Scientific studies of Intuition

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 06 Jun 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Moongold	06 Jun 2004
Thought you might be interested in this article given recent very interesting discussions in various Aeclectic forums of late. Make sure you also have a look at the link Measuring Intuition at the end of this article, to the left.

OakDragon	06 Jun 2004
A very interesting article, Moongold. Thanks for the link!

Imagemaker	06 Jun 2004
This article is especially interesting to me, given that my daughter graduated today with a degree in mechanical engineering and leaves tomorrow for the start of her internship and Masters in Modal Analysis, the study of vibration. I've emailed the link to her.

tmgrl2	06 Jun 2004
Way to go, Moongold...after that long discussion thread on this, what a wonderfully supporting article...for what many of US already believe! I found a used copy of Intuition at Work on Amazon.com....may order it. Thank you for posting this thread.. terri

jmd	06 Jun 2004
The article, very much like many instances of what is often called 'intuition', seems to focus more on below-conscious-level-threshold sensory information and individual responses based on an INSIGHT into the situation. Bernard Lonergan has written a very long and absolutely masterly book on Insight (by that same title). It seems that the newspaper article is focussing on this, and that the term 'intuition' is progressively coming to refer to just this in numerous situations. The newspaper article also 'hints' (without actually saying it at all) at pre-cognitive 'intuition', when it says 'the traveller who abruptly cancels his plans just in time to avoid jetting into a war zone'. Most of us, at casual reading, would not read this literally, but would rather read it as an example often referred to of travellers abrutly cancelling their plans just in time to avoid an unforeseen disaster - quite different to the sentence used. 'Intuition' does have various applications and meanings - one of which is certainly that of insight. In the context of Tarot readings, however, does it refer to the insight one gains from subtle clues perceived from the tone (whether written, spoken, or non-verbal) of the querent, or does it refer to an activity which, though some may indeed desire to explain it in reductionist terms, remains essentially a spiritual sensing into a situation ? In terms of the title of the thread, then, it seems that the study will - wonderfully - engage in deepening understanding in the nature of insights based from accumulated experience (something indeed important)... let's not assume, however, that 'intuition' refers to this alone.

tmgrl2	06 Jun 2004
Good post, jmd...I think I tend to use the word "insight" when I feel that my judgments or readings are calling upon those things I might be able to call forward if I got quiet and thought about what led to the "insight," such as ...person's bearing, voice, language usage, prosodic elements of spoken language, clothing, body language, career, age....so many things come at us, even with a person we have never met until we do a reading for the person. Then, when I have exhausted all the "noticeable" or "measurable" characteristics and still get a strong guidance about the person that I can't somehow quantify or find a basis for from what I see, hear and know...then I say it's my intuition telling me...but then, this, too may be based on information coming to me that may be measurable or knowable, but I just can't find a "reason" for it. Does this make sense? Ultimately, I wonder if everything is based on something that could be measured...but we just are so far away from understanding the underlying principles for the knowledge... Like who would have thought of flying machines that are very heavy and carry hundreds of people? Or radio waves...frequencies that travel through the air with a signal that can be reassembled into recognizable voices and sound patterns? How about cyberspace? TV pictures? microchips? nanotechnology? antimatter? stem cell regenerations? In my youth, I used to LOVE science fiction, because I really believed much of what I read could be possible, even though I couldn't "imagine" how... So I believe intuition is very real and comes from a higher source and that it is different from insight which I consider more like information already available to me on this plane. This is one of my favorite topics, because when people ask me about Tarot and what it is and what I believe, I leave them with more questions than answers. terri

DeLani	06 Jun 2004
Rupert Sheldrake has a wonderful book, "The Sense of Being Stared At (and other aspects of the extended mind)" where he actually does study what we might call intuition - the feeling of being stared at even though we can't actually see who's staring at us. It's a wonderful book - his first one was called "Dogs who know when their masters are coming home" (or something similar) where he shows a very strong evidence for the intuitive ability of pets to know when their people are coming home, even if it's at odd hours. "The Secret Life Of Plants" (can't remember the author just now) is even more startling - that plants can sense and respond to the actions, feelings, and intentions of other beings around them. The author's houseplants "knew" (had dramatic EEG spikes) when he was mugged while in New York, hundreds of miles away. This verifies my own belief, that we all (plants, animals, rocks) occupy a very subtle field - I don't know what I'd call it - but we all are really, tangibly connected aside from physical distance. Beings that form stronger emotional connections like family or pets, can sense in a conscious way things from each other even when separated by huge distances. Anyway, I believe what we call intuition is when this sensory field awareness flashes into our conscious awareness, like a fish breaking the surface of a vast ocean. When we can calm our restless conscious minds, we can "feel" the surface of that water better. With even deeper meditation, we can dive below the surface to access intuitive knowing even more.

tmgrl2	07 Jun 2004
Hooray for a great post DeLani!! I agree..:) terri

Moongold	07 Jun 2004
Quote: In other words, it's knowing something without knowing how we know I found the article encouraging. The above quote is exactly what someone here said once in one of our many discussions about intuition. The reference in the article about students looking at the various software images and making connections and getting ideas. reminded me in some way of our use of tarot cards. The cards provide a framework from which our intuition leaps, in a way. And people have different levels of intuition. I love reading books about scientific discoveries - they are like great adventure stories - and I know that many great discoveries are made simply by someone having an intuitive sense about something. There must be various types of intuition as well. This interests me very much. How does intuition show itself in different people and situations? What is the difference between faith and intuition? Many questions......

