When is your intuition wrong?
Whenever the talk turns to intuition, no matter where it is or who it is with, this is the topic which unfailingly turns up sooner or later. You could be with friends or complete strangers. It doesn’t matter. At some point in time, they’ll ask about intuition being wrong.
Now, as intuition is not 100% accurate, and I have never claimed it to be, the easy ‘get out’ is simply to parrot this back at the questioner.
But that’s wrong. It’s a cop out. It’s not the truth, because it’s a valid question and it really is about the fears that some people have about intuition. And, if they have fears to begin with, then hearing about the fallibility of intuition is hardly going to make them feel at ease, is it?
So, how would you answer this? It’s worth thinking
My approach (and you are welcome to disagree with this) is as follows…
I point out that my intuition is rarely wrong, first of all. The biggest problem I have is in proving it right! Say I have a hunch to go via a particular route one day, a route which I don’t normally travel. I arrive on time at my destination and all is well. What can I point to that would convince anyone that I had done the right thing? Nothing!
Also, if the term ‘wrong’ is used, it is usually used in a blanket sense of there being only one bad wrong thing happening. But what if there were different degrees of ‘wrong ‘? The ‘wrong’ which happened to me might not have been the worst which could have happened. It could have been much worse (and probably would have been), but, like before, there’s no proof of that to offer.
And it all comes down to proof, doesn’t it? People want proof. The doubters and the disbelievers and the skeptics want proof. But what they don’t admit to is that having proof would necessarily make any difference to them at all. Because if they had proof, that would be like saying that the normal scientific method (proving a theory) is applicable to intuition as well….and it isn’t.
The only ‘proof’ I offer is my life. I live a better life because I use my intuition. Can I prove it to be so? Of course not. Nobody can. But what I can do, which is different from the vast majority who ask this question, is trust myself. By placing trust in myself, in my intuition, I live a life which is different from theirs. The quality of difference I cannot begin to evaluate, but then again, I don’t wish to.
Proof lies only in your actions, and they are based on trust in this nebulous and irrational aspect of being human…intuition.
Popularity: 35% [?]
Related posts
Filed under: general stuff, ideas, practical issues
NIgel
If someone asked me about my intuition I just tell them, who or what are you going to trust your intuition or another human being. That usually halts the conversation. I will trust my intuition over any other human being. Because theirs is only opinions and my intuition knows.
See ya
Carol
Hi Carol,
An interesting way of saying it! I think yours is the shorter way of saying what I said in the post! I like the fact that you put the question back at them. That makes them think about what they feel about intuition. Funnily enough, I don’t think there would be many people who would outright reject intuition in favor of someone else, even if they don’t use it much themselves. Probably because, deep down, they aren’t sure what their intuition really is or what it’s capable of, so they’re going to play it safe, just in case…..
Just goes to show…people are strange!