Your intuition is your ability to intuitively feel something. The word “intuition” is often used to describe something vague, without a logical basis. However, intuition predates logical thinking, and for millions of years, humans relied solely on it for survival. Today, intuition still plays a significant role.
A substantial part of what philosophy, art, scientific research, and other discoveries bring forth originates at an intuitive level. For the creation of an artistic work (as well as for later understanding its meaning), for every discovery or invention, for the creation of something new, for understanding the essence of ideas and the laws of nature, mere knowledge or theories of philosophy, science, or aesthetics are not enough. It is necessary to feel and convey the spirit, soul, and power of the idea we are trying to understand or convey through a specific form. However, this spirit cannot be adequately expressed or explained in words.
Albert Einstein
Intuition is the way our soul and heart communicate with our consciousness: it is far beyond the realm of logic and common sense. Human intuition uses not only visual forms but also symbols, metaphors, archetypes – it utilizes unconventional means and forms accumulated throughout the history of human development. That is why intuition, in terms of its potential, is incomparably richer than all other more usual and familiar forms of knowledge.
Logic is a limited instrument of our understanding. It is merely a tool of thinking, but not thinking itself. It processes information but does not build new knowledge, it is responsible for the correctness of reconfiguring judgments, but is not capable of clarifying whether the premises themselves are true or false.
The paradox lies in the fact that it is impossible to constantly think logically, rationally. Thus, logic must be supplemented with intuition in order for true understanding to occur. developing a certain ability to discover the truth. This ability to discover the truth, which precedes logic and does not rely on logic to recognize the truth, was called intuition in ancient times (the word intuition comes from Latin intuition – careful observation).
Where reason takes gradual, logical steps, persistently but slowly approaching the goal, intuition acts quickly, even lightning-fast, similar to a flash. It does not need evidence, it does not rely on reasoning. Intuitive thinking flows unnoticed, naturally, spontaneously; it is not as exhausting as logical thinking, which requires an effort of will.
When intuition presents itself to a person, they interrupt the thread of logical reasoning and immerse themselves in the realm of inner states, unclear feelings and intuitions, shapes and symbols.
On the other hand, if a person approaches things in a rational, logical manner, they deprive themselves of access to intuitive experience.
Thanks to intuition, a person sees the whole picture of reality in an instant. They anticipate or even clearly see how things will unfold. Events continue to unfold (to the greatest extent, main variants) and where they lead, in a situation whose essence is so poorly understood by its participants. However, it will be very difficult for him to convey, to verbalize that picture (in any case, not without significant losses), as well as to answer how he could have understood what would happen (unless he relies on life experience).
According to the words of American psychotherapist Eric Berne, intuition implies that we know something about something, without knowing how we know it.
Genius – patience in thinking, focus in one direction.
Newton
Psychology poorly explains how intuition works and even less how to investigate it. The most common term used is insight – a sudden realization, understanding, penetrating to the core. This term refers to the moment when a new idea suddenly comes to a person’s mind, or they come up with a solution to a problem they have been pondering for a long time. Insight is also called an “aha!” reaction, implying the exclamation we spontaneously make when Suddenly, we begin to understand the essence of the problem and see a way out of it. The creative insight of Archimedes, who jumped out of the bathtub shouting “Eureka!” is a classic illustration of insight.
That’s why many modern psychologists believe that the source of intuition lies in the unconscious, specifically in establishing its collaboration with the conscious. Research confirms this. When intuition is at work, it operates with premonitions, archetypes, symbols. It is not by chance that intuitive predictions often arise in dreams, daydreams, or semi-conscious states.
A person with developed intuition can accurately grasp subconscious information; for example, through intonation, facial expressions, gestures, or eye expressions, they are able to understand much of what their interlocutor does not want or cannot reveal. Almost none of this information enters the field of our attention and is not accessible to conscious control, but it doesn’t disappear for us, completely shaping our unconscious intuitive experience. Intuitive experience arises without the influence of desire and will, it cannot be to evoke or repeat deliberately, although it significantly influences the way we act and behave. Intuitive experience determines the direction of our thinking.
