As my first official post apart from commenting on another, I thought I should bring up a conundrum I’ve been unable to resolve in myself for some time now. Namely, the question is: what exactly is intuition and what is its source?
To illustrate what I’m trying to get at better, and to let you know how I’m using (or misusing) the word intuition, I’ll try to describe it more experientially. Most of my decisions are made by relying on some combination of two mental processes. My little decisions throughout the day are made very quickly and easily through relying on habituated responses, like deciding to wash my face and brush my teeth first thing in the morning. Bigger decisions rely on a mental-emotional analytical process in which I sort out and weigh things, like practical concerns, foreseen consequences, the social impact, how I feel about the situation, and responses of friends, family or those affected by my decision, etc.
However, when I more regularly engage in meditation or other spiritual exercises which quiet the mind and reactive impulses, I find in almost all situations there to be some sort of background urge that is pushing me in a particular direction, which I “know” (or feel or sense) is what I “should” do—the “right” decision. A fair number of times this urge is different from what I would otherwise have chosen to do and is often to my immediate personal detriment, so I know it’s not just my hidden, id-driven desires surfacing. This “urge”—or what others might refer to as “a little inner voice” or something along those lines—is what I am referring to with the word “intuition.”
When I was younger (which is really ridiculous given that I’m still quite young) I always assumed this intuition to be arising from some deep, divine source. Perhaps it was my Catholic upbringing with the heavy emphasis on conscience, Holy Spirit, etc. being a gift from God that I was so unquestioningly comfortable with that answer.
As I’ve progressed in my education and become more socially aware, I have encountered another compelling answer to this question: socialization. Many anthropologists, philosophers and sociologists from Durkheim and Weber onwards have pointed to the fact that we as human beings are essentially social creatures. Ways of being and thinking in the world are taught and trained into us from a very young age through a plethora of social mechanisms such that we internalize them as our own.
More recent post-structuralist thinkers like Foucault and Bourdieu have pointed out how deeply each individual unconsciously internalizes social structures and dynamics which reproduce the social order and its power hierarchies not only through adopting ideas and behaviors, but also more insidiously through structuring how we think, feel and process the world around us.
Here’s an unadulterated shot of some of the genius of Bourdieu: “The schemata of perception and appreciation which are at the root of our construction of the social world are produced by a collective historical labor but on the basis of the very structures of that world: as structured structures, historically constituted, our categories of thought contribute to producing the world, but only within the limits of their correspondence with pre-existing structures.”
So perhaps this urge, this intuition is in fact a manifestation of my deep socialization. William James had theorized that the extent of the human will is choosing or privileging one habituated behavior over others, which without the assertion of the will would nevertheless lead to one habit dominating in the ensuing struggle amongst habits. Sartre and other Existentialists have said that we must will ourselves to be human, for not to do so is to leave us to our impulses and habituated behavior like animals. Perhaps it is good that the conscious will dominates over this intuitive urge, and the only purpose of quieting the mind is to make apparent the socialization manifested in that urge making me feel a certain decision is “right.”
Thus, I am left in a conundrum. It is not simply an either/or question as to whether intuition is divine inspiration or socialization—although I welcome such responses…I’m always up for a healthy debate. Rather, my question is: how is one to know—how does one identify intuition as one or the other? If both are possibilities, how does one discern and distinguish which is operating or urging at any given moment? I’d like to think it is a voice arising from a much wiser Inner Self, given how “right” it feels. However, I also don’t want to be played the fool.
I don’t think we it matters where your intuition comes from as much as it matters that it is your own voice speaking to you, and that it derives from a positive source like love.
If you know yourself, your intuition will always guide you to what is right for you.
That inner voice can only tell you what is right for you so it doesn’t always fit in, It is the strong instinct that lets you know without knowing, the things you need to know.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this subject, it has inspired me to respond. For me, Intuition is a combination of, as you say; divine inspiration and socialization, for several reasons.
Let’s talk about the socialization or we could say consciousness, There are traditions in the East and the West that talk about the different levels of consciousness. I like what I read about Dr Jung, who, I believe spoke about there being three major levels of consciousness, the individual consciousness (or the I or me in our heads), the individuals unconsciousness (or subconscious) some would also say the spirit or life essence, and the collective consciousness (or social consciousness) I believe this level comes from a home, a community, a nation, a world or a universal consciousness. A web connecting, pulling, pushing, contracting, and expanding that all things are a part of. I believe the scientist refer to it as string theory. The implications that we are all made of the same stuff and are having an impact on each other is amazing. So all three levels, and in my way of seeing, an infinite or unexplainable number of levels of consciousness or life make the world we live in and the experiences we encounter.
Coming back to Intuition, a dear friend once told me that creator gave us two wonderful gifts; the first is life which comes from our heart and the second is choice, which comes from our minds.
The trick is getting the heart which represents unconditional love, always working for our life, always giving of itself so we may continue forward with life until it cant work anymore, without expectation; to help our minds, which represent the logical, the ego, the ‘I must survive’ part of ourselves that knows the importance of fear and control for survival, make the choices that bring forward our life experiences. Bringing the heart into the minds to make decisions can bring forth a reality of connection, awareness, happiness, love.
Conscious choice, I feel, means knowing the impact of the world around us, on us, including and most importantly our impact on ourselves and being able to make decisions with an understanding of how that choice will effect the different levels of consciousness in our worlds.
Where does Intuition come from? Well, for me it comes from a place of stillness, of quiet, more connected to the world around me. Not the material or social world as we might define it in today’s society but rather a quiet that allows for us to be more sensitive to the energy of life around us. A place that goes beyond the fear or mind and comes from a place of love. Not to say that fear isn’t important it wakes us up, to fix something that is out of balance but instead using fear for the tool that it is rather than the crutch it can become.
How do I know what’s the “right” decision, I follow my heart and my mind together as one with the heart being the driver and the mind being the vehicle, hoping my decisions have everyone’s best interest in mind, with an understanding and humility that I can only know what is best for myself and each must find their own path to truth, or happiness, or love as they define it in their lives. I also know that I am at different places some times in my life. Some times my decisions come from a place of fear and it has nothing to do with my intuition, no matter how hard I try to trick myself that it is, and other times I have been able to step outside of myself into a collective consciousness that is beyond the ego and connect to a larger part of my self.
I feel that the best place for me to focus my attention is somewhere in the middle. Finding the balance between serving my life and serving the lives of others is the place to find my truth, and the funny thing for me in saying that I realize that others and myself are the same beneath the differences and if I am being true to my intuition I am honoring that by making decisions that cause goodness for myself and others.
This is one of those subject I could go on and on. I have wanted to find a place to share and connect with people and it just came to me to try this blogging thing. I have heard of it but haven’t looked at one yet. I liked your topic because intuition is something I am always trying to come back to. It’s pretty amazing when you experience the syncrinisity (bad spelling oops) and magic that unfolds when you can find your intuition. I also feel if we are in the right place, we can connect with other spirits from that collective we are all a part of and when that starts to happen our whole worlds can change. The trick is trying to stay in that place in the world we live in today. With all of the chaos in today’s collective consciousness it’s no wonder we “fall off the wagon” and go right back to a place of fear and ego. It’s all around us and for me I’m learning it starts with my thoughts, words, and actions. I must be consistent with finding activities that bring me closer to the collective and I should specify; the love or nature or good or balance, how or what ever we want to call that place of intuition.