Intuition: Why Every Decision Doesn’t Need Proof

Growing up I always wanted to be superhero. We’re human right? We’re not supposed to have any type of superpowers, so that dream kind of dies in childhood. What if I told you we did have a superpower. A power that not a lot of people actually use. It’s called intuition.

I think the reason why is because making a decision is hard. I had my fair share of pro and con lists, not knowing which path I should take. There could be other times where you choose to please someone else instead of going with your gut. Making these types of decisions can be paralyzing, but I think that’s when intuition comes into play. Sometimes, it’s all we really need. We just don’t trust that hunch.

What is Intuition?

I believe before we can talk about how powerful intuition is, we must first know what it is. Intuition is non conscious emotional information. Instead of using information, logic, or analytics to make a decision, we use emotional information. We can also call this insight based on experience. That’s not to say we use one or the other. A combination of both is what makes intuition much more powerful.

There are three types of intuition including coherence and insight, implicit learning, and subjective intuitive abilities.

Coherence and insight – Knowing something without knowing the source of the knowledge.

Implicit learning – Not knowing that you know something

Subjective Intuitive Abilities – Thinking you know something

We have knowledge that we know, and knowledge that we don’t know we know. It all really comes down to awareness. Intuition can come from pattern matching. I would say a lot of my intuition comes from correlating patterns from my past and judging the present moment. Explicit knowledge is being aware of knowing what you know, whereas tacit knowledge is unconscious. The insights we get from our intuition come into the awareness of what we know, or what we think we know.

Sometimes intuition just happens. I think that’s what makes it scary. The thing is, deeply stored knowledge that just pops up into awareness may be better than a logical choice. If you have experience in a certain decision, you’re better to intuitively make a decision. Think about how a professional basketball player plays basketball. They don’t take a shot, or run a play because they have to logically think about it. They do it because they’ve practiced and have the expertise. We live in a world where everything has to be proven. In reality, intuition is expertise in disguise. Sometimes you just know what you know. There isn’t going to be a logical explanation to it. You’re not going to be able to provide the evidence that another person would want when giving the next million dollar idea.