Ancient philosophers, especially Socrates and Plato, interpreted intuition and intuitive experience much more deeply. They understood intuition as the integral ability of humans to completely and clearly understand the truth simultaneously in different aspects – past, present, and future, life and death, evolution, space and time, eternity, visible and invisible, archetypes and forms, spiritual and material. According to their interpretation, intuitive experience is not just “external” moments that reside in the subconscious and is not just the abstract “unconscious” that contemporary psychology speaks of. It is the ability of recognition, memory. It is about the experience of the immortal soul that it has gathered throughout long chains of incarnations. A part of that experience the soul recognizes and remembers through flashes of intuition, sudden insights. It is the ability to grasp ideas – archetypes, the ability The quest for crossing from the material world into the world of ideas and living in it or them, at least for a brief moment, is an integral quality that is not yet fully developed in humans, but it can be awakened and nurtured.
If one does not act against reason, one cannot get anywhere at all.
Albert Einstein
In 1926, American scientist Graham Wallas proposed the well-known scheme of the creative thinking process. He developed it based on the observations of prominent scientists, primarily German physiologist, physicist, and mathematician Hermann Helmholtz, and French mathematician Henri Poincaré. Wallas divided the process into four stages:
The first stage – preparation. It involves gathering essential information about the problem, seeking a rational solution, and contemplating.
Philosophical experiences argue differently: an inevitable period where nothing is achieved, where you think, try, but reach no conclusion. It’s like hitting your head against a wall.
Second phase – incubation. Setting the problem aside. A period of apparent pause. In reality, deep, unconscious work on the task is taking place, where a person doesn’t have to consciously think about it at all.
A philosophical approach: once you’ve planted, watered, don’t pull to see what’s happening. Let nature do its thing.
Third phase – illumination – inspiration, discovery, insight. It always comes unexpectedly, instantaneously, and similar to a fast gallop. In that moment, the solution is born in the form of symbols, images that are difficult to describe in words.
Fourth phase – verification. Form takes shape in words, thoughts line up in a logical order, the discovery is scientifically argued.
My results have long been known to me. I just don’t know how to reach them.
Carl Friedrich Gauss
The moment of insight, the birth of an idea, is the culmination of the intuitive creative process. And to this day, it remains elusive, mysterious, almost mystical. It will likely always be enveloped in mystery. If the secret of insight could be successfully unraveled and reproduced, then great discoveries would be achieved according to desire, direction, and order. The solution to various life problems would become easily accessible, as well as the acquisition of new knowledge about the world and the attainment of deep truths – everything that is usually given to people, or that they receive at a high price.
However, both psychology and philosophy agree on one thing: the path that leads to intuitive insight is mostly known. It is necessary to persistently and focusedly work on the specific problem – explore it from all sides, strive to gather maximum information, think passionately about it over and over again, fantasizing about finding a solution, but at the same time not getting stuck on that desire. Internal insight is the result of prolonged unconscious work. It takes some time to live with the idea (problem) without finding a solution, and most likely, in a beautiful moment, it will illuminate consciousness, similar to a lightning strike accompanied by an unusually powerful experience. I admire understanding, clarity, uplift, breakthrough, and happiness.
What is needed to awaken and develop intuition?
French mathematician Henri Poincaré on insight
What first amazes you is the obviousness of the inner insight that is a result of prolonged unconscious work; for me, the role of unconscious work in mathematical research is undeniable.
Often, when I work on a difficult problem, at first, nothing succeeds. Then comes a longer or shorter period of rest, and then I start working again. In the first half hour, nothing happens again, and then suddenly the key idea comes to mind.
One could say that intellectual work became more effective when it was interrupted, and the rest gave the mind strength and freshness. However, it is more likely to assume that this rest was filled with unconscious work, and the result of that work suddenly manifested itself… Sometimes, insight is not reached during a walk or a trip, but during conscious work, completely independent of that work, which only has a connecting role. of light. Odmah po buđenju, Howe je dobio genijalnu ideju o tome kako poboljšati svoj stroj. Znao je da je to rješenje koje je dugo tražio. No umjesto da odmah počne raditi na svojoj ideji, Howe je prvo obavio temeljit istraživanje i provjerio je li njegova ideja stvarno inovativna. Tek nakon što je bio potpuno uvjeren u njezinu vrijednost, krenuo je u razvoj svojeg stroja za šivanje u svjesnom stanju. Howe je shvatio da je rad u nesvjesnom stanju samo prvi korak, ali da je nužno slijediti ga svjesnim radom kako bi njegova ideja postala stvarnost. Like the sharp edges of a spear. In all that horror, Howe suddenly noticed that each blade had a hole that resembled the eye of a needle. And then he woke up, terrified.
A little later, Howe realized what his dream was telling him. To make the sewing machine work, all he needed to do was move the eye of the needle from its usual position down towards the point. That was the key solution he was looking for. Thanks to the terrifying dream that haunted him, the sewing machine was born.
