Why Intuition Is More Than Just Psychobabble

I'm embarrassed to say I read Louise Hay's "You can heal your life" at times when I have a stiff neck, lower back pain, or sinus flare-up. Her book is full of body to emotion relationships with positive affirmations offered as a means to counter what she considers the underlying cause of many illness, negative thoughts and feelings. The feeling of embarrassment stems from my training in science and my respect for the rigors of science, for the power of an accumulation of empiric data to back up hypotheses in life. As far as I know there is no scientific data that can be used to support Hay's connections. Perhaps Louise Hay is right, perhaps she is wrong. Using science as a means of deciding cannot help at this point in time because there is no scientific research that has yet tested the specific mind-body relationships she puts forth.

There is a growing body of data supporting strong mind-body connections and studies over the next decade or two will likely yield great leaps in our understanding of them. But this post is not about Louis Hay, it is about the value of intuition vs. reason in gaining knowledge about the world. Louis Hay is an interesting example because her book is largely based on her first-person experiences with clients from her church and her intuition of mind-body connections. Despite the lack of scientific studies behind it, she has a massive number of followers around the world.

Intuition is, by definition, a non-rational means of knowing. In the world of science - a system based in reason - intuition is precluded as a viable means of knowing.

There is however a growing interest among scientists to better understand intuition, from the biological correlates of it to times when intuitive judgments may be valuable. In decision-making, problems solved by intuition, called 'insight', have revealed that specific neuroanatomical correlates (e.g. right temporal lobe) are involved. Other studies have shown times when intuitive decision-making is advantageous over reason (perhaps in cases with numerous decision points). And, scientists have long seen the value of intuition in moving their own field forward, how bursts of insight, so-called 'Aha!' moments often yield unforeseen and useful discoveries that at times lead to paradigm shifts. Jonas Salk, a scientist who valued intuition, once wrote "the intuitive mind tells the thinking mind where to look'.

For many years I closed my mind to intuition, thinking only science held the key to understanding. I now see intuition as crucial to humanity and attempt to keep an open mind to everything. In Western society, we have leaned so far toward reason that we have forgotten the value of intuition.

My interest in Hays is to illustrate the ease with which we shut the doors of intuition in the absence of science. I am pretty sure most of my scientist colleagues would discount her mind-body connections as speculative at best and 'new age psychobabble' at worst. Perhaps it is wise to remind ourselves to stay 'open' to ideas until they have been rigorously examined, to not shut doors of intuition until science has also played its part, to withhold judgment until exploration is complete.

I'm often struck by quick I am to judge an idea, while catching myself if I judge a person or place by its cover. But an idea seems to slip beneath by radar and I find I have closed a door too quickly time and time again. Reminding myself to pause and say nothing is the most valuable way to let ideas flow.

Perhaps if we were each to pause and consider how best to use both intuition and reason, and observe our relationships with ideas generated by the two, humanity would benefit in the process.

Comments

[MelissaVanRossum]

Thank you for this article! I appreciate your insights as well as your tolerance of things not quite familiar. As an intuitive, I've long been fascinated with others' fearful response to the concept of intuition. It seems to be rooted in the fact that this is something they don't quite understand - ultimately about themselves.

Intuition is not a gift reserved for a select few, it is an ability within us all that waits to be employed. It is the bridge between the subconscious and the conscious. It is the internal guidance system within each of us that simply ignites a new level of our awareness, helping us to make better decisions and live happier, more successful lives.

[wietog]

Every new discovery in the scientific realm explains something previously misunderstood. What if there are other levels of communication going on - other waves or vibrations or signals? Maybe coincidences or the connectionx between people, their bodies and minds, and intuition are simply not yet clarified by hard scientific discovery? Perhaps psychics, mediums and the like have tapped into these different ways to communicate. There are definitely more than 5 or 6 senses...

[Alford Vassall]

Very interesting post. It is interesting to see the takes on hard science and intuition. It reality there is no separation between them. How? Do you think this is possible? It really has to do with Quantum Mechanics. This is the physicis that has provided us with LED's and other things we associate with hard science. But, at the base of it there is a consciousness based reality. This allows the reality to be observer created. That is, in the absence of an observer, no reality. This leads to the Von Neuman statement "Actuality is mathematically impossible". If we accept the LED's as hard science so we must accept the conciousnesss based reality which leads to the conclusion that "your hard science is no different than your intuition". Both are based on your belief in your observation. The act of measuring an event or an object is a confirmation of your belief and interaction. The act of measuring with your intuition or another non-local state is no less a product of your belief than is your measuring the electrical current in the wire, which you actually measure by effect and not by actual observation. For further discussion please see www.thehealingattribute.com or www.appliedquantummechanics.com

[Chaimirija]

It is really just divergent thinking. Convergent thinking has its place, but, we will never know all the facts for most situations. Einstein had a great quote about this, “Linear thinking is the slave and intuition is the gift; society honors the slave and ignores the gift".

