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Is It Worth Relying On Our Intuition?
People often use
their judgment - the ability to make decisions that are based on
careful consideration of facts, principles, etc. We often make
plans and analyze the situation before doing something. As the
English proverb says, 'Measure thrice and cut once'. But
sometimes we make right decisions and good choices without
logical reasoning or learned skill. Such power of understanding
is called intuition. Intuition has been the subject of study in
psychology, as well as a topic of interest in the supernatural.
'Intuition is a knowing, a sensing that is beyond the conscious
understanding'.
Students,
doctors, housewives, teachers, plumbers and stockbrokers all use
intuitive judgment. Everyone does. Minor or major decisions are
often made based on instinct and feeling, even when the reason
for the feeling is unclear. Intuition is a natural faculty which
everybody has. But not everybody recognizes and trusts his
intuitive information.
Intuition is very
close to insight - a sudden, clear, but not always complete
understanding. Intuition and insight are important elements in
creativity, the human response to an ever changing environment.
Both insight and intuition are in the realm of the unconscious.
Some people don't
believe that it is worth relying on intuition. They think that
it is eccentric and irrational, but sometimes our inner voice is
an excellent guide. Even Einstein arrived at his biggest
contribution through intuition. The famous scientist said that
'the only real valuable thing is intuition'. Of course, there
are many situations where analysis and rationality are superior
to intuition. Intuition may not be helpful in determining
another's personality. The situation may not give the observer
an opportunity to see the traits that would indicate the
personality. But there are many situations when our intuition
can help us find the right answer to the most complicated
question.
We sometimes have
an impulse that we should or shouldn't do something. For
example, our intuition silently prompts us that it is better not
to trust a particular person or not to go to some place. And
these sudden decisions that are difficult to explain turn out to
be the best ones. We may feel very enthusiastic about some
project, without really knowing why. Or we may be sure that our
plans are going to fail but we don't understand the reason for
our apprehensions.
There are some
cases when intuition saves people's lives. For example a person
is to go on a business trip. But suddenly he begins feeling some
inexplicable fear and discomfort and makes up his mind to buy a
railway ticket instead of going by plane. And later he finds out
that the plane he was to fly by has crashed. At the same time we
shouldn't confuse intuition with emotions, fantasies and
prejudices. Not every spontaneous emotion can be interpreted as
intuition.
Some scientists
say that it is possible to develop intuition. We need to
exercise and educate it. It is very important to become more
conscious of our intuition and how it operates and to analyze
the situations when it helped us. Making mistakes and learning
from them is also essential to developing your sixth sense. The
guiding role of intuition should not be ignored or
underestimated. It helps us pattern our behaviour and make right
decisions in uncertain situations and unknown areas.
1. Complete each sentence (A-H) with one of the endings
(1-8):
A. Sometimes we make right decisions and good choices
without
B. Intuition has been the subject of study in psychology, as
well as
C. Intuition and insight are
D. Intuition may not be helpful in
E. We sometimes have an impulse that we
F. It is very important to become more conscious of our
intuition and
G. Making mistakes and learning from them is also
H. Intuition helps us
1. important elements in creativity.
2. how it operates.
3. a topic of interest in the supernatural.
4. essential to developing your sixth sense.
5. logical reasoning or learned skill.
6. pattern our behaviour and make right decisions in uncertain
situations and unknown areas.
7. should or shouldn't do something.
8. determining another's personality.
2. Give the definitions of the following words
• judgment
• insight
• rationality
• apprehension
• prejudice
• sixth sense
3. Agree or disagree with the following statements. Explain
your point of view
• Intuition is more efficient in decision making than
logical thought.
• Women are more intuitive than men.
• Problem solving requires both judgment and intuition.
• Listening to your inner voice is eccentric and irrational.
• Intuition is knowledge we are not born with.
• The guiding role of intuition should not be ignored or
underestimated.
4. Answer the questions
1) Why is judgment important in decision making?
2) Do you agree with the proverbs 'Measure thrice and cut once'
and 'Haste makes waste'? Comment on your answer.
3) What is intuition?
4) When is it worth relying on intuition to your mind? Why?
5) In what situations are analysis and rationality superior to
intuition?
6) Has your intuition ever helped you? How?
7) Do you know any cases when intuition helped people make
important discoveries/changed their fate/saved their lives?
8) Is it possible to develop intuition? How?
5. Fill in the table
It Is Worth Relying On Our Intuition?
For...............
Against..........
6. Read the quotations below. Choose any statement and
comment on it
• 'Intuition becomes increasingly valuable in the new
information society precisely because there is so much data.'
(John Naisbitt)
• 'Intuition comes very close to clairvoyance; it appears to be
the extrasensory perception of reality.' (Alexis Carrel)
• 'Intuition does not in itself amount to knowledge, yet cannot
be disregarded by philosophers and psychologists.' (Corliss
Lamont)
• 'Intuition is a spiritual faculty and does not explain, but
simply points the way.' (Florence Scovel Shinn)
• 'Intuition is truly a feminine quality, but women should not
mistake rash conclusions for this gift.' (Minna Antrim)
• 'Intuition will tell the thinking mind where to look next.'
(Jonas Salk)
• 'It is through science that we prove, but through intuition
that we discover.' (Henri Poincare)
• 'Trusting our intuition often saves us from disaster.' (Anne
Wilson Schaef)
Read
the article below. Summarize the contents of the article and
discuss the major problems touched in it.
Should you trust your intuition?
Professor Guy Claxton, author of Hare Brain, Tortoise Mind,
claims we have three basic mind speeds: slow, contemplative
thought; deliberate thought; and intuition, which is faster than
logical thought and may be more efficient. There are thousands
of cues in our environment that we might not notice consciously,
but nonetheless may inform our intuitive choices. Our impulse
might be to dismiss our intuition, but, in some cases, relying
on instinct is not only faster, it may also give us more
satisfaction. Studies show that when we are asked to make a
choice without having to explain it, we tend to be happier with
that choice four weeks later than if we were asked to give a
rational explanation.
Female intuition
Popular myth suggests that women are innately more intuitive
than men. Men (so the myth goes) are rational thinkers, women
are emotional feelers. In fact, research conducted at the
University of Hertfordshire found that not only were male
volunteers slightly more accurate at recognising a fake smile,
female volunteers tended to rate themselves more highly on their
intuitive skills. In conflicting research, psychologist Judith
Hall found women to have greater non-verbal sensitivity: they
were better able to read a situation with¬out verbal clues.
Indeed, other research has suggested that the more intuitive we
believe we are, the less accurate our judgments tend to be.
Perhaps believing the hype about female intuition could in fact,
reduce the overall accuracy of your decision making.
Sarah Wilson The Guardian, Saturday 7 March 2009
A.
What is intuition? Give the definition of this word and compare
it with your group mates' variants.
B. Read the text 'Is It Worth Relying On Our Intuition?' and try
to find the answer to this question.
Из учебного пособия
"Открывая
мир с английским языком. Современные темы для обсуждения.
Готовимся к ЕГЭ" Юнёва С.А. 2012г.
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