Pesky Logic (Blog)

[Erin Pavlina]

Use this thread to discuss the following entry from Erin Pavlina's blog:

Pesky Logic

[Calculusaurus]

There were at least a dozen incidences that I could point to during that 30 day intuition binge where listening to my intuition instead of my logic was the right thing to do.

I'd be interested in hearing more of these cases.

It was a very interesting post.

Logic and intuition don't feel entirely disparate for me. Maybe someday

[Bitsy]

How do you distinguish the difference between logic and intuition, and then either one of those that has been tainted by emotion?

[Rose of Cairo]

Thanks a lot Erin, that's what I needed!

But how do I recognize my intuition?? It happens often that I have two different feelings, and I would listen to my intuition without a second of hesitation, if I only knew which one it is... Both feelings feel too similar! So I wonder which one is intuition and end up so confused that I just do something - and most of the time I make exactly the wrong choice. But when I think "ok, this is what I would have chosen now, so it's probably the wrong one, thus I will choose the other one!", this other is the wrong one too....

[Mew3692002]

I can agree with that one! My intuition has helped me sooo much since I started to listen to it, but I don't know what would have happened if I didn't take its advice, good trade off though. I can relate to strong feelings of intuition (like this person will be bad for you), which as it turns out, was the strongest feeling of intuition I ever had (and it was right and I did listen to it thank goodness! ).

[Jeff Lilly]

Your post was so well-timed!

Just Friday, I had a very specific intuition (that I should gingerly get out from underneath my sleeping, sick 3-year-old because the Jehovah's Witnesses were going to come ring the doorbell), which I argued myself out of believing (they only come every couple of months; why should it be during this nap! Besides, she is so beautiful to watch, just sleeping there...). And half an hour later, the doorbell rings (multiple times), and it was the Jehovah's Witnesses!!! Of course, I was not able to sneak out of bed without waking her up--she was grumpy for hours afterwards.

I don't recall having an episode of intuition-versus-logic that was that clear-cut before.

But I did manage to notice the difference between the two arguers in my head. The intuition was just a pure, nonjudgemental statement of fact. The logic was snide, and defensive in tone--there were many reasons given why I should in fact ignore my feeling about the forthcoming interruption. It was frenzied. The intuitive side never defended itself other than to calmly repeat the original statement.

At the time I did not have labels for these two arguing personas, but now I do, thanks to Erin's post! I hope my story helps others to figure out which is which when intuition battles logic in our heads.

--Jeff's wife, Emily

[Foolish1]

Originally Posted by Erin Pavlina

Use this thread to discuss the following entry from Erin Pavlina's blog:

Pesky Logic

I think we should be careful: This is not a scientific or controlled study, what would have happened if you took the back roads and got their early?

Our intuition is a GUIDE and it can be wrong just as much as it is right, for instance sometimes I feel I should intuitively ask a person straight out to have sex with me, but that doesn't mean it's RIGHT.

Our logic circuits would work properly if they had enough information to make a correct judgment, some decisions are very complex and we have limited resources and time available to think things through.

There's a difference between logic, understanding, time constrained thinking, and learned pessimism.

[Rani]

Oh I loved that blog post Erin! Your story about the atm made me laugh because the same thing happened to me last week.

I long ago realised that little reminder (like "go down that aisle in the supermarket"!) was worth listening to. Sometimes it makes me laugh how seemingly trivial it can be, but its like a little secret compass that nudges me in the right direction.

It even happens to me when I'm adding salt to dishes when cooking (always sounds like my grandma) "THAT'S ENOUGH!" And when I pay attention, its always seasoned perfectly...

Gotta love it!

[Red Willow]

This is really so true! Thanks Erin.

This happened to me at a party a couple months ago. My friend and I began chatting with a pregnant woman who neither of us had ever met before. My friend asked her if this was her first and she replied "no." She said this totally neutrally, but I got this feeling that this woman doesn't have any children. Still, we were making conversation, and the usual banter would require someone ask, "oh, how old are your other children?" My intuition said "just drop it, change the subject." But logic said, "Jeez, just make small talk, will ya?"

So I asked her about her other kids. And I was so NOT surprised when she told me her daughter had died. I stuck my foot in my mouth and totally vowed to listen to my intuition next time.

