Intuitive thinking is a type of thinking and a decision-making process that relies on instinctive understanding and feeling. It’s often used to make quick decisions or solve problems. Intuitive thinkers usually don’t need a lot of information or conscious reasoning to come to a conclusion – they just know. This can make intuitive thinking very helpful in fast-paced, stressful situations. However, because it’s based on feelings and instincts, intuition can lead you astray.
So how do you know when to rely on your intuition and when to ignore it? Whether you’re an artist, scientist, or entrepreneur working on a new project, intuitive thinking can help you develop ideas. To get the most out of this process, you need to understand what it’s and how it works.
What Is Intuitive Thinking?
Intuitive thinking is the ability to form an opinion or make a decision without thinking consciously or engaging in a process of analytical thinking. This is often because the person making the decision has experience in the field and their subconscious mind processes information so well that it makes decisions based on patterns rather than knowledge.
Intuitive thinking is a process characterized by the rapid generation of ideas that aren’t necessarily based on logical thinking, reasoning or rational decision making. This process can occur within seconds or minutes. Such a thinking process allows for the production of ideas based on past experiences and emotions.
Intuitive thinking contrasts with rational thinking processes that rely on logic and reasoning to make decisions. In rational thinking, information is broken down into smaller parts before logic is used to draw a conclusion or make a decision.
Defining Intuition
Intuition can be defined as “a sense of how something will turn out.” It’s related to insight and even creativity. Sometimes people call it their “sixth sense.”
The author of the wonderful book Thinking Fast, Thinking Slow Daniel Kahneman says that “intuition is thinking that you know without knowing why you do.”
When we talk about intuitive thinking, we mean someone who just “knows” what to do without consciously working out a solution. It’s almost as if the person has an instinct or hunch that tells them what to do, or they just feel like they know what they’re doing. This feeling comes from past experience and knowledge, which is very useful when you need information quickly.
Intuition can be based on our mental model of the world – a kind of pattern matching exercise. It usually comes from within and isn’t something forced on us by the outside world. Intuition has to do with our subconscious mind and we usually come to it without being aware of exactly how we arrived at it. It works best when put to work in a regular and familiar situation, for example playing chess at a high level.
It’s important to remember that an “intuitive idea” isn’t necessarily “the truth” – although it sometimes contains deep wisdom!
Disregarding Rules
Intuitive thinking means looking at solutions from a different angle or considering ideas that wouldn’t normally occur to you.
You can use your intuitive mind to aid your creative thinking, make better decisions, and solve problems in a more efficient way.
People who think intuitively have one thing in particular in common: they look at situations in new ways and tend to disregard rules that don’t apply to a particular scenario. This doesn’t mean they don’t try to find patterns or order in things; it just means they’re more open to what drives their decisions and behavior.
If you want to learn how to harness this kind of thinking, look for occasions in your daily life when things don’t go as planned – or when you feel completely stuck. When you encounter these challenges or obstacles, take a step back and try intuitive thinking.
Intuition Is a Natural Part of Human Beings and the Way They Make Decisions
It can help people find the best path in a difficult situation.
Intuition isn’t the same as instinct, which makes animals act without thinking. People who think intuitively make decisions based on emotion and logic. They can very rapidly discern the best course of action in a difficult situation and often have a deep understanding of other people’s motivations, feelings, and actions.
Unlike rational thinking, which is based on logic and reasoning, intuitive thinking is more of a gut reaction. It’s the immediate impression you’ve of something or someone. To make intuitive decisions, you simply need to listen to your gut-but there are some important things to keep in mind:
Your intuition can be strengthened through experience; if you’re early in your career or new to a field of study, you may need more time to develop your skills.
Even if you don’t want your emotions to influence your decisions, it’s unlikely that they won’t have at least some influence on your actions. That doesn’t mean you should ignore them completely – many intuitive people rely on their feelings rather than an analytical approach to their decisions – but it does mean that it’s important for these people to understand their emotions and how those emotions might be influencing their thought processes before proceeding with a plan of action.
In other words, it helps to have a moment of reflection after the intuitive thought arrives.
The Process of Intuitive Thinking
Intuitive thinking is a natural, automatic process. It often takes place in the subconscious mind and is something that many people do on a daily basis. If you’ve ever had a gut feeling about something or someone, or found the solution to a problem by simply letting your mind wander, you’ve probably done some intuitive thinking.
Intuitive thinkers tend to be more interested in the big picture than the details, and they don’t necessarily always follow the rules. Rather, they may feel drawn to make up their own rules based on what feels right to them at that moment.
And because intuition is often linked to creativity, an intuitive person who’s made a decision based on their gut feeling is usually able to find other solutions or alternatives when those decisions don’t turn out exactly as planned.
Intuitive thinking can also help develop a person’s emotional intelligence (EI). Emotional intelligence means recognizing and understanding your own emotions and being able to empathize with the emotions of those around you.
So an intuitive person can have high emotional intelligence if they make decisions based on their gut feelings and take other people’s emotions into account when acting on those decisions- for example, deciding not to order that third glass of wine at dinner so they can stay sane and help their friend get home safely later!
Intuitive Thinking Advantages
The benefits of intuitive thinking are as follows:
- It’s fast. You don’t have to make calculations or compare alternatives. Intuitive thinking often comes from experience, so there’s nothing to think about.
- It’s natural. When you make a decision based on your intuition, it feels right. For example, when you choose an outfit that looks good on you, it’s because the clothes fit your style and body type, and the choice feels like second nature.
- It allows for creativity.
- It can facilitate strategic thinking and strategic decision-making.
