2.3 Might intuition lead you astray?
You need intuition to help you leap from what you know to what you do not know, but an unwarranted belief in the power of intuition could lead you astray. You might be right when everyone else is wrong; but you may do well to consider other people’s points of view. If those who know you well disagree, listening to them could help you learn.
Reflecting allows your mind to stand still for a moment and reassess the problems. Intuition is fallible and there are reasons to be cautious.
Psychologists Simons and Chabris argue that you should:
Be wary of your intuitions, especially intuitions about how your own mind works. Our mental systems for rapid cognition excel at solving the problems they evolved to solve, but our cultures, societies, and technologies today are much more complex than those of our ancestors. In many cases intuition is poorly adapted to solving problems in the modern world. Think twice before you decide to trust intuition over rational analysis, especially in important matters, and watch out for people who tell you intuition can be a panacea for decision-making ills.
If human intuition is important for creativity and creative decision making yet is also innately fallible, perhaps the answer is taking a more ‘data-driven’ approach. This might involve consciously stepping away from your intuition and using the available data and evidence to support your conclusions, including the use of Big Data and Artificial Intelligence (AI).