quickly and accurately as they could. As you might expect, it usually takes people a few moments to arrive at an answer, because they have to see enough dots moving in tandem for their brains to gather data and make a decision. To inject emotionally charged information into the brains of the participants without them knowing it, the researchers used a modified version of binocular rivalry, in which a person is shown two different images simultaneously -- one in each eye. Here, the researchers added a twist. They showed the participants two different images at once, and while one of the images always had an emotional connotation -- whether it was something positive, like flowers or puppies, or something negative, like a gun or a snake -- the other image would be something bright and eye-catching but emotionally neutral, like a nonsense pattern of shapes and colors. The person would see the emotionally charged and the emotionally neutral images at the same time, but the bright colors of the emotionally neutral image would always dominate their attention. In other words, they would only be aware of seeing the emotionally neutral image. They'd register the other one -- the one that carried an emotional association; the puppy or the snake or the flowers or the gun -- but only on a subconscious level.

And there was one final wrinkle: Unbeknownst to the participants, the researchers had made an arbitrary rule. Every time the correct answer for the moving dots was “to the right,” the researchers would flash a negative image. Every time the answer was “to the left,” they'd flash a positive image. And in time, the participants subconsciously picked up on this association and started using it as an extra piece of data when trying to identify the direction of the moving dots.” ( https://www.huffpost.com/entry/intuition-information-experiment_n_57508c3ce4b0eb20fa0d42b0 Titel: This Experiment suggests intuition is a real thing, uploaded June 6th 2016, acquired 23,01,2022 at 17:34) The Participants could never consciously see these images, but could begin to predict the direction of the dots more accurately and with more confidents without knowing why.

Intuition and paranoia

Intuition, as stated earlier is a developable personality trait which positively influences decision making. However, often perceived an intuition as it can have a similar and even identical effect on the human body is paranoia, a far more destructive trait. The main difference between intuition and paranoia is, that intuition does not allow an individual to create their own perception and acts as a guide in real situations. Whereas Paranoia encourages an individual to create their own perception based on exaggerated fears which disallow a person to see the truth ( https://www.differencebetween.com/difference-between-intuition-and-vs-paranoia/ Titel: Difference between intuition and Paranoia by “Admin” of Differencebetween.com, uploaded: April 5th 2016, acquired 23,01,2022 at 17:43 ).

Intuition and suspicion

A further emotional state which has more in common with intuition than paranoia, is suspicion. Suspicion is “the act […] of suspecting something wrong without proof or on slight evidence” ( https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/suspicion Titel: Suspicion by (Unknown) uploaded: unknown, acquired: 23,01,2022 at 17:50 ). Meaning suspicion is often a result of intuition and are usually used together. However, suspicion can also be a consequence of paranoia, and must not be justified by rational thinking or processing.

Intuition in religion

Ancient and current philosophy both conclude that human intuition has its roots in religion and spirituality, as a result of which, there are various meanings of the word dependent on which religion you choose to analyze.

Hinduism, for example, explains that intuition has two parts which allow the individual to accumulate knowledge by identifying aspects of life on a psychological plane (referred to in Sanskrit as “Mana”) The first part being the saving of psychologically significant experiences which is made possible by sensory information. This process is the mind seeking awareness of the external world. The second part is the act of a physical or psychological response to this awareness. This gives humans the awareness of their existence and enables emotions. ( https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intuition Titel: Intuition subtitel: Eastern Philosophy by username: Revirvlkodlaku Last edit: 25,01,2022 aquired 29,01,2022 at 21:50 )

Buddhism on the other hand explains intuition to be a faculty of immediate knowledge. It excludes the conscious mental state entirely. Buddhism claims intuition to be able to lead to a state of minor enlightenment, which can be further improved and developed by the use of certain techniques. In distinct parts of Zen Buddhism, “Intuition is deemed a mental state between the Universal mind and one´s individual, discriminating mind.” (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intuition Titel: Intuition subtitel: Eastern Philosophy by username: Revirvlkodlaku Last edit: 25,01,2022 aquired 29,01,2022 at 21:50)

The Islamic religion, as a final example, suggests intuition to be obtained knowledge of which there was no intention of acquiring it. Supposedly a mystical contemplation to enforce correct judgment. Intuition in an Islamic capacity can be described as knowledge based in intellectual certitude as opposed to regular knowledge which is obtained via imitation ( https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intuition Titel: Intuition subtitel: Western Philosophy by username: Revirvlkodlaku Last edit: 25,01,2022 aquired 29,01,2022 at 22:29 ).

