Intuition is the inner power of an individual that helps to connect with the environment (Osho, 1). However, there are the biological, social and scientific explanations that drive humans to ignore their intuitions, even in instances where the intuition could be actually correct. It is therefore important for individuals to understand what intuition is, and have the ability to differentiate it from wishful thinking, as the two can be really confusing. At times intuition can be wrong, just as it is occasionally correct. It would therefore be an act of undermining the inborn roots of knowledge to just ignore intuition at all costs. Floyd and Arvidson (5)) indicate that intuition is a form of an inner eye which sees the things that cannot be explained by pure logic. It separates knowledge from knowing. Scientific studies go for knowledge, explaining concepts from the practical point of view (Bunge, 34). However, intuition is kind of a premonition, a prediction that something might happen.
There are instances when intuition has positive outcomes, and therefore should not be ignored. Hogarth (9) indicates that there are some hypothetical situations which call for a no-deliberate action. For instance, when an individual is pierced by a thorn while walking on bare feet, the pain he experiences acts as a reminder. Therefore, the next time the individual is out walking, he will be cautious to have his feet protected. This is an aspect of positive intuition. Ultra-mind (1) also airs the same view. It indicates that there are some instances when the people don’t have to communicate through the verbal method. Rather, by use of intuition, they can pass volumes of information. Intuition therefore acts as a guide in making of decisions. This can be seen in the case of a girl who uses remote viewing to influence a surgeon to go re-check his work and correct a mistake, or a schoolteacher who uses remote projection to convince teenagers that it pays more being good than being bad. These instances show that intuition is a reality, not a creation of the mind.
The wrong use of intuition can at times lead to the making of the wrong decision, and these are the instances where these explanations should be shunned. One of such areas is in relationships, where an individual experiences a break-up due to the infidelity of the partner. Moore (23) indicates that man is a social creature, and therefore will always seek to be in company of other people. He further comments that there is the possibility f infidelity in every relationship or marriage. If an individual breaks from one relationship, there is a possibility to be reserved before getting into another due to the fear that the new partner could as well be a cheater. Well, in as much as the fear may be justified, it is necessary to shun it and continue with life, since an individual’s life cannot be governed by fears. Based on the five common senses, the educational knowledge and the rational nature of the human mind, an individual should be in a position to know what intuitions to follow and which ones to brush off.
Another area where intuitive explanations need to be shunned is in the case of stereotyping. Fergusson (112) argues that human beings tend to rate occurrences and events on the basis of probability. They therefore have significance levels determining the probability of occurrence. There is the probability that certain occurrence is associated with a particular people or a particular culture. The people therefore form a stereotyped mind about that particular group. If the perception about the particular people is positive, then there won’t be much of a problem. However, there are instances where the stereotype is negative. For instance, there is the belief that the African Americans are violent people. Therefore, an individual brought up n the neighborhood of an African American occupancy may have the fear to go into the place or interact with the inhabitants for fear of being roughed up. However, this intuition is just brought about by a mindset and the assumptions are not true. Such an explanation may seem as logical and valid, but it should nevertheless be disregarded since the ethnic prejudices are just seeds of discord built on the baseless foundation of discrimination.
Another area where these intuitions should be avoided is in the case of law enforcement. The law enforcement officers should be quite careful as they deal with the cosmopolitan community, since there are a lot of beliefs about the different peoples (Bunge, 131). The officers are of course brought up in environments where there are myths and beliefs circulating, and it is probable that they have pre-conceived ideas about certain people, such as the belief that Hispanics are notorious with drug trafficking. In the course of duty, the officers also apply some techniques such as police profiling to deal with the various crimes. Due to these beliefs and the pre-conceived minds, the officers are likely to act out of intuition and profile the Hispanics as the lead suspects in drug trafficking, consequently, the Hispanic citizens would be subjected to more scrutiny during patrols and they would probably constitute a larger percentage of all prosecutions. This intuitive act should be discouraged since it can lead to the discrimination of one group, whereas the real culprits remain at large.
Even though the above paragraphs cite instances where intuition can be wrong, it should be noted that it is not always that the deep feelings or convictions are always wrong. At times they can be downright correct and even help an individual make some life saving decisions. Take for instance the case of Floyd (xii). He sits on a chair and watches his daughter go down with a fever that keeps rising. He thinks that the girl is having another fever since she had just recovered from another bout of fever. However, his intuition tells him that the girl could be suffering from scarlet fever, and he goes through the encyclopedia looking for its signs. With his diagnoses, he calls the hospital and books an immediate appointment. As it turns out, the girl actually had scarlet fever. Well then, on such conditions, it is undeniable that intuition is not just a fantasy, and asserts Osho’s (12) views that it is the core of human knowledge, the sixth sense.
How then can an individual benefit from both intuition and the scientific and biological knowledge? This is pretty simple. Osho (4) indicates that there should be equilibrium between the intuition and the contemporary knowledge. Some intuitive explanations make scientific sense and should be adopted just as they come. For instance, an individual who feels that in order to control weight and reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases and diabetes, he needs to adopt a proper eating regime and also observe an exercising routine. This kind of intuition is correct on all counts. The individual can control his weight and also eat well (Bunge, 35). This is one instance where the scientific knowledge and intuition marry to bring about a beneficial outcome. It also asserts that science tries to explain what cannot be explained through intuition.
In conclusion, this essay has looked at the issue of intuition, trying to establish whether the idea is a reality or just a creation in the minds of people. Evidence has it that intuition is actually a reality, and it affects the decisions that we as humans make. Some of the decisions may however be wrong; hence there is the need to assess the implication of the intuition before making a decision based on it. Through examples, the essay has illustrated some of the explanations that should be disregarded since they are as false as they come. Nevertheless, it should be noted that the essay does not disregard intuition in totality, as there are instances where it is actually correct. Rather, the essay comes to a conclusion that there should be a precise blending of intuition and the scientific and/or biological knowledge, so that individuals can make rational and mature decisions, which promote peaceful co-existence.
Works Cited
Bunge, Mario Augusto. Philosophy of Science: From Explanation to Justification. Thousand Oaks: Transactional Publishers.
Floyd, Davis Robbie and Arvidson, Sven P. 1997. Intuition: The Inside Story: Interdisciplinary Perspectives. New York: Routledge
Fergusson, Gail, Cracking the Intuition Code, 2000. Upper Saddle, New Jersey: Prentice Hall
Hogarth, Robin M. Deciding Analytically or Trusting Your Intuition? The Advantages and Disadvantages of Analytic and Intuitive Thought. 2002. Web, 26th Jan 2012, http://www.econ.upf.edu/docs/papers/downloads/654.pdf
Moore, Julia Hartley. Infidelity: Exploding the Myths. 2011. Mississipi: Exisle Publishing.
Osho. Intuition: Knowing Beyond Logic. 2001. New York: St. Martins Press
Ultra Mind, Benefits of Intuition. 2011. Web, 26th Jan 2012, http://www.ultramind.ws/benefits_of_intuition.htm
