WIP: Understanding "intuition" and "instinct"...

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What is the difference between intuition and instinct?

"People use these two words in different ways. One way to distinguish between instinct and intuition is to think of instinct as something you don't have a conscious choice about - it will cause you to respond to events in a particular way, whether you want to or not. Whereas intuition is a feeling, a hunch that makes one way of responding more attractive to you than others, but you can still choose to follow it or not."
http://www.quora.com/What-is-the-differ ... d-instinct

"Intuition is not a figment of a person’s imagination or is it literally coming from a person’s gut– it is the result of the activities within the different brain regions. Generally speaking, the area that paves the way for intuition is the right hemisphere. Not only does it govern creative thought, art, music, senses and emotion, it is also the area where intuitive thoughts are created."
http://examinedexistence.com/intuition- ... intuition/

Instinct:
"Lower animals, such as fish, amphibians, reptiles and birds, don't do much "thinking," but instead concern themselves with the everyday business of gathering food, eating, drinking, sleeping, reproducing and defending themselves.

These are instinctual processes [source: National Geographic]. Therefore, their brains are organized along the major centers that control these functions.

We humans perform these functions as well, and so have a "reptilian" brain built into us. That means we have the same parts of the brain found in reptiles, namely the brain stem and the cerebellum."
http://science.howstuffworks.com/life/i ... brain4.htm

To be continued...

"Scientists have discovered that humans appear to have two, very different “operating systems.” (link is external) System 1 is our quick, instinctual, and often subconscious way of operating – it is controlled by our right brain and by other parts of our brain that have been around since prehistoric times, known as the “limbic” and reptilian” parts of our brain. System 2 is our slower, more analytical, and conscious way of operating – it is controlled by our left brain and by newer parts of our brain that have only developed since prehistoric times (also known as the “neocortex”). "

"Researchers have found that intuition is part of System 1, which is why it comes on so rapidly and often does not make rational sense to us. In other words, intuitive decisions are not something that we have thought out carefully with reason, but rather choices that have arisen quickly out of instinct."

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/ra ... -intuition

"People with autism-spectrum disorders are more rational and less likely to be guided by their 'gut instincts', say researchers."

"The study by the Wellcome Trust adds to the growing understanding that people with autism have altered emotional processing."

"People make decisions using both intuition and analysis.

While analysis is based on computation and ‘rational’ thoughts, intuition is faster, often less accurate, and relies on ‘gut instincts’."

"In other words, they [autistics] were less likely to be guided by their emotions into making irrational choices."

"People with autism tended to be more consistent in their pattern of choices, their greater attention to detail perhaps helping them avoid being swayed by their emotions,’ says Dr Neil Harrison."

"Dr Harrison believes their research may play an important role in highlighting the strengths of people with ASD, rather that focusing on negative aspects of the disorder."

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/artic ... z3lQG7bwHZ

I like to use intuition, but it makes sense to follow this up with a bit of logical reasoning.

OED，Ｉｎｔｕｉｔｉｏｎ：　The ability to understand something instinctively, without the need for conscious reasoning．

I use very little intuition, and there is convincing "evidence" that those on the spectrum have a much greater *tendency* towards cognitive, rather than intuitive modes of thinking...
Of course, we are all individuals with our inherent differences...

I will, however, suggest that those who lean towards theism have a greater tendency/affinity towards/with intuitiveness with it's greater connectedness with the emotional spectrum...
We all have both aspects influencing our psyche...
It is simply a matter of degree...surely...

There is a point to these posts in this thread, btw...
It is an exercise of clarification as a result of concept building in another tread...
More appropriate here than in there...
I may present a tighter conclusion after gathering more information and sorting it out properly...

Thank you for your contribution...

This is one man's opinion...

Here's how I tend to put them.
Instincts are natural safeguards such as aversion to lethal heights. We can practice to override them.
Intuition is when your subconscious takes all the extra clues and gives your conscious mind a nudge in the right direction.

It has been my experience that a healthy mind results in healthy intuition. When I was stressed or depressed, I found my intuition unreliable. Maintaining a realistic self-image and a degree of emotional clarity has improved my intuition to the point of being able to accurately judge a character within a minute of meeting them.
I don't doubt that being on the spectrum and being relatively ration has helped with the emotional clarity/stability. However, my period of mental unhealth was largely derived from social pressures and dealing with my being on the spectrum. Therefore, I submit the notion that while we may start at a disadvantage, we can use our rationale to more effectively harness the more emotional regions of our brains (not consciously) for practical purposes.

At times I have made important decisions based on emotions when intuition was saying no, no, no. The result was disaster. It would have helped if I'd have applied some logic to back up my inntuition.

On a slight tangent but related to the gut feeling concept.

The nervous system that lines the oesophagus and gastrointestinal tract are a much more complex system than many consider, and can be shown to be a separate neural system or even a second brain. I do wonder if this could also be connected with gut problems that many on the spectrum seem to suffer with.

The Enteric Nervous System: The Brain in the Gut

Very much in agreement with the underlined...

Let me declare my position regarding intuition:
Extreme distrust in certain areas...
It has let me down badly in certain areas time and time again...
But I am trying to overcome my aversion...



Somewhat with me also...
But I attribute this more to my unusually keen body language sense which I see as more rational/conscious than intuitive...



I've said this before and will say it again:
It is my firm believe that part of the social developmental delay that those on the spectrum have is due to poor interpersonal experiences in our formative years...

What confounded me and damaged my philosophical development for many years was simply being derailed by neurotypical reality perversion...I.E. though intentional lies designed to establish social/mindset dominance...
The drag others down rather than pick oneself up principle that so many young NTs naturally adopt...

In addition to having a fragile sense of self initially , the destruction of self confidence through reality fracking critically stunted development in most areas...
Many of those on the spectrum seemed to have developed what is known as an "inferiority complex" (sorry for the label...so many people have problems with descriptors, go figure)...
And after being on the receiving end of constant manipulative and humiliating social interaction, is it any wonder that we so often prefer our own company?

I'm just plain terrible at making decisions, period...
I look for perfect solutions considering all aspects of the equation, but of course there is no such thing...
I rarely use my intuition, and actually say to people I need more time to consider my decision making process...
If they have a problem with that, frack 'em...
I prefer/value conscious, rather than subconscious thinking...

"But the gut's nervous system was too important to put inside the newborn head with long connections going down to the body," says Wingate. Offspring need to eat and digest food at birth. Therefore, nature seems to have preserved the enteric nervous system as an independent circuit inside higher animals. It is only loosely connected to the central nervous system and can mostly function alone, without instructions from topside."
http://www.psyking.net/id36.htm

First I've heard about this concept...
Thanks for sharing...