Why isn't Intuition more widely known?

[Quinlan]

If 1 in 4 people are Intuitives as some people here claim, why isn't intuition discussed more often? Before finding out about MBTI the only reference I really heard about intuition was in regards to "woman's intuition". I think it would come as a huge surprise to a lot of people that "intuition" is such an important part of so many people.

Is sensing so dominant that people are afraid to discuss their intuition?

Maybe I'm making no sense but I'll post anyway.

 

[nanook]

there are many definitions of the word (but only one is commonly known, see wikipedia, "going from A to C without going through B"). i would not even like to be associated with "intuition" as it is commonly understood. people would ask me to perform tricks, to prove it, like a circus monkey or magician or whatever

"can you find the murderer, if i show you the photo of a dead body?"

 

[SilentStream]

Since learning about MBTI I've suddenly become aware of when the word intuition crops up when I'm reading or even just the idea of intuition. I've actually realised that it is suprisingly common in more academic literature, especially books with a philosophical bent or books about education theories. I've noticed it especially in Science philosophy; empirical methods versus theoretical methods etc.

 

[Apollanaut]

Actually, when you begin to look for it you find references to it everywhere, from publications like "New Scientist", to popular TV shows, especially the large number of forensic/legal shows on at present. I was watching "Relocation, Relocation" (a show about buying property) just a few days ago and one of the presenters talked about her intuition about the behaviour of some prospective purchasers, which turned out to be 100% accurate.

They don't always use the term "intuition". Synonyms include "hunch", "instinct" or "gut feeling", but they usually mean the same thing: a personal convinction that something is missing, incorrect or misleading in the data being presented as "facts".

 

[Quinlan]

Another idea, perhaps being a Sensor I'm naturally drawn away from topics/things with an intuitive bent, or less likely to acknowledge them.

Interesting.

 

[ptgatsby]

Another idea, perhaps being a Sensor I'm naturally drawn away from topics/things with an intuitive bent, or less likely to acknowledge them.

Interesting.

A good question is - how do you really hear about "sensing" in the same sense that you mean intuition. I mean, lots of things "touch" on the overall concepts involved. Both good and bad aspects of each too.

To me, it's a question of how we slice the concepts. Is "Blink" an example of intuition at work? (broad or MBTI definition)

 

[Quinlan]

Sensing is the default of course and requires no explanation.

 

[Costrin]

As others have said, it's actually discussed quite a bit, and learning about MBTI has only increased my notice of it. On the other hand, many of the definitions for intuition out there, are just plain wrong.

 

[PeaceBaby]

Is sensing so dominant that people are afraid to discuss their intuition?

It's an excellent question. I very seldom discuss my intuitions. Why?

1.) People think you're a bit wacky when you share these thoughts, or feel a bit creeped out that you can tell so much about them without really knowing them.

2.) Even if I sense I am right, they are generally not verifiable by data I can readily point to in order to validate my intuitions.

3.) And thus, I can't be 100% certain any given intuition is accurate. Others don't necessarily want to hear about "hunches" or "insights" - they want "facts". (As if the facts are more reliable LOL!)

Personally, I think the percentage of intuitives is even lower than 1 in 4, but that's just a hunch.

 

[ptgatsby]

Personally, I think the percentage of intuitives is even lower than 1 in 4, but that's just a hunch.

I have to say it... I have to...

It's a bit higher

 

[PeaceBaby]

Nope. I don't sense it.

 

[Rangler]

When I heard the word "intuition" I always thought they meant "psychic intuition". Haha. I went to a psychic once, she told me I was strong psychically. Not really sure what that means. I can't read minds or anything cool. Haha.

 

[Costrin]

When I heard the word "intuition" I always thought they meant "psychic intuition". Haha. I went to a psychic once, she told me I was strong psychically. Not really sure what that means. I can't read minds or anything cool. Haha.

If I had any superpower, it would definitely be telepathy. Typology makes a poor substitute.

 

[BlackCat]

Peacebaby pretty much described everything for me.

 

[Nadir]

It's not a matter of it being "known", it's a matter of it being "blown out of proportion." Everyone knows about intuition, because everyone has it to some degree, and more importantly it can be worked on and improved. However, most people don't need something like MBTI to validate the hell out of themselves.