[Rose of Cairo]

Now I got it!

I have no words but physical impulses so it was difficult for me to know which one is intuition and which one logic. But I noticed that what Erin and Emily said about it (one is calm and succint, the other one pushy and argumentative) can be applied to my impulses too. One is a soft pulling ("come this way."), the other one is more a nervous pushing ("move immediately in this direction, or you will miss something important"). I decided the latter is logic and the former intuition. Thus, I will follow the soft pulling and ignore the nervous pushing. I'm looking forward to seeing if it's better this way!

Thank you very much!

[skimmy]

I had a very clear example of logic vs. intuition happen to me these past couple of months.

I started a temp assignment late October of 2007, and I was told this assignment would involve heavy payroll assistance, which perked my ears since I wanted to get into accounting. Once I got there, I was told I would be the operations administrative assistant, and I felt the first *plunk* in my gut. Another admin job?? I had enough of those. Well, I decided to make the best of it and do the job they hired me for. After a week, I started getting into it, and found it did involved a lot of payroll duties, so I was satisfied for the time being.

Then the girl who I was temping for came back, but instead of ending my assignment, they told me to stay around because they loved my work and "in case she left for another job." *Plunk* number two. They were working on creating a position for me, which logically should make anyone excited, but I wasn't really jumping for joy. They told me about a project they wanted me to head up, which they said would involve some accounts payable work but to me it sounded more like cleaning up someone else's mess, so that was another *plunk*. I started looking for another temp assignment. A couple of weeks later, I got a phone call from a different temp agency and they said they had a company that wanted me to start the following monday, working directly for the accounting department, and starting at a higher pay rate. I got excited, and told her I'd get back to her.

I wanted to compare my options, so I went to talk to the Director of Finance about my future at the company. I told her about the other company's offer, and she tried to talk me out of it. She gave some compelling logic for staying.

"What if I told you that tomorrow, you'll report to me and be considered part of the accounting department?" Logically appealing.

I told her the project they wanted me to work on wasn't that appealing because of the "cleaning up" part.

"What if I got in a file clerk to organize those files, then all you'd have to do is see how the process flows now and make your recommendations for better efficiency?" Again, logically appealing.

Other logically appealing details she told me was that under her, I'd get a broad range of accounting experience and she also has connections in the CPA licensing world and she could sort of "mentor" me in my accounting goals. All very appealing. Logically.

But when I got home, I couldn't shake the feeling in my gut that I needed to get out of that company. I spent an entire 24 hours thinking and mulling this over. I weighed the pros and cons of staying vs. leaving, and for all the logical reasons I could come up with to stay, my gut kept sinking at the thought of staying. I just could not work up any excitement at the prospect of going back to that company. All I got was a feeling of dread. So, I told them I decided to accept the other offer. They understood and wished me the best of luck.

Fast forward to Monday at my new temp assignment: Already I was being given multiple accounting tasks that were completely new to me, and I felt that I was growing and learning already. The first week I had already learned enough to add a half page to my resume. I'm very happy here and I can already see potential for more learning and growth. I'm convinced I made the right decision, and that was based just on a gut feeling.

[Kaspian]

Skimmy,

As I read through your post, I became more and more convinced that you were going to go with logic. So great to hear you followed your intuition! <cheer>

[Erin Pavlina]

Awesome! Way to listen to the gut.

[Lola]

Yay for Skimmy's intuition!

I'm learning that one of the reasons it's been difficult for me to distinguish my intuitive voice is because it's always been present. It's always been a part of me. When I started consciously learning more about how to listen to and trust my intuition, I started seeking it and couldn't seem to find any new, earth-shattering thing. Well, duh. That's because it's always been here, I just wasn't paying attention.

[eternomi]

It is hard to follow intuition sometimes because the outcomes are not always affirming as to what would or wouldn't have happened if you picked what you didn't pick.

For example, Erin, if you did indeed stay on the highway, would you have known what you dodged? Without that confirmation, would you have felt good about your choice? On the other hand, when you take out the $40 from the ATM by going against your logic and then later seeing that Safe Key lady was going to ask for it anyway, the validity of your intuition is confirmed and logic is put to rest.

Not taking a path and not knowing how it would have turned out is the biggest obstacle in the practice of intuition following.