Intuitions are very different from emotions. The word “Intuition” is typically associated with the aha moment of insight when you suddenly see the solution to a problem without going through any conscious process of reasoning.
We might distinguish between three different types of intuitions:
-Core intuitions: Our most fundamental intuitions about life, the universe and everything
-Subject-Specific intuitions: the intuitions we have n various areas of knowledge such as science and ethics
-Social intuitions: Our intuitions about other people, what are they like, whether or not they can be trusted, etc
Natural and indicated intuitions
Our natural intuitions do not always help us to understand the world, while expert intuition is another matter. This intuition is not just talent, but also a vast of mental database of background knowledge. Top level professionals in areas as varied as biology, brain surgery and baseball have similar intuitions.
In reflecting on the nature of these kinds of intuitions, we should keep in mind that despite appearances they are not a short-cut to knowledge. There are at least two necessary conditions for having good ideas:
-A through knowledge of the relevant field
-Unusually good powers of concentration
How reliable is intuition?
We can say that expert intuition is generally more reliable than natural intuition. Good intuitions are not God-given, we need to test them against other sources of knowledge. If your intuitions coincide with reason and experience and other’s people intuitions, then it makes more sense to trust them than if they do not.
From the book Theory of knowledge, Richard Van de Lagemaat
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