Theory of Knowledge: Intuition

Intuition is an immediate insight into something,  and we can distinguish them as core intuitions, subject intuition and social intuitions. 

Intuition is sometimes associated with concepts of instinct and innate knowledge

Core intuitions - Most fundamental intuitions about life, the universe and everything - although reason and perception are said to give us knowledge, they ultimately depend on intuition. 

Subject-specific intuitions- intuitions we have in various areas of knowledge such as science and ethics. Appealing to intuition to justify our knowledge claims in various areas of knowledge, should be treated with great caution eg. many ideas of quantum mechanics are so contrary to ordinary ways of thinking, that intuition is an obstacle to understanding

Social intuitions - our intuitions about other people, what they are like, whether or not they can be trusted, etc. 

Natural and educated intuitions - Natural intuitions may not always help to understand the world. Educated intuition is usually the product of raw talent and vast mental database of background knowledge. 

Interactive ways of knowing - Interpretation of of cognitive psychology that intuition is rapid cognition, the speedy working of the brain without our being consciously aware

Unconscious skills - As we become adept at skills, we no longer need to reach conclusions consciously or make ourselves move in the right way. Familiar actions seem "just to happen" in the right circumstances.

Making decisions - In many cases of decision-making, we use our intuition, swift in conclusions and rough in its judgements, some of our intuitive decisions are matters of preference and taste.

Moral judgements 

Jumping into error

Heuristics and cognitive biases (four biases)

• Male and female brains wired differently, scans reveal

  Maps of neural circuitry show women's brains are suited to social skills and memory, men's perception and co-ordination
• How do we really make decisions?

  With every decision you take, every judgement you make, there is a battle in your mind - a battle between intuition and logic.
• What Happens When You Trust Too Much

  For people who are pathologically innocent, as is often the case in Williams Syndrome, how do you hold down a job?
• Advice on stock market crashes, plane disasters and bad weather. Can you risk not reading this piece?

  In his new book Risk Savvy, psychologist Gerd Gigerenzer argues that when it comes to taking risks in life, we are often much better off following our instincts than expert advice
• Trust your gut: Intuitive decision-making based on expertise may deliver better results than analytical approach

  Intuition may be just as effective in decision-making as an analytical approach -- and sometimes more efficient and effective, depending on the decision-maker's level of expertise on the subject at had, according to a new report in the Journal of Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes by researchers from Boston College, George Mason University and Rice University.
  Science Daily December 20, 2012
• Should Intuition Be Running Your Business? Yes... And No

  "In defense of the many businesses and people who are highly intuitive, it’s not hard to bring forward a laundry list of examples where intuitive thinking has served businesses and leaders extraordinarily well." says the author of this article in Forbes.com
• Explicit and Implicit Memory: Intuition Training Basics - How to retrain your intuition.

  "Intuition is the name we give our biological, cultural and personal (sometimes called biopsychosocial) memory, memories that compel our spontaneous behavior and choices." says Jeremy Sherman, evolutionary epistemologist
• The neurological basis of intuition

  According to a new study, our gut feelings can enhance the retrieval of explicitly encoded memories – those memories which we encode actively – and therefore lead to improved accuracy in simple decisions.

Why are some people considered more intuitive than others? Are there certain things that you have to know prior to being able to learn anything at all? Should you trust your intuition?

Intuition is sometimes described as immediate cognition, or knowledge which is immediately evident without prior inference, evidence or justification. Intuition is often contrasted with reason, as it is regarded as knowing without the use of rational processes. Jung (Psychologische Typen 1921) famously referred to intuition as perception via the unconscious, highlighting the idea that intuition is often seen as beliefs which are known without understanding how they are known.

Intuition is sometimes associated with the concepts of instinct and innate knowledge. For example, some would argue that although we do not have innate knowledge of any particular language, we have an intuitive capacity to use language. Intuition has been much discussed in the field of ethics in terms of whether we have moral intuition, or a kind of innate sense of right and wrong. It is also seen by some to play an important role in scientific advances.

To know something by intuition is to know something through introspection or an immediate awareness. In this way, some argue that it is impossible to justify, or that as it is immediately evident it requires no further justification. Some people are regarded as more intuitive than others, with intuitive people often being said to make quick instinctive decisions without having any identifiable rationale for those decisions. However, some have denied the existence of intuition as a separate way of knowing. For example, it has been suggested that intuition is a term which is often used to describe a combination of other ways of knowing, such as prior experience, heightened sense perception and an active imagination.

from the IB ToK 2015 Study Guide

Intuition - Quotes