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Intuition. We use “intuition” to describe moments of insight, when we suddenly see the solutions to problems without having reasoned through them.
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We use “intuition” to describe moments of insight, when we suddenly see the solutions to problems without having reasoned through them. • We also use the word to indicate our “sixth sense” hunches about things (e.g. you feel like someone is staring at you, and you turn around to find that someone is – or is not). • These are not often reliable.
Core Intuitions • In an abstract sense, it can be argued that ALL of our knowledge is based on intuition. • In reason, the most fundamental laws (the laws of logic) are the starting point for everything, but they are in themselves unprovable: most would say that they are just intuitively obvious. • We cannot be sure from the evidence of ours senses alone that life is not a dream, but most of us have a strong sense that what we experience is reality, and not a dream.
The Why? Game • I exist. • Life is not a dream. • Parallel lines never meet. • The laws of physics will not break down tomorrow. • My friends are not androids. • You should not torture innocent people for fun. • All human beings are created equal.
Interestingly (at least from a historical p.o.v.), one of the problems with intuition is practical: people’s intuitions are simply often in disagreement. • Do animals have souls? Does the existence of the universe require an explanation? Could a machine think? Could a mind exist without a body? Is abortion murder? • These questions all have “obvious” answers, but what is obvious to you might be the opposite to me.
Subject-Specific Intuitions • Our natural, uneducated intuitions are poor guides to the truth. • This is perhaps a result of evolution: the human brain began to develop intuitions in a world very different to our own. • Perhaps the aim of education is to help us “unlearn” our naïve intuitions so that we can acquire a more accurate understanding of the world.
Physics • Common Sense: Aristotle says that objects move only to the extent that force is applied to them. If you want something to move, you push it, and when you stop pushing it stops moving. This reflects our everyday experience of the world. • The “Truth”: Newton’s first law states that “Every object continues in its state of rest or uniform motion unless acted upon by a force.”
Physics • Common Sense: your desk is solid • The “Truth”: it is mainly made up of empty space, held together by incredibly strong magnetic bonds.
Biology • Common Sense: Two hundred years ago it was obvious to biologists that everything in nature had a purpose, and that since each species had its own unique essence, one species could not evolve into another. • The “Truth”: There is now a consensus among biologists that nature works blindly with no goal in mind, and that species gradually evolve into other species.
Ethics • The problem here is that our moral intuitions are connected to our context. • Common Sense: For many centuries is was “obvious” that men were superior to women, and that some people were naturally slaves. • The “Truth”: Not that (according to most people at least…).
Social Intuitions • We all consider ourselves to be good judges of character, but when was the last time that someone lied to you and you knew right away? It’s less frequent than we like to admit. • Countless experiments have shown that when people try to distinguish true stories from false ones the results are no better than if they had guessed randomly.
Natural vs. Educated Intuitions • Expert intuition (the “Eureka!” moments that have driven science forward, for instance) do not appear to work in the same way as natural intuitions do. E.g., Newton was not just a random guy sitting under a tree when he intuited the properties of gravity; he was a highly trained physicist with remarkable powers of concentration.
So how reliable is intuition? • Well, expert intuition is generally more reliable than natural intuition (although both are inductive). • As with all sources of knowledge, we need to be able to judge good from bad intuitions, and we do that by seeing how well they measure up when compared to reason and other people’s intuitions.
Conclusions • Emotion and intuition are certainly valid ways of obtaining knowledge. • A balanced intellectual outlook requires both reason and emotion. • Although emotion can be an obstacle, this is true of all of the ways of knowing.