The 'hard sciences" are all about empircal evidence. Empirical experience is based on our senses. If you are seeking truth, you had better be using formal logic. For all we know, those algorithms are hard wired at a sub-level we are not always aware of.

[naturalcynic]

Las Vegas was built on gambler's intuitions.

How many actual intuitions do not pan out? One forgets those and remembers the successes. What we might consider to be some intuitions, especially those that turn out to be correct might not be outside the realm of reason. What we might be considered as intuition is a reasoning process that precedes our conscious detection.

[Eli Davidson - Huffpost Blogger]

Dear Susan,
Thank you for the courage and insight of your post! As an executive coach and speaker, I am finding a trend of business leaders being more open to their intuition if I "package" it as "Intuitive Thinking." I have never had an audience go blank when I asked them to remember a time of Intuitive Thinking.

Thanks again!
I will be sharing your great information with my readers. They will so appreciate your perspective!
Eli Davidson

[zizyphus]

What is the seat of intuition? Knowingness seems to come from the gut. Gut instincts. An instant or certain awareness of events. Am I right?

[Thenewyorkdollley]

Of course our body effects our mind - our body and mind are the same thing. The ancient idea that there is some sort of separation between the two, some ghost in the machine, is being demolished by researchers as we speak. Pointing this out is like saying there's an arm-elbow connection as if it's something revelatory.

Intuition is an exceptionally useful tool by which your brain quickly summarizes your past experience and presents what it considers a correct choice to you as a feeling or hunch. It can be wrong, and has been spectacularly wrong for me in the past. Still, it's a good place to start, and often the best tool available when quick decisions must be made.

[Dap]

Exactly... it goes to our basic instinct, our emotional memory and the hippocampus area of our brains connected in a deeper sense to our fight and flight response. This creates neurochemical releases (like dopamine ) that raise other chemical releases such as adrenaline and cortisol.

[doug108]

I agree mainly with this. Except that our intuition still has to be subjected to reason and cold hard facts. Intuition may tell our thinking minds where to look, but it shouldn't be a substitute for thinking clearly, or an exception to the time honored practice of testing our ideas against the real world.

People's minds can be fooled. I think that science, for the most part, is an organized attempt to minimize our gullibility. Still, I'm all for letting the mind freewheel.

For a really interesting account of intuition, check out Malcolm Gladwell's book Blink. He argues that there's a lot of thinking that goes on underneath our flashes of inspiration. Our brains are always comparing and sorting and figuring, letting us in on the game every now and then in the form of a novel idea or perspective.

[DiogenesOfAlaska]

Even in science, there's nothing wrong with using intuition to arrive at insights, hypotheses, questions etc. It's only when the raw materials are condensed that rigor must be employed. There's nothing in the scientific method that tells you where to get your questions and hypotheses and subject matters from. And if intuition does that for you, there's nothing wrong with it, even if it were psychobabble. Surely neurons firing aren't much better than pychobabbles for a long time until they make up a valid and scientific idea. And no matter what science finds out about it, it's pretty certain that the origins of even the cutest ideas are pretty ordinary - or is there much genius in neurons firing?

[hayness]

There is so much of the brain that we barely understand the workings of at present. Our brains are working on many different levels, absorbing information and processing it. They are constantly influencing our lives and decisions on an unconscious basis that we are completely unaware of. "We" are just along for the ride most of the time.

So the fact that our brains feed us information through what we call "intuition" doesn't involve something woo-woo. Nor does the fact that our thoughts affect our body involve anything supernatural. It's simply that the brain needs much more research to get to a real understanding of what's going on in there.

Isn't it interesting that the only real way to know anything for sure about the intuition is the scientific method. :-)

[starskeptic]

Intuition is simply the efficient use of the 5 senses everyone has--there's nothing mystical or non rational about it...

[Dap]

)))))))))))))))) BINGO (((((((((((((((((

Absolutely, Dr. Smalley has framed a dilemma that does not exist, born of antiquated philosophical constructs.

[BobLablah]

I knew you were going to say that.