 

[wolfy]

This is not in the MBTI sense of the word but I've read a bit about intuition. It's largely misunderstood. That's why it's not talked about.

Here are a couple of links...
Fast Company
What's Your Intuition?
By: Bill BreenWed Dec 19, 2007 at 12:17 AM
Cognitive psychologist Gary Klein has studied people who make do-or-die decisions. His advice? Forget analysis paralysis. Trust your instincts.


Sources of Power: How People Make Decisions

Amazon.com Review
Gary Klein studies decision-making in the field, tagging along with firefighters, standing by in intensive-care units, and watching chess masters play lightning-fast "blitz" games to learn how people make choices with time constraints, limited information, and changing goals. From this research, he and his associates have developed a theory of "naturalistic decision-making."

Sources of Power essentially lends the validity of scientific research to techniques that many of us use every day. There's intuition, which is based not on instantaneous insight but on the rapid (perhaps even subconscious) interpretation of perceptual cues. There's mental simulation, a finely honed method of visualization. There's storytelling and metaphor, which enable decision-makers to devise meaningful frameworks and compare their present situations to previous events. Nobody is born with an inherent mastery of these and other techniques, Klein tells us, but we are all born with the capability to develop, through experience, the skill sets experts call upon to make good decisions. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

 

[maerzhase]

I don’t think it is correct when people talk about intuition as if it was something mystical. I think it has to do with the way our brain moves data that it has perceived unconsciously to our consciousness. I think with intuition you are just more likely to access data that your mind has not made sense of, because it could not connect it to data in your brain that are already evaluated knowledge. Intuition is a process in our brain that we use to skim through a lot of disconnected data and searching for patterns. That is also why introverted intuitives are more likely to use metaphor because they are just like these patterns they perceive.

I have noticed that sensors tend to focus on real problems and concrete needs whereas intuitive are more interested to focus on possible developments. One case to illustrate it: I am using a dominant Ni. I was doing some really boring legal work together with a colleague who was a strong extroverted sensor. We shared the same desk. We had to go through a lot of cases full of details that I just did not enjoy taking in. I had to ask my colleague a lot of question because I was a newbie. I tended to ask question that made me interested in the work and went above what I was actually reading in that file. So I asked him once whether the case should have been decided different if the person concerned was married to a student or a pensioner. I remember him looking up with a very odd look and than telling me: “Why do you ask this, it has nothing to do with the case. It does not solve it.”
Of course it did not help me to solve the case at hand. However I think that asking this question was not wrong either. I may not have had this problem at the time, but I could envision it arising in future. This is what I have noticed many time in my interaction with sensors and intuitive. Intuitive seem to be more interested to think up scenarios that haven’t actually happened. This is also why I sometimes get frustrated when dealing with sensor colleague. They tend to only acknowledge existing problems and can be blind to future developments.

 

[simulatedworld]

Most people aren't thinking of iNtuition in the Jungian sense when they use or hear that word. iNtuition is really just subconscious awareness of patterns, forms and connections before they've been able to form fully in conscious awareness--we just know something, without really being sure why. Card metaphor because I'm a gambling junkie: When everything your opponent does in a hand of poker gives you a seemingly inexplicable "gut feeling" that he's bluffing, there's often something to it, and it comes from experience manifesting itself in terms of subconscious awareness of patterns of cause and effect. "I just know he's bluffing" is iNtuition.

The problem is, most people think iNtuition is psychic reading. "I just know the next random card from the deck will be an 8!" is not iNtuition; it's bullshit. This is basically the difference between typology and astrology, but most people neither know nor care enough to understand the difference.

 

[maerzhase]

iNtuition is really just subconscious awareness of patterns, forms and connections before they've been able to form fully in conscious awareness--we just know something, without really being sure why.

...there's often something to it, and it comes from experience manifesting itself in terms of subconscious awareness of patterns of cause and effect. "

Absolutely right!!!! I am not a prophet. I just make better use of subconscious data by finding patterns before they make sense to me.

 

[maerzhase]

Neurophilosophy : The neurological basis of intuition

An article about a scientific study on intuition. Intuition = implicit memory.