The Phenomenon of Intuition

Intuition is one of the forms of human recognition of the surrounding reality. Therefore, comprehending the essence of sixth sense presupposes a definite solution to the problems of being. At the same time, it is used by everyone rather narrowly. It was found that people use the potential of the brainwork consciously only by 10%, and the rest – 90% fall on the subconscious and is practically not used.

Currently, traditional teaching methods and ubiquitous computerization are aimed at developing a logical, formalized part of thinking. The tendencies were caused by life in stress, troubles and rapid, radical changes in various social spheres lead to the appearance of crises in a significant part of the population, which largely determine the contradiction between the demands of sharply changing social and economic relations and the rigidity of personal attitudes and stereotypes. An indicator of a healthy personality could be a developed, rather than muffled, sensitivity to weak impulses, warning alarms, the ability to perceive, comprehend, and trust them. This is why this research topic is relevant and interesting to study.

Currently, traditional teaching methods and ubiquitous computerization are aimed at developing a logical, formalized part of thinking. The tendencies were caused by life in stress, troubles and rapid, radical changes in various social spheres lead to the appearance of crises in a significant part of the population, which largely determine the contradiction between the demands of sharply changing social and economic relations and the rigidity of personal attitudes and stereotypes. An indicator of a healthy personality could be a developed, rather than muffled, sensitivity to weak impulses, warning alarms, the ability to perceive, comprehend, and trust them. This is why this research topic is relevant and interesting to study.

People dedicated to the ancient philosophical teachings sought to develop intuition and developed for this purpose certain techniques. Following some of them, available today can lead to the disclosure of abilities, hidden far in the depths of sub- and super conscious. Disclosure of such abilities should occur from the very childhood, with the necessary inclusion in the training and education programs.

There are a lot of approaches to defining this phenomenon, but it is possible to underline four major concepts. Initially, sixth sense was also considered in the context of its applicability to scientific thinking and cognition. So, in the XIX century, Hermann Helmholtz argued that intuition is nothing more than unconscious and rapidly arising conclusions based on everyday experience. At the very first stage of the development of psychology as a science, intuitivism brought to the forefront the aesthetic comprehending of individuality, emphasizing the comprehension of the phenomenon at one and the same time in its entirety. On the contrary, psychometrists prioritized the practical focus of the sixth sense and sought to place it at the service of successful “predictors.” This position proclaimed the need to study individual differences and testing. Subsequently, these disputes were leveled by progress in the development of methods. In the tasks of forecasting, clinical (intuitive) methods were contrasted with statistical (psychometric) methods, and the latter was, as a rule, equivalent or superior to clinical methods. In general, the concepts of intuition were characterized by views on the sixth sense as the root cause of the creative act, hiding in the depths of the unconscious. In the practical activities of people and life, there are also interpretations of the concept of the sixth sense.

It is possible to give the following definition of intuition. The sixth sense is a thought process, consisting in an almost instantaneous finding of a solution to a problem with insufficient awareness of logical connections. Intuition is important for a person’s creative activity when it is necessary to discover or use new attainments to transform or improve reality. This concept is taken to be interpreted in two planes: in the non-professional literature, the process of the sixth sense is often endowed with some immediate and mystical property; the second interpretation presupposes a reference to human behavior in complex, uncertain situations. At the heart of the mechanisms of intuition are various types of complex information processing – verbal and nonverbal, arbitrary and involuntary.

Thus, the sixth sense is a fairly complex and difficult to explain the phenomenon. Representatives of various sciences interpret its origin and possibilities differently, the question of whether this quality is innate or acquired is also controversial.

References

• Myers D.G. (2008). Intuition: Its Powers and Perils. Yale University Press.
• Lieberman M.D. (2000). Intuition: A Social Cognitive Neuroscience Approach. Psychological Bulletin, 126 (1). Retrieved from http://www.scn.ucla.edu/pdf/Intuition.pdf