Human brains have the ability to use limited information to come to a conclusion. This may be linked to the survival instincts of our ancestors, where a distant roar of a tiger or a glimpse of a snake among the bushes will trigger the flight or fight reflex. Back in the modern days, instincts were often used to make spontaneous decisions that may be better than the meticulously planned ones.
From the book Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, Malcolm Gladwell, the best-selling author/journalist, elaborated on the adaptive unconscious—the mental process that makes decisions using relatively little information. Here are the three lessons about human intuition from the book Blink.
1) Unconsciousness is the world’s fastest filter of information
Under the 40-70 rule, the ideal decision made was done when you have at least 40% of relevant information but not waiting until you have more than 70%. It was said that focusing on a few yet vitally important facts is enough to make the right decisions. Your unconsciousness would filter out the information, throw out the irrelevant ones, and judge on the critical ones.
2) Stress may lead your gut feeling to the wrong path
Through a series of experiments conducted, it was found that under a high-stress environment, human’s ability to read other people’s facial expressions and other social cues will reduce dramatically. The human brain under high-stress couldn’t instinctively judge another person’s intentions based on what they see. Thus, when stress develops, the brain will form a tunnel vision where the person will only focus on the most threatening piece of information.
With less information at hand, it is important to reduce the stress quickly to regain the power of correct intuition. Take a few deep breaths to calm yourself and make sure your tunnel vision does not get the better side of you before making decisions.
3) Intuition may be clouded by stereotypes or prejudice
Associations with previous experiences may be too embedded into our brains that it would be hard to erase them even when we knew it was wrong. Whether it’s about Asians being good in Maths or Americans are rich or first impressions of a stranger, stereotypes and prejudice are bound to affect the accuracy of our gut feeling. Thus, this is the time to create our own screens to filter out stereotypes and prejudice rather than relying on your first instincts.
In a conclusion, we often overanalyze situations and lead us to make less optimal decisions. It is time to rely on our intuition to make swift and correct decisions using the least information available. Prejudice and stress are obstacles to eliminate to make instinctively correct decisions. Thus, let’s utilize the time off from the festive season to release our stress and come back to work with a clearer mind.
