Tok - Tuition as a Way of Knowing
IB Theory of Knowledge 12 6 December 2012
Intuition: A ‘Hybrid’ Way of Knowing Many have experienced a moment in which a decision was quickly made, based solely on these four simple words: It just felt right. There were never any supporting facts or even ample time spent to mull over the decision as any decision would normally require. The surprising result? The decision just happened to be spot on. Now, the odds of this occurring may seem quite low, even impossible. Call it a hunch, call it a “gut feeling”, this process of thinking – or lack of – is actually quite common and is known as intuition. It is simply the brain’s “shortcut” to making a hasty decision or opinion in a matter of seconds with the least amount of thinking involved as possible. In addition to the four main Ways of Knowing (WOKs), perception, emotion, reason, and language, intuition has the potential to be considered a separate, fifth WOK as it may lead to certain truths. However, intuition is simply a hybrid of two of the WOKs, perception and emotion; therefore, intuition cannot be considered its own, brand new WOK. The brain processes what the senses take in for a split second – the use of perception as a WOK - and rushes through past memories, past knowledge, picking up whatever it may think is relevant in a short amount of time. This is then transferred into emotions, evoking the wrenching feeling in the stomach, or perhaps even those four words, “It just feels right.” As with all WOKs, however, there are faults. Perception and emotion cannot always be trusted as there could be misinterpretations. With this in mind, is intuition always reliable? And how does one determine whether or not to trust that gut feeling? Two types of intuition are used when confronted with a problem: educated and uneducated intuition. Although tuition involves little thinking and processing in the mind, there is still the possibility of scanning over a “file” that is relevant to the
Intuition: A ‘Hybrid’ Way of Knowing Many have experienced a moment in which a decision was quickly made, based solely on these four simple words: It just felt right. There were never any supporting facts or even ample time spent to mull over the decision as any decision would normally require. The surprising result? The decision just happened to be spot on. Now, the odds of this occurring may seem quite low, even impossible. Call it a hunch, call it a “gut feeling”, this process of thinking – or lack of – is actually quite common and is known as intuition. It is simply the brain’s “shortcut” to making a hasty decision or opinion in a matter of seconds with the least amount of thinking involved as possible. In addition to the four main Ways of Knowing (WOKs), perception, emotion, reason, and language, intuition has the potential to be considered a separate, fifth WOK as it may lead to certain truths. However, intuition is simply a hybrid of two of the WOKs, perception and emotion; therefore, intuition cannot be considered its own, brand new WOK. The brain processes what the senses take in for a split second – the use of perception as a WOK - and rushes through past memories, past knowledge, picking up whatever it may think is relevant in a short amount of time. This is then transferred into emotions, evoking the wrenching feeling in the stomach, or perhaps even those four words, “It just feels right.” As with all WOKs, however, there are faults. Perception and emotion cannot always be trusted as there could be misinterpretations. With this in mind, is intuition always reliable? And how does one determine whether or not to trust that gut feeling? Two types of intuition are used when confronted with a problem: educated and uneducated intuition. Although tuition involves little thinking and processing in the mind, there is still the possibility of scanning over a “file” that is relevant to the
Cited: Fong, Donald. “Personal Conversation.” 6 Dec. 2012. Gladwell, Malcolm. Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking. New York: Back Bay Books, 2007. Print. Harpster, Dayna. “Moms know best: Doctors say ‘mother’s intuition’ is real.” Deseret News. n.p., 9 May 2010. Web. 19 Nov. 2012. “Kidney Stones in Adults.” National Kidney and Urological Diseases Information Clearinghouse. Maryland: Clearinghouse, Oct. 2007. Web. 6 Dec. 2012.