"It is by logic that we prove, but by intuition that we discover"

-Poncare

Reflection - 20th April, 09: Intuition

I had heard the word intuition many times, and had a vague idea of what it was, but never understood it clearly. Before attempting a few questions, let me try and define intuition. Intuition can be defined instinctive and unconscious knowing without deduction or reasoning. It is sudden, and no inference is involved in the process of knowing using intuition.

1. If something is intuitively obvious, must everyone agree about it?
There are very few things that are "intuitively obvious" and are agreed upon by everyone. For people to agree on subject-specific and social intuition is very unlikely to be agreed upon. For example one biologist may get the intuition that a particular experiment will give better results if carried out on a particular plant, and another biologist may intuitively feel that it needs to be carried out on another plant. Since intuition cannot be expressed in terms of reason, there is no way one biologist can convince the other; and an agreement cannot be reached on the intuition.
Neither are social intuitions likely to be agreed upon as people rarely have the same intuitions about other people. However, in the case of core intuitions which are perceived to be obvious such as "I exist" and "Life is not a dream" are likely to be agreed upon.

2. Could you be wrong in thinking that something is intuitively obvious?
It is quite possible that a knower is wrong in thinking that something is intuitively obvious. Intuition could be based on biases and prejudices that are rooted in the knower since are long time, and subconsciously play a role in his/her thought process. If other ways of knowing, like reason contradict intiution completely, it is more likely that you could be wrong than when reason and intuition lead to similar conclusions..

3. Whose intuitions should you trust? Are some people's intuitions better than others?
In my opinion, in social and core intuitions, you should trust your own intuitions, as nobody else would be in your shoes have your view-point. However, you should make sure that the intuition does not lead to confirmation bias in ur perception. Be careful, and look out for contradictions to your intuition. However, in the case of subject-specific intuitions, we should surely trust the intuition of an expert in that subject/ area of knowledge to a greater extent than a non-expert.