Intuition vs. Mind - When the belly decides
Our lives are determined by a consistent sequence of decisions. From the trivial choice of cheese or jam on the breakfast to the existential consideration of whether my skills on skis for the black piste enough. Many of these decisions can not be changed in retrospect. With the breakfast toast it does not matter, with the black ski slope maybe not. But how do we make that countless number of daily decisions? Do we evaluate situations rationally and decide with the mind, or do we listen more to the ominous gut feeling? But what is a gut feeling?
Intuition versus mind
For most of the "big", groundbreaking decisions of my life, I have listened more often to my gut than to my mind. What can I say? In retrospect, everything feels right. My decisions have taken me to where I am today. And I like being there. When other people questioned my choices at those moments, I usually could not rationalize them. It just felt better. Although this could not solve the (sometimes more than justified) skepticism of my environment, it made me sleep better. This type of decision-making has not changed to this day. However, I know today that the somewhat nebulous terms such as intuition or gut feeling quite on scientifically measured feet.
The somatic markers
The thesis of somatic markers (Greek: soma for? Body?) Goes back to the Portuguese neuroscientist António Damásio. According to Damasio, all the experiences of a person are stored in the emotional memory of experience and thereby provided with a simple assessment: positive, like to repeat or negative, better to avoid. In the case of an upcoming decision, the memory of experience falls back on its internal memory and assesses the situation on the basis of similar experiences already made. This happens unconsciously and does not penetrate to the rational level of consciousness. However, this process triggers physical reactions (somatic markers) that, when accurately "feeling"? can be a decision-making tool.
Of course you have to perceive these body signals first. There are innate somatic markers such as the disgust of spoiled food or the intuitive fear of snakes. Most of these often only milliseconds noticeable signals are learned, so based on the individual experience of a person. Typical somatic markers for positive experiences are, for example, heat, a tingling in the neck? or goose bumps. Negative experiences are often accompanied by a tightness in the chest, tremors or even physical pain.
Intuition is fallible? the mind too
The human basically tends to overestimate himself. That's also true, or even more specifically, of the power of his brain. In the (false) assumption that one's own mind will be able to grasp all relevant information in a decision-making situation and derive a rational decision from it,? Many people use the unconscious signals of sensory markers. Turns out the rationally made decision in retrospect as wrong, one often hears the sentence? Had I only heard on my stomach.? Of course, however, the intuition may be just as wrong. Especially in the assessment of a hitherto unprecedented situation, the experience memory can not rely on any stored data. From this one can derive the following rule of thumb: Unknown should first be judged with the rational mind, whereas in known situations one may well rely on his gut feeling.
The irrationality of intuition
Two souls live alas! in my chest.? This quote from Goethe's Faust pinpoints our human dilemma in decision-making. Both intellect and intuition pursue the same goal: the consequences of a decision should increase individual happiness. While the mind is happy to work with reason decisions on a distant goal of fortune, the intuition is based on the immediate gain of luck. An example: Reason says that I have to go to work in order to satisfy my needs in the long term. The intuition says: The sun is shining, so today is not a good day for work. In our rational society, therefore, we go to work, although the abdominal pain (sensory markers) speak against it. Dilemma detected, but unfortunately not solved.
And now?
Both decision-making models, the rational and the intuitive, have their strengths and weaknesses. In many cases, therefore, a combination of both approaches proves to be useful. With the mind we collect available information, but should give the stomach enough time to approve or veto a decision.The old idiom? I have to sleep over it for one night? means nothing else than: I have to turn off my mind once and allow the subconscious to do its job. As in so many cases, here too, the right mix is what matters.