Disney and music
Walt Disney was a great lover of classical music. He claimed that at the first notes, images began to form in his consciousness. The animated film Fantasia, in which classical music brings to life a phantasmagoria of lines and forms, was an attempt to convey that experience: Disney firmly believed that in this way, music would have a greater impact on people.
In music, there are moments that are difficult for people to understand because they do not see its tangible forms on the screen, he said. Only then can they truly experience it. appreciate all the beauty of sounds.
The art of questioning
Once Einstein remarked that if his life were threatened and he had only one hour left to devise a rescue plan, he would spend the first 55 minutes on correctly formulating questions. According to Einstein, it only takes five minutes to find the answers.
Leonardo da Vinci’s method
Modern psychology has determined that practically every stimulus, even completely meaningless Rorschach blots, evoke a series of associations, instantly activating the highest realms of our consciousness. Leonardo da Vinci discovered this five centuries before Sigmund Freud. Unlike Freud, Leonardo did not employ free associations to uncover certain profound complexes. On the contrary, this is how the great Florentine artist carved his own path towards artistic and scientific insights during the Renaissance.
“It is not difficult,” wrote Leonardo in his Notes, “one simply needs to pause and observe the patterns on the wall or in the” Gazing into the fire, or clouds, or mud… there you can find perfectly intriguing ideas.
Leonardo drew inspiration from the sounds of bells, in the ringing where it is possible to discern every voice and every word that you can imagine.
Great opportunities come to everyone, but many do not realize that they have encountered them.
William Ellery Channing
It is not excluded that you may feel quite silly practicing one of these methods, but let that not bother you. You are in good company. Even Leonardo da Vinci realized that his “new method” would surely amuse cynics.
It may seem funny and meaningless, he wrote, but it is still very useful for inspiring the mind to various discoveries.
About the usefulness of a diary
In the 1920s, American psychologist Catherine Morris Cox extensively studied the biographies of over three hundred geniuses such as Isaac Newton, Thomas Jefferson, Johann Sebastian Bach. Her thorough examination of preserved data revealed incredible opportunities. Finding congruence in the behavior and habits of these prominent individuals.
According to Cox, one characteristic of geniuses is a tendency to vividly describe their feelings and thoughts in diaries, poems, letters to friends and relatives. This tendency begins to appear at an early age. Cox noticed this not only in writers, but also in military leaders, politicians, and scientists.
Confirmation of Cox’s words can easily be found by searching the library. It is known that only a small percentage of humanity has the habit of describing their thoughts and feelings in diaries, secret notebooks, or books. However, what is interesting is that usually, those who achieve prominent success in life are found within that small percentage!
What is the truth: is every scribbler a genius, or is every genius a scribbler? Why do prominent minds start writing diaries? Perhaps they have a premonition of their future fame and want to leave a legacy for historians? Or is the passion for writing an incidental product of the efforts of a diligent mind? Or does excess make it so? Is it possible? And perhaps – and here we could linger – this is the mechanism through which people who are not born geniuses develop extraordinary intellect within themselves?
German physiologist, physicist, and mathematician Hermann von Helmholtz on insight
These fortunate discoveries often come to mind so quietly that you don’t immediately notice their meaning, sometimes only chance later reveals when and under what circumstances they occurred: the idea comes to mind, and from where – you don’t even know yourself. However, in other cases, the idea suddenly illuminates us, effortlessly, as inspiration. As far as I can judge from my own experience, it is never born in a tired brain and never at the writing desk.
Each time, I had to first turn my task over in every possible way so that all its nuances and intricacies were reliably sorted in my mind and could be memorized again without using notes. Achieving this is usually impossible without prolonged effort. Then, once the period of exhaustion passed, a moment of complete physical ease was needed. The ideas of clarity and beneficial peace – only good ideas came then.
They often came in the morning, upon awakening, as Gauss also noticed. They especially liked to come during peaceful walks in the woods and on sunny days. A small amount of alcoholic drink would drive them away.
Real ideas come rarely.
Once, a journalist asked Albert Einstein if he writes down his great thoughts, and if he does, does he do it in a notebook, notepad, or a special filing system? Einstein looked at the sizable notebook in the journalist’s hands and said: My dear, real thoughts come so rarely to the mind that it is not difficult to remember them.
The physicist who did not know mathematics.
English researcher Michael Faraday was one of the most renowned scientific minds. His theory of electromagnetic fields and forces inspired Einstein. However, Faraday’s method surprised and still surprises to this day honest historians of science.
