Dumb Self-Help Advice 2 - Use Your Intuition

Dumb Self-Help Advice #2 “Use Your Intuition”

The trouble with being involved with hypnosis is that it also attracts many from the fringes of “alternative health” and “new age philosophy”.

One of the commonly stated opinions from this outer fringe is that people should always trust their intuition and that somehow intuition is either infallible or divinely inspired.

Why This Is Dumb

You don’t have to look too hard to find times when your intuition, your hunches, are simply wrong. There’s abundant literature showing how we all fall prey to fallacious thinking and post hoc rationalisations for our actions.

Intuition in Business

The other frequently seen variant of this is where someone suggests that intuition is a great tool in business, and perhaps cites a successful entrepreneur, perhaps Richard Branson, saying that they rely heavily on their intuition.

Why That is Also Dumb

The business situation misses the obvious point that successful folk can rely on their intuition because they have developed it over time, and have honed their skill through experience. Or put simply, these people can trust their intuition because their intuition is trustworthy. And even then they make mistakes and you can be certain that they don’t rely exclusively on hunches.

The bankruptcy courts and cemeteries are also full of people who trusted their intuition, but lacked the experience or knowledge that would make those hunches reliable.

What Should You Do Instead?

Use your intuition by all means - just don’t rely on it exclusively. And when you use it in unfamiliar territory expect it to be frequently wrong or misguided. When doing something new, use your whole brain to learn and understand what you’re about to do.