Satori	07 Jun 2004
"The Field is the Zero Point Field, a subatomic field of unimaginably large quantum energy in so-called empty space. If you add up all the movement of all the particles of all varieties in the universe, you come up with a vast inexhaustible energy source all sitting there unobtrusively in the background of the empty space around us, like one all-pervasive, supercharged backdrop. To give you some idea of the magnitude of that power, the energy in a single cubic yard of 'empty' space is enough to boil all the oceans of the world. The Field connects everything in the universe to everything else, like some vast invisible web. The papers published by these scientists written about in The Field show that the solid stable stuff we call matter is an illusion and is simply subatomic particles constantly moving and being gripped on by the background sea of energy. Everything in our world, no matter how heavy or large, boils down to a collection of electric charges interacting with the Zero Point Field. It's a bit like the Force in Star Wars. As quantum waves also encode information, it also as though, on the tiniest level of reality, a memory of the universe for all time is contained in empty space that each of us is always in touch with." Taken from thefieldonline FAQ's What is the Field? www.thefieldonline.com Written by British journalist Lynne McTaggart, The Field is a truly landmark book that seeks to prove that humans are energetic beings that are interacting with this sea of energy, The Field. In her book McTaggart uses examples from the scientific community linking together scientists who could not explain certain anomalies in their research. I am still reading the book, but I think it is the best proof of what we are discussing and offers too the best definition of what intuition ultimately, is. As such, taking the last paragraph of the quote, what if those of us who are so enamored of the Tarot, are just a little more in touch with TAROT information, so that our energetic systems resonate to the Tarot 'tune'? Isn't that what so many of us say, so often? "That resonates with me...." And also, I don't know about some of you but when I'm just flipping thru a deck the cards are just cards. When I sit down to read, the entire process, perhaps because of the ritual of it, is darn different. The cards are no longer just cards, the story is emerging, spooling and the connections between the cards are just so THERE. And that story, the one that emerges, whether it sticks to the historical card meaning or not, is the defintion of the card for that moment. And I have to be true to that definition...I just have to. So this makes me wonder what is it that I'm tapping into that is supplying this other set of images, info, and Knowing/knowledge/certainty.

Moongold	07 Jun 2004
I have understood the images to be representative of archetypes - our human understanding of profound truth. I think these archtypes are connected to the Gods or Source, that which is beyond our understanding. Tarot as a system provides a structure which is the fulcrum of my intuition and imagination. It is a container, in which all manner of understanding occurs. Tarot grounds and gives authenticity to my imagining. I am human after all. I need that grounding or I could be lost in psychosis or illusion. We need a wall or something solid to see our shadows. We need instruments to create. We need language to speak. I need Tarot to act as a vehicle for divination or intuition. I need it also to be a channel for my spirit. It is so hard to explain but not to explore.

tmgrl2	07 Jun 2004
YESSSS! Elf...ty for The Field link...I can totally identify with this... Moongold, I agree, we must explore whether or not we will ever be able to explain. It's not about explaining, although that may come.... terri

Teheuti	08 Jun 2004
[quote]Originally posted by jmd [b]The article, very much like many instances of what is often called 'intuition', seems to focus more on below-conscious-level-threshold sensory information and individual responses based on an INSIGHT into the situation. I'm not sure if I get the difference being made between intuition and insight. Could you clarify this? To me insight has more to do with the 'Why' of something - what it 'means' to you. Intuition is more about the perception. Intuition can lead to insight or it can just provide information. Intuition might say 'this doesn't feel right but I'm not sure why or where the feeling comes from.' Insight says, 'I'm not going to take this flight because it doesn't feel right.' A psychic flash would say, 'I see an explosion and the plane going down over the ocean at 4:09 pm.' [i put the time in as a gratuitous addition.] Anyone else see distinctions among these three? T

DeLani	09 Jun 2004
Hmmm...now these are just my personal definitions here, but I see insight as seeing into something in the present, more than you should really know. Like seeing a couple at the mall, and knowing, without them saying a word, that one is cheating on the other, and the other knows but doesn't say anything because they are so desperate for love they'll forgive anything. Intuition is about something in the future, but is more like a feeling than a vision, as said by Teheuti. Psychic is being able to see or sense in some way the past, present, or future in a more or less specific way. I believe you have to have a good deal of insight to read the cards, and intuition as well, but you don't need to be psychic. I tell all my clients that I'm not psychic so they know what to (and what not to) expect.

Shesawolf	09 Jun 2004
I have insight into something because I've experienced it before... I have learned lessons that later become clues. Literally I can "see" (-sight) "into" (in-) a situation BECAUASE I've learned it before. Intuition, on the other hand, is that whisper in my ear that had no source - no explanation... it's the sudden thought that enters my imagination out of (seemingly) nowhere... it's a gift of recognition.... perhaps from my spirit helper (or guardian angel, or spirit guide, or higher-self). Of couse, to HAVE intution you must have an open "mind" to the possibility of this communication (or messages). Insight comes from my brain - cognitive thought... Intuition comes from my "gut" - and it's more of a "feeling". I think that psychic abilities are a higher degree of intuition based on timelessness. Someone with psychic abilities isn't bound by time... they have the ability to intuate past, present, or future memories. Of course, just like with intuition, most of us do not have a choice about what we "see"... it just comes... it's a gift. With Tarot (my intuation tool), I have choice when to tap my intution. Both intuition and insight can be developed... one by being open to the possibility, the other to be open to learning from experience... So, if I believe that intuition can be developed, and that psychic ability is a higher manifistation of intution, then I must believe that psychic abilities can be developed... right? To that, I don't have an answer... it seems to me you must also be endowed with the gift of timelessness... or could that be learned as well?

The Scientific studies of Intuition thread was originally posted on 06 Jun 2004 in the Talking Tarot board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Talking Tarot, or read more archived threads.