Do gut feelings matter? If they do, how important would they be in your decision-making process?
2006-11-13 16:46:21 · 18 answers · asked by Mark 1 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
I think they are hugely important. We are noticing stuff all the time, and our subconscious is working out patterns. So a gut feeling is often just our subconscious telling our conscious mind, "Hey! You didn't notice this, but I did!" It's important to pay attention.
That said, sometimes our subconscious does a terrible job and picks out false patterns, or forgets to factor in the right things. So, sometimes gut instincts are off.
Where do you fall? Well, one way you can find out is to keep a journal of your gut instincts, and the decision you made (follow or ignore), and then record the results of the action. Leave one page for each decision, because what seems like a good/bad decision after one week may reverse itself after a month.
I think it's important for the conscious mind to get involved in decisions. So, if I had a gut feeling about something, I'd try and research it and see if the gut feeling had any basis in fact and reality. But sometimes you just have to go for it. Very few decisions are one-way, life-altering-never-go-back decisions -- you often have the choice to go back the way you came and re-do things.
2006-11-13 16:58:21 · answer #1 · answered by Madame M 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes very much so on many occasions. Involuntarily we do things like if you remove your hand when a bee comes and stings, you did not see him but instinct tells you. Or when you feel a cold front slightly you run inside and get shelter. These feelings are the instincts of survival. Many things have been attributed to instincts of man rather than the anilytical thinking. Intuition has been connected to women but men have it too. In deductive thinking detectives run some of their work by a hunch,( intuition or instincts) that leads them to solving the mystery. There are always hints and clues but for the most part we were given 5 senses but the 6th sense is just the one that covers it all metaphysically.
2006-11-13 19:08:28 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I give them number one importance, and things always work out better when I do- or worse when I don't! It's especially important to listen to gut feelings when it's something negative, like a feeling of danger. For other kinds of decisions I would do some research to make sure my gut feeling is backed up by evidence.
2006-11-13 16:56:35 · answer #3 · answered by mj_indigo 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I try to base all of my decisions on factual information along with rationality and logic. I believe that instincts and intuitions are highly fallible and should not be relied upon when making important decisions. I’m fine with using intuitions and instincts in un-important decisions.
2006-11-13 19:32:55 · answer #4 · answered by Michael M 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My gut instinct is usually on track. I make a lot of decisions based on instincts and intuition. If my gut tells me something is going to go wrong, I trust it. If it tells me something is going to go right, I usually give it a shot.
2006-11-13 16:48:56 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Instincts and intuitions draw upon much more of our knowledge and experience than simply the logical part of our thinking.
Logic will tell us that tossing a coin gives an equal chance of heads or tails, but instincts will tell us if the coin tosser is cheating.
Gut feelings DO matter.
2006-11-13 17:01:42 · answer #6 · answered by rumplestiltskin12357 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Intuition can be developed with usage. By testing it out on boring everyday things, you can see how much to trust it or not.
A Christian friend said during the Vietnam war, his platoon leader worked out they were luckier when he was point man. He followed his intuitions at times and went left instead of right. The next patrol went right and walked into a mine field.
Co-incidence? Not to people that owe their life to following their instincts
2006-11-13 17:00:08 · answer #7 · answered by wizebloke 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No matter what, I always trust my intuition. If something isn't right, I don't mess around and tell myself to shut up, I get the hell out of the situation. Better to be safe than sorry.
2006-11-13 16:49:04 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I always listen to my intuitions, and they have always well guided me. They play a big part in all the decisions I have to make and also in my relationships with people. It is a sense people do not use enough...
2006-11-13 17:05:03 · answer #9 · answered by pegs 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Like a migratory bird I follow my instincts. They are based on trust ,character, and lessons learned.
2006-11-13 17:19:17 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