Nature: "Why you should go with your gut"

[nuxvomica]

Study says unconscious consideration yields most satisfying decisions.
by Helen Pearson

The best way to make a tough decision is to put your feet up and think about something else. So says an investigation of people shopping for cars, clothes and furniture.

Many people assume that the best way to tackle a difficult choice is to list the pros and cons and ponder them deeply. Others believe we do better to sleep on it, leaving the decision-making to our unconscious, or intuition.

A team of researchers at the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, carried out a series of studies to distinguish between these ideas. In one experiment, university students read a list of features about four different cars, such as facts on their mileage and legroom, before deciding which car to pick.

more...
http://www.nature.com/news/2006/060213/full/060213-9.html

Interesting article. I heard about this on NPR this evening and thought I'd post. You might be wondering why I posted in this group instead of, say, the Science Forum. Well, (a) I think the subject matter is appropriate cuz a lot of what is discussed here relates to what some folks might call the "unconscious" mind, (b) I don't hang out much in the Science Forum and (c) I went with my gut decision. ;-)

[I Have A Dream]

1. This is great! It rewards me for my bad habit of procrastinating!

I'm a believer!

:rofl:

Hi, nuxvomica! :hi:

[nuxvomica]

2. LOL. I emailed this at work and got similar reactions

I think you are experiencing the joy of the unconscious mind at the long-awaited recognition of it's superiority over the conscious one. :hi:

[DemExpat]

3. I always make my list and then set it aside

to let my intuition do its work, as Kahneman suggests at the end of the article.
My very best results always come from good research and then letting intuition sort it out for my will to make the decision.

So, yes, I thoroughly agree with this article! :D

:hi:

DemEx

[nuxvomica]

6. I do something similar

And sometimes if it's a really complicated subjective decision, like a career move, I look at all the variables and then tell myself that when I sleep I will have a dream that will tell me what choice to make. Then I wait a few beats and ask myself what I hope the dream tells me. This works for me oddly enough.
:hi:

[Desertrose]

4. So glad you went with your gut NV

and posted here.:hug:

My gut tells me that responses in the Science forum would be V E R Y different :evilgrin:

I have learned that I usually regret the "head decisions" more often than not.

I have found that if I visualize ther diffrerent choices and thier outcomes, my body feels each one and thus makes it easier to choose. The more we use and trust our intuition, the stronger and clearer it becomes...least that has been my lifetime's worth of experience. :) Your gut becomes the best bullshit detector you can ever have!


:hug:
DR

[nuxvomica]

7. Well I expected a poor reception in the Science forum

Especially because the rules specifically prohibit "pseudoscience" and for all I know that's what this study might be called. So here I am with a post that the Science forum might reject and the folks in this forum don't really need to hear about but I knew the folks here would be both intellectually curious and welcoming so there you have it.

Interesting that you feel the reaction in your body, which I think is probably true of most people's intuition even if they aren't aware of it. I agree that the gut is a great BS detector. My reaction to RW rhetoric is not dissimilar to my reaction to bad food. Perhaps the solar plexus is the seat of our morality.

[Cleita]

5. Gut has always worked for me. I still do try to weigh the pros and

cons, but I still go with gut.

[nuxvomica]

8. It's fundamentally not a choice, IMHO

If you go against your gut, then your gut doesn't feel right and no amount of careful analysis can make your tummy feel better if you've made the choice it doesn't like. If people understood this better there might be fewer ulcer cases. It's like Joseph Campbell's prescription to "go with your bliss."