What is intuition?

[Quaker]

Intuition is not something I thought about much in the past few years, and certainly not something I ever thought I'd be making such a seemingly corny post about. Intuition was always something I thought should be resisted instead of embraced, because I saw it as some kind of vague internal manifestation of primitive emotional drives instead of some divine, higher-consciousness compass for life. It's not that I'm not intuitive, in fact I am. It's just that since I've become an adult I've considered intuition as more of an irrational impulse, something that should be resisted in favor of discipline. In short, I haven't trusted my intuition. But now, being at a crucial crossroads in my life, I have to come face-to-face with the fact that my intuition is leading me away from a path that both my own mind and those around me have been motivating me to pursue. It is a path I've spent years preparing years for, but in spite of that, something that just does not feel intuitively right. 

What exactly is this force of intuition and how much credibility are we to give to it? How do we reconcile the apparent need to follow our intuition with the need to think strategically and critically? What's the difference between intuition that is leading us away from something and simply fear of that thing? Has there ever been a time when you're extremely thankful you listened to your intuition?

[Shin]

I only follow my intuition nowadays,

Except when I'm sad or angry, because in those state intuition is clouded.

Life is so much better this way, no need to worry about anything.

I had some shitty moments that I followed by 100% trusting my intuitions after.

On the big picture, it never lead me astray.

You start to have faith when you see that happening multiple times, and ultimately you would only trust your intuition and never your mind ever again.

[Quaker]

I hear you. But can't following your intuition limit your long-term perspective? Or does such perspective begin to not matter? I'm just thinking of how following one's intuition could lead to terrible mistakes...thought it could also prevent terrible mistakes. Can you give any examples of decisions (especially major ones) you've made on the basis of intuition? 

[tsuki]

9 hours ago, Quaker said:

What exactly is this force of intuition and how much credibility are we to give to it? How do we reconcile the apparent need to follow our intuition with the need to think strategically and critically? What's the difference between intuition that is leading us away from something and simply fear of that thing? Has there ever been a time when you're extremely thankful you listened to your intuition?

Intuition is something of an eye into "your" subconscious world. It is not exactly yours because there are non-personal aspects to it, but the bottom line is that there is much, much, much more to your unconscious than to your conscious mind. What you think, feel and see is just a tiny speck of what is actually going on and those things are not apart from your intuition, they are interwoven with it.

If you conscious experience is a movie, then sensations are the cameraman, thoughts are the scriptwriter, feelings are the scenographer and intuition is the editor. Intuition works through other parts of experience to convey its message and it is never explicitly stated until you start to interpret it.

If you find yourself to be distrustful towards it, then it probably means that you haven't developed it and you don't know how to read its messages. The process of learning this is, funnily enough, the process of healing your subconscious traumas. An undeveloped intuition will get you to do all the wrong stuff until you self reflect and connect to the parts of yourself that you reject. It may be the case that following it here will bring you enormous amounts of suffering, but it will also be a great opportunity for growth.

When it comes to your long-term goals, there is a very important aspect in it of how those plans actually mesh with who you are subconsciously. The plan may be great and very well reasoned, but it will only succeed if you are able to follow it without painstaking discipline and effort. Your intuition can tell you that and this is why you need to let it speak to you to get the full picture.

Edited May 17, 2019 by tsuki

[Knock]

9 hours ago, Quaker said:

... instead of some divine, higher-consciousness compass for life.

Intuition isn't something outside of you that is guiding you.
Intuition comes from your subconscious mind. It is based on your experience and knowledge obtained throughout your life. Although this knowledge doesn't come to your conscious awareness, it influences your feelings and behaviour towards things, and it is much smarter and more powerful than your conscious mind. 

So usually it is a good idea to follow your intuition, especially in areas in which you have experience. However, in areas without any experience or knowledge, your intuition is usually pretty crap (as its based on little to no experience). For example, try to intuitively do physics, or rap, or draw, or do anything that you have no experience in, the results are pretty comical. 
 

Tsuki beat me to the chase and explained it much better above 

Edited May 17, 2019 by Knock

[Truth Addict]

You can't escape intuition, even if you believe other people, you intuit that they know better.

Intuition is what you are.

I think a better measure is whether you listen to your inner wisdom, or seek wisdom from outer sources.

Either way, you're using your intuition, so let's skip ahead.

I think the best thing to do is to use your intuition on that measure (inner vs outer wisdom). That allows you to get a meta perspective, a thinking before the making of decision, and a pause before the action, while considering your and others wisdom in the process.

Best results come from combining your and other people's experiences.

This is coming from my intuition; inner and outer wisdom.

Edited May 17, 2019 by Truth Addict