Intuitive Thinking Disadvantages
While intuitive thinking is an important part of problem-solving, it can lead to mistakes when it comes to fact-based situations. People with an intuitive thinking style tend to be less efficient at making decisions and often suffer from cognitive biases.
There are several disadvantages of intuitive thinking, including:
Poor Decision Making
Intuitive thinkers are more prone to making poor decisions and mistakes when they let their intuition guide them instead of considering all options and thinking things through logically. Especially in unfamiliar or rapidly changing environments, for example, stock market trading.
Confirmation Bias
People who rely on their intuition may form an opinion or conclusion early on and then look only for information that confirms those conclusions. As a result, they may miss important information that would change their opinions or conclusions.
Errors in Fact-based Situations
Intuition isn’t always reliable in decision-making because relying only on this skill makes it more likely that people will make mistakes. Finding the right answer often requires thinking through the available facts rather than relying on your first gut feeling.
The Science Behind Intuitive Thinking
There are theories that intuitive thinking is a reaction to stress.
Under pressure, you don’t have time to consciously analyze the situation and make a rational decision. Instead, your subconscious mind takes control and relies on past experiences and feelings to come up with a solution. While this is often the quickest way to find an answer, it may not be the most accurate.
Intuitive thinking is an unconscious process, which makes it fast, but also unreliable. Your subconscious picks up seemingly insignificant details that you don’t consciously notice – like body language or tone of voice – and uses them to form an opinion about what’s going on around you without needing evidence.
Gut Instinct
Scientists have found that our gut feelings are the result of a complex network of neurons and neurotransmitters in our digestive tract. This network called the enteric nervous system and nicknamed “the second brain”, quickly to external stimuli. It is extremely susceptible to stress.
Our gut doesn’t dawdle: it feels and communicates incredibly rapidly.
This speed and efficiency have an advantage and a disadvantage. Gut instinct is quick and easy – but it’s not always right. It’s useful when you need to make quick decisions, but you’ll have a lot more information at your fingertips if you just hold off long enough to figure out what your gut is telling you in a given situation before you act.
Intuitive Thinking Can Be Helpful in Many Situations
Intuitive thinking can be helpful in many situations, such as when you’ve limited information, when you find yourself in an emergency situation, or when you need to make a decision quickly.
For example, if you’re without power at 3 a.m. and the wind is howling around your house, that’s not the time to investigate or think. It’s time to get up and check on your kids before deciding whether to wake them up and take them to the basement (and then possibly to your car if a tornado hits). This is an intuitive response.
Another example: If you’re hiking alone and notice that all the animals are running away from you, that may be a sign that something dangerous is approaching – like a cougar or a bear. Your intuitive feeling may be telling you to run away, too, because your intuitive sense is telling you to. Animals don’t stay still when there’s no danger nearby – so it would be wise to listen to your pure intuition in this situation!
How Does Everyone Do It?
Not everyone is born with the same intuitive abilities, but everyone is gifted with their own type of intuition.
The most common types are pattern, logic, and social intuition.
- Pattern recognition is the ability to see something and fill in the gaps that are missing due to previous experience or knowledge.
- Logical intuition is the ability to come up with a new idea or thought through logical thinking; for example, I figured out how to solve a math problem because I applied my prior knowledge of these types of equations to that question.
- And then there’s social intuition: a natural understanding of people and why they do what they do. This kind of intuition is beneficial in any field because it gives you insights into human behavior that help you work with people in general.
How to Become an Intuitive Thinker
To make intuitive decisions, you need to be able to weigh the situation in front of you. You must weigh how it’ll affect you, your business, and your environment. You need to look at the past, present, and future to understand what’s happened and what could happen.
Your experience can help you make an intuitive decision. Prior experiences are already stored in our brains and can help us figure out what to do next while understanding why we feel that way.
To access your intuition, trust your instinct and follow your gut. The craving or desire you feel is often the result of an unconscious threat or deficiency in your body or mind that requires your attention.
It’s also important to be aware of the risks involved in any action and to be prepared for mistakes. Since there’s no perfect path to guide us at all times, we’re bound to make mistakes throughout our lives that lead us down different paths than we originally intended – these mistakes are simply learning experiences that help us develop our character and shape our brains into more powerful thinking machines.
Tips for Developing Your Intuition
- Developing your intuition is a skill you can practice and improve. Meditation will help a lot.
- Consider the context when you make a decision.
- Free yourself from analysis paralysis and choose what feels right. Then assess whether you made the right choice as soon after the decision as possible.
- Use your intuition in a way that makes sense for you and the situation.
- Use your intuition to check your work.
Can Emotions Help?
The role of emotions in intuition is important. Emotions can be a source of information, and they also motivate people to pursue that information. You can use the power of emotions to support your intuitive thinking.
Often we’re more familiar with negative emotions than positive ones because it’s human nature to focus on problems rather than solutions. However, there are many other positive emotional states that provide valuable information besides happiness or contentment.
In Summary
Intuitive decision-making is a natural part of you and your way of making decisions. Intuition can help you find the best path in difficult situations and keep you from making unnecessary mistakes. Intuitive thinking is a combination of experience, emotion, and subconscious processing that allows people to trust their instincts about what’s right for them.
How Intuitive Are You?
Intuitive thinkers have a lot of knowledge and information stored in their brains. When confronted with a new situation, they can draw on their past experiences. They trust their “gut feeling” to tell them what’s right or wrong, good or bad.
Being intuitive means using this automatic way of thinking rather than the analytical, slow way of thinking.
So how intuitive are you? You probably use both kinds of thinking – analytical and intuitive – in different situations in your life. But maybe there are times when you want to rely less on logic and more on your gut.