intuition
Sign in to saveIntuition is the ability to acquire knowledge without recourse to conscious reasoning or needing an explanation. Different fields use the word "intuition" in very different ways, including but not limited to: direct access to unconscious knowledge; unconscious cognition; gut feelings; inner sensing; inner insight to unconscious pattern-recognition; and the ability to understand something instinctively, without any need for conscious reasoning. Intuitive knowledge tends to be approximate or heuristic.
Intuition is the ability to know or understand something without consciously thinking it through, often described as a gut feeling or inner sensing that draws on patterns your mind recognizes beneath conscious awareness. It matters because it allows people to make quick judgments and decisions based on knowledge their mind has already absorbed, though the insights it provides are typically approximate rather than precise.
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Research
42,491 papers- Intuition, reason, and conspiracy beliefs.ReviewCurrent opinion in psychology · 2022Binnendyk J, Pennycook GDOI: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2022.101387
- Pathfinding: a neurodynamical account of intuition.ReviewCommunications biology · 2025Kotler S, Mannino M, Friston K et al.DOI: 10.1038/s42003-025-08612-9
- Intuition in Occupational Therapists' Clinical Reasoning: A Scoping Review.OTJR : occupation, participation and health · 2025P V, P L, E M et al.DOI: 10.1177/15394492241300604
- Intuition and evidence--uneasy bedfellows?ReviewThe British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2002Greenhalgh T
- C. G. Jung and intuition: from the mindscape of the paranormal to the heart of psychology.ReviewThe Journal of analytical psychology · 2018Pilard NDOI: 10.1111/1468-5922.12380
- Intuition and autism: a possible role for Von Economo neurons.ReviewTrends in cognitive sciences · 2005Allman JM, Watson KK, Tetreault NA et al.DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2005.06.008
- Intuition in clinical decision-making: a psychological penumbra.ReviewInternational journal of palliative nursing · 2008Nyatanga B, Vocht HdDOI: 10.12968/ijpn.2008.14.10.31493
- [Delusions and intuition].ReviewDer Nervenarzt · 1998Sigmund DDOI: 10.1007/s001150050288
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22 sectionsContents
- Psychology
- Freud
- Jung
- Modern psychology
- Philosophy
- Eastern philosophy
- Hinduism
- Buddhism
- Western philosophy
- Ancient philosophy
- Islam
- Early modern philosophy
- Immanuel Kant
- Contemporary philosophy
- Philosophy of mathematics and logic
- Business decision-making
- Intuition in organizations
- Honours
- See also
- References
- Further reading
- External links
Intuition is the ability to acquire knowledge without recourse to conscious reasoning or needing an explanation. Different fields use the word "intuition" in very different ways, including but not limited to: direct access to unconscious knowledge; unconscious cognition; gut feelings; inner sensing; inner insight to unconscious pattern-recognition; and the ability to understand something instinctively, without any need for conscious reasoning. Intuitive knowledge tends to be approximate or heuristic.
The word intuition comes from the Latin verb translated as 'consider' or from the Late Middle English word , 'to contemplate'. Use of intuition is sometimes referred to as responding to a "gut feeling" or "trusting your gut".