What is Intuition?

Personal Techniques

Intuition, also known as a gut feeling is the unique ability to gain an understanding of something or solving some problem without using the standard conscious or logical reasoning. Intuition bypasses the logical portion (left brain) of the mind-brain network and is also referred to as the sixth sense.

Intuition is a process that gives people the ability to know something without analytic reasoning and it bridges the gap between the conscious (reason) and nonconscious (instinct) parts of our mind. Most people have had such an intuitive experience where they have suddenly got a wonderful solution to something they were trying very hard using rational methods.

As humans, we all have five active senses that work all the time during our waking hours. These five senses are sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell. They are the normal doors and windows of the mind to send and receive information and connect with the world.

However, the ability of the five senses is relatively limited. This means the five senses always need an external stimulus for it to activate or work. For example, the sense of touch is activated only with direct contact, the sense of taste requires some fluid to activate, the smell activates from a distance away from the source of the odor, the sense of hearing has a further reach, and the sense of sight can only see an object if it is there.

However, the sixth sense or intuition works differently. It’s not connected to the five senses and is not an extension of them. Intuition cannot be measured like we measure the functionality of the other five senses. For example, vision and hearing can be measured and quantified. But intuition cannot be measured or displayed on any instruments.