Intuition in animals

Intuition does however not only characterize humans, but also animals. Animals rely heavily on intuition in order to survive. Humans have evolved over the years to rely less and less on there intuitive traits as they have not been as important for our survival for many centuries. This conception does however lead to mental illnesses in individuals such as Paranoia, as they are unsure whether they should act on their intuition, which over time can cause unreasoned and unjustified processing of information. This indecisiveness causes discomfort. Animals on the other hand do not go through the over analytic process of questioning their intuition, but rather act on gut feeling as their specific evolutionary history has not allowed them to adapt in the way it has allowed humans to adapt. An example of animal intuition would be the bond a specific human can have with an animal. An animal can intuitively reject a human it does not know in order to protect itself. But after a period of time of seeing a specific human in can intuitively feel more comfortable around him or her dependent on their behavior around the animal.

Intuition in Industry 4.0

Industry 4.0 also forces the further expansion of intuition and its research in the attempt to recreate it and place it in artificially intelligent systems. Also known as A.I. However, the fact that authentic intuition is a subconscious act, implies that artificial systems are not able to achieve this, as they are (as of now) intentionally programmed meaning they would intentionally scan and save experiences and recall them at a later point, but is this intuition?

As per definition this does not qualify as intuition however the only difference between artificial and authentic intuition is the awareness of the system or programmer of its intentions. The other qualities of intuition are transferred directly and allow the system to learn from itself and use all definitions of intuition, whether biological; to protect itself, psychological; to positively influence decision making, or even religious; to become aware of its existence. Intuition is a critical part of the evolution of Artificially Intelligent systems and are already in extensive use. An example of this would be the steps taken by the autonomous automotive scene. For example, the self-driving function of a modern Tesla, greatly uses an intuitive ability. A modern Tesla will/can record driving experiences and will save these in a collective hub. These can then be used to improve the systems self-driving capability but are as of yet not entirely autonomous. This is not a technological limit, but rather a legal parameter demanded by law as the technology is new and not trusted by many. Within the next years, the immense strides taken by this field will become apparent.

Many people however do not wish to give up their own intuitive thinking, which would be an inevitable result of Artificial Intelligence. People do not trust a System as it cannot properly take morals into account, which is arguably the single trait which separates humans from machines. Others imply that this makes machines superior, as it is more efficient. A popular example of this is again, one from the self-driving automotive systems, and goes as follows. ´A car approaches a cross-section, and there are two individuals crossing the street. On the left, a young girl and on the right and elderly lady. A crash is inevitable. ´ Which direction should the car take? This extreme and traumatic dilemma helps understand the distrust in such systems, as humans would like to think they would have a better chance of getting out of the situation without harming anyone, or at the very least would like to be in control during a situation like this.

Characteristic of personality

Intuition is one of the eight characteristics of personality that appears in the MBTI (Myers–Briggs Type Indicator) published in 1968 by Isabel Briggs Myers and Katharine Cook Briggs, and in the test is in opposition to sense. Intuition is related to vision, imaging, creativity, abstract, and future, while sensing is focused on the experiencing, past, present, and facts.

Intuition and acting

The information velocity has increased in the 21st century. As a consequence, decisions and acting have to be taken quickly enough to overcome the circumstances. Against intuition can be first seen as a non-valid form of taking decisions, it is not only valid since it is based on experience, but also helps to avoid completely analytical thinking, which might conduct to overthinking and even to non-action. If you are in an urgent and sudden situation, a quick response such as turning the wheels to the right if a car is going to bump from your left can help you to survive. Nevertheless, if an important decision has to be taken, implying multiple variables and no quick reactions, an exercise of profound thinking and analysis will deliver better responses.
We should also keep in mind that intuitive thinking, related to the subconscious and cognitive thinking, can constantly fall into cognitive bias, which might be an obstacle for decision making. That is the reason why is important to reflect on the way we think and act, at the same time we constantly look for experiencing and acquiring new knowledge.
The difference between acting deliberately and based on intuition is that acting deliberately does not imply thinking ethically and coherently with your own values.