The Problem of Instinct and Intuition

Acting instinctively and intuitively is a nice feeling. The ease of movement that occurs in these effortless states gives a sense of lightness and connection with the world around us. The lack of friction seems to suggest some kind of unification has happened. It’s as if our surroundings are no longer hostile and threatening.

Both instincts and intuitions are forms of non-conscious knowledge. Whether it comes from information instantiated in our genetics, passed on and culled for thousands or millions of years (instinct), to patterns we’ve picked up because of personal experience (intuition), we apply knowledge that’s at our disposal to solve problems. When the messiness of life gets untangled without effort, it’s no surprise that we imagine that some kind of at oneness has happened. Why can’t life always be so good?

Since there’s no such thing as a problem-less universe, as perfection does not exist, we will inevitably be yanked out of our blissful life of instinct and intuition. This is because the knowledge in them isn’t prepared for what jumps out in front of us. What do we do when we realize a meteor is heading for earth, or a tsunami forms and heads towards a crowded beach? Instead of being afflicted with a perpetual cosmological anger, we can use our creativity to solve these and any novel problems that arise. And the deeper we understand the problems, the more we can eliminate any hurdle, giving us and others better lives.

So, intuition and instinct, though good, is not enough for our continued happiness and survival. Unfortunately there’s no clear rule to know when to not use them though. Sometimes they’re appropriate and sometimes they’re not. If we only operate under these default programs we will never be able to penetrate and move past the initial layers of life. This is because they are usually based on parochial knowledge. (Genetics always are.)

We will unavoidably have to work to push past instinct and intuition to point out the supporting mechanisms. These structures will inevitably break our mental models. The deepest understandings we will come to will be counterintuitive. If they weren’t counterintuitive then we would already know them and the associated problems wouldn’t exist.