Discarding Explanations that are Intuitively Appealing
Intuitively appealing explanations are those explanations that are reasoned out using one’s instincts instead of using conscious logic. Human beings are usually confused by intuition because it may act against them or in their favor. In most cases, intuition tends to be correct, but total reliance in intuition should be avoided or made minimal. This means that intuitively appealing explanations should be discarded if they cause confusion in humans. Additionally, in order to discard these explanations, once should put into consideration the feelings, logic, rationale, insight, and methods of acquiring knowledge. For instance, a person will use the mineral content of a product to give an explanation as to why they tend to consume a product excessively. This demonstrates that it is an intuitively appealing explanation. The few benefits of consuming a product may be overshadowed by the negative effects that a product contains. This gives room for the intuitively appealing explanation about mineral contents to be discarded (Barrett, 2011).
For instance, many people justify their consumption of marijuana by arguing out that marijuana cures cancer, which is a benefit. On the other hand, marijuana is addictive, may cause impaired judgment, and in extreme cases may cause insanity. The benefit is overshadowed by the negative; hence, the explanation in support of consumption of marijuana is discarded. This also proves that explanations that are intuitively appealing are false and are to be discarded (McTaggart, 2008).
In some cases, it is not advisable to discard explanations that are intuitively appealing .this is because they may have some truth. In the marijuana example above, it may be medically true that marijuana is used to cure cancer in humans. That fact should not be discarded because there is no evidence to prove that it is false. For people who consume marijuana medically, their explanation about marijuana use, even though intuitively appealing, should not be discarded. In this case, intuition is true. Facts prove that intuition goes hand in hand with reason and is not an opponent of reason. This means if statements are intuitively appealing but are affirmed by a reason these statements should not be discarded. Very much documentation in today’s world is based on intuition, but since they have a supporting reason, they are not discarded. A clear example is given by how the world came into existence (Wilde, 2000).
The scientists say that, in the evolution of man, man came from an ape, changed through cycles called evolution until he became man. The scientists have enough prove for their allegations, which include skulls that were collected, from Africa, which existed during different centuries. This is an intuition, but since it contains reason, it cannot be discarded. On the other hand, Christians believe in that God created man and the whole world. They say that the earth is too complex to be created by fate. However, God as a mystical being existed in order to create it. Christians believe that God created the earth within seven days, systematically as it is demonstrated in the bible. The Christians base their argument on reason, making the intuition not to be discarded. This two examples gain support from rational reasoning and no one can prove that they are false and they should not be discarded (Hoeflich, 2008).
Religion is one of the principal classes that must be acknowledged when dealing with this question. In order to cover this question, religion has to be a significant factor in once argument. For instance, when looking at Christianity, one cannot entirely state that the explanation is true other than applying intuition. A brilliant example is the Buddhists who believe that he meaning of life was discovered by a man known as Siddhartha Gautama, when an intuition hit him after he had experienced a hard life. Judging by the period that this happened, it becomes hard to find evidence that could show the truth in the statement. This means it might or might not have happened. This makes religion one of the most comprehendible intuitions known to operate (McTaggart, 2008).
Another most valuable thing that has been advocated for in the past when one is thinking of whether or not to discard explanations that are intuitively appealing is the importance one has to place on perception and the connection to the intuition. One of the questions that one has to ask is whether intuition if mixed with perception can be differentiated from intuitively mixed explanations (Barrett, 2011). For instance, when one on a daily bases witness the sun go up and set in the evening, it immediately causes one to believe that the sun will rise the next day and set. Using this example, it is valid to conclude that intuition while mixed with perception cannot be deemed redundant while deciding whether to listen to intuitive explanation or not.
Judging by the results of the previous example of whether intuition if mixed with perception can be differentiated from intuitively mixed explanations, one has to ask himself another question. Can emotion at any time influence sense perception? To answer his question one has to question whether this influence will allow one to disregarded explanations that are intuitively appealing. A study done in this question has shown that when one faith or belief is weakened by circumstances the individual becomes a more personate advocator of the belief. An outstanding example is when looking at Christians (Wilde, 2000).
When the Christian beliefs are tested and weakened, they tend to become more personate citing instances in the bible where faith prospered. This shows just how many emotions in this case influenced sense of perception. However, in order to prove this ideology correct without a doubt, another example will be examined. Fans are emotionally attached to their teams. An excellent example, soccer fans become emotionally attached to their teams that when a player makes a mistake, their emotions towards the player kick in, hence offering intuitively explanations in order to cover the mistakes. In this case, these explanations should be disregarded due to the emotional connection and sense of perceptions that the fans have towards the fan (Hoeflich, 2008).
Another question that is to be examined is what should one do if the explanation offered is not valid, or lacks some meaning, or it is incomplete? This question will be answered by use logic rather than intuition. For instance, for a long time there has been an argument on whether western way of living is better than the traditional way if living. This argument has been particularly heated up with the introduction of western medication. While the effects of western medication can be proved by examining the effects scientifically, it is extremely had to prove traditional medication. There are those who believe that traditional medications are more effective than western medication. This is due to the belief that they have conjured of there for fathers living a long healthy life without the uses of western medication (Wilde, 2000).
When this might be true, those who believe in western medication have brought up another argument. The argument is based on time having changed and the world having gotten more complicated hence the need of western medication. In this case, both arguments are true in their own ways. So the question remains what should one disregard as intuition and what should one listen to. While it is advisable to look scientifically on both the issues it is also advisable not to discard the tradition way of life since, at the end, both situations are true. Although the traditionalists depend on intuition, the argument presented in this case is logically correct and so should not be discarded as appealing to intuition (Barrett, 2011).
Conclusion
One general assessment that can be made regarding this topic is an intuitively appealing explanation should be disregarded, if it has no sound evidence that would supports it. However if, the intuitively appealing explanation as evidence that clearly without a doubt show its true one is advised not to discard it. Emotions should not be mixed with intuition because it blinds ones judgment. Usually it has been determined through arguments in this paper that intuitive explanations are mixed up with a sense of perception and motive (McTaggart, 2008). Intuitively appealing statements should not be discarded basing on the fact that they do not have any evidence that is related to science. This is clearly shown in the traditional medicine and the western types of medicine. When evidence, that support or, opposes an explanation is minimal, it should be retained but not discarded, as it is, in the case of the scientific evolution of man, and the story of how God created man and the whole world within seven days. To conclude, there must be a consideration of the feelings, logic, rationale, insight, and methods of acquiring knowledge in order to know when to discard intuitively appealing explanations (Hoeflich, 2008).
References
Barrett, Stephen. “Be Wary of Acupuncture, Qigong, and traditional Medicine”"Quackwatch. 12
Jan. 2011. Web. 26 May 2011
http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/acu.html
Hoeflich, C. (2008). What Everyone Believed: A Memoir of Intuition and Awakening. Between
Worlds Publishing.
McTaggart, L. (2008). The Intention Experiment. Free Press.
Wilde, S. (2000). The Sixth Sense: Including the Secrets of the Etheric Subtle Body. Hay House.
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