When to Trust Your Gut and When to Think Twice
Briefly

The article explores the nature of intuition, emphasizing that gut feelings arise from pattern recognition and past experiences rather than spontaneous insight. While gut feelings are effective for quick, low-stakes decisions, they require careful consideration in high-impact choices such as selecting a partner or changing jobs. Trusting gut instincts becomes particularly complicated when emotions are involved, potentially clouding judgment. Research highlights the brain’s role in processing information to inform these feelings, prompting caution in relying solely on intuition without factual input for significant decisions.
Gut feelings may seem like they come from thin air and are suddenly just there, but cognitive neuroscience research tells us that these feelings come from pattern recognition and past experience.
What we call 'intuition,' then, is really part of an early alert system to help us avoid danger and steer us toward safety.
Gut feelings work best when paired with facts, especially in high-stakes decisions, as ignoring data can lead to poor outcomes.
Emotions can cloud intuition; hence, it’s advisable to pause before trusting gut feelings in emotionally charged moments.
Read at Psychology Today
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