Faraday was distinguished by his absolute mathematical innocence, he marveled at Isaac A. Simov in the History of Physics. He developed his theory of force in a surprisingly simple way, imagining them as rubber bands.
It is obvious that scientists did not know what to do with Faraday’s lines of force for a long time until James Clerk Maxwell mathematically represented them. Poor Faraday struggled to understand Maxwell’s system, but in the end, he got completely tangled up and wrote him a letter asking him to translate hieroglyphics into a human language that he could understand!
Staying a child
Once, a truck got stuck under an overpass because its body was too high. The police and the emergency service tried to push it, but without success. Everyone gave their suggestions on how to get the truck out. In the end, they decided to remove part of the load, but instead of helping, the truck became lighter, lifted on its suspension, and got even more stuck under the bridge. They tried to use a lever and a wedge. They tried increasing the engine’s revolutions. In short, they did everything that is usually done in such cases, but it only made the situation worse. ago.
Suddenly, a six-year-old boy arrived and suggested releasing some air from the tires. The problem was immediately solved.
A true scientist is a dreamer. And those who aren’t, call themselves practitioners.
Honoré de Balzac
The police and the emergency service couldn’t free the truck because they knew too much, and everything they knew about freeing trapped machines boiled down, one way or another, to the use of force. Most of our problems only get worse because of our “excessive knowledge”. Only when we distance ourselves from familiar solutions do we truly begin to understand the essence of the problem.
Where did Mozart receive his music from?
Like many other geniuses, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart claimed that he composed his musical compositions in his mind, perfecting every chord before taking pen and paper. Mozart often surprised his contemporaries by demonstrating this ability to “record” music while playing billiards or casually and carefreely sketching the overture of the opera Don Juan for a few hours. Before its premiere. Mozart explained that in such situations he does not create music at all, but simply, as if by dictation, writes down a finished piece from his head.
In a letter from 1789, the genius composer stated that before he writes his work on paper, he mentally observes its entirety as a dazzling, wonderful sculpture. Mozart did not experience his works in the way the orchestra performed them, beat by beat, he embraced everything “at a glance”. In his imagination I do not hear the parts consecutively, he wrote, I hear them as they sound simultaneously. I cannot convey what a pleasure that is.
Discovery of the benzene ring
After spending the whole day absorbed in papers, chemist Friedrich August Kekulé felt disappointment. It’s all bad, the chemist concluded, I am not satisfied with this. Kekulé pulled his armchair closer to the fireplace and began observing the dance of the flames. He thought long about the molecule of benzene, whose structure eluded him for a long time. In the end, as he says, he “received” the image of a snake biting its own tail, which was the breakthrough in understanding the benzene ring. He refused to admit, diving into a half-asleep state. What happened next entered scientific folklore as a magnificent moment – a magnificent miracle.
Sinking into sleep, Kekulé suddenly noticed some fantastic shapes in the midst of the flames. “I saw atoms passing in front of my eyes,” the scientist recalled. “They were moving in long, winding rows, like snakes.”
Suddenly, he noticed a sharp movement. What was it? One of the snakes had caught its own tail…and fiercely spun around…I woke up as if struck by lightning.
Kekulé realized that his subconscious had shown him the key to the formula of the benzene molecule. He spent the rest of the night working on the problem. Soon after this event, in 1865, he announced that the benzene molecule consists of six carbon atoms. The bonding of the atoms closely resembled a snake from his dream.
Perspective
In one of his lectures, David Gilbert said: “Every person possesses a certain scope of problem perception. When it narrows down and becomes infinitely small…” Len turns into a point. Then a man says: That is my point of view.
Columbus’s egg
When solving any problem, the frames of the solution should be set first. After the probable limits have been determined, conventional thinking begins to solve the problem within those limits. However, boundaries often prove to be false, and the solution lies beyond them. Let’s take the well-known story of Columbus’s egg, for example. In order to respond to his friends’ jokes who claimed that the discovery of America was not such a difficult task because Columbus was only asked to constantly steer west, he suggested that they stand the egg vertically. The friends accepted, but despite all their efforts, the egg stubbornly rolled onto its side. That’s when Columbus took the egg, lightly cracked one end, and stood it upright. As expected, the friends protested, believing that the egg should not have been cracked, setting the frames of solution in a way that practically did not exist. However, they thought just as thoughtlessly that it was enough to take a course towards the west and stick to it throughout the entire voyage. Such a novelty in navigation skill became possible only when Columbus proved that the fears of his opponents were unfounded.