Comments | idealists: Intuition can be deceptive?

marybagain in idealists

Intuition can be deceptive?

Jun 25, 2006 20:08

Myers (2002) warns that intuition can be deceptive. For example: when you ask someone to estimate the thickness of a piece of paper 0.1 cm thick when folded 100 times, most peoples' estimates are wildly inaccurate ( Read more... )

Comments 8

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marybagain June 26 2006, 13:52:27 UTC

I think you maybe cheated a bit as you partly worked it out - this might not have been intuitive.

I(intuitively)feel that most people would say - "well bigger than you might think" - but they would not think in that scale without being more analytical.

ksenour June 25 2006, 23:02:04 UTC

I don't think that that's a good example of intuition. But that's just me, really. I think of intuition more like looking at someone and knowing that they're dangerous, and finding out later that they were.

Or sitting down with someone and talking with them, and being able to give good advice about what to do in the situation even though you've never been there before; you just sort of know what to do. Or even just in situations with yourself; just knowing what to do.

marybagain June 26 2006, 13:55:21 UTC

So for you, there is a feeling of conviction, that your answer/solution is the right one, but without knowing how you got to that answer?

eviebabydaddyo June 26 2006, 00:01:22 UTC

Hitler of course if famous for trusting his intuition more than his generals. For which I am grateful.

marybagain June 26 2006, 13:59:21 UTC

I believe that good commanders are supposed to use "Strategic Intuition"! Best leave that topic for another thread, I think.

eviebabydaddyo June 26 2006, 04:19:37 UTC

On the other hand, in mathematics and science there are a number of individuals who essentially guessed the right answer, after a dream or just out of the blue. Now I'm too tired to think of an example, but I want to say Kepler is an example. Also I think Laplace did something like this and was snubbed by the "professional" mathematicians.

Somebody help me out with examples?

marybagain June 26 2006, 14:11:14 UTC

I can't come up with examples, but papers by Duggan (200) and Klein (2002)say that "flashes of insight are at the heart of problem solving and decision making". It seems we all use an alternating pattern of analytical and intuitive processes.

eviebabydaddyo June 26 2006, 19:54:50 UTC

How interesting. This isn't something I've thought much about before, to be honest, so I didn't respond directly to your question. Yet it's enjoyable to think about a little, maybe pursue farther?

I remember reading Jung and he says that one should not trust intuition, but balance it with thinking. Much like you say.