What is intuitive knowledge and what are its characteristics?

Many of our knowledge,skills and abilities do not come from academic experiences, formal or informal processes of education and therefore are not part of reason, as is intuitive knowledge.

In the following article, we explain what intuitive knowledge consists of and we mention its main characteristics.

What is intuitive knowledge?

To get into context, we must know whatintuitionis and theRoyal Spanish Academy (RAE) defines it in its first meaning as the “Faculty of understanding things instantaneously, without the need for reasoning“. (1)

In this context, all human beings havethe ability todevelop intuitionand with itintuitive intelligence, which often allows us to make decisions without the use of reasoning.

Note: Intuitive knowledge represents thatset of skills and abilitiesthat human beings acquire through life and thatare not part of an analysis or rational process, which is related to previous experiences and allows us toact instinctively. (2)

What are the characteristics of intuitive knowledge?

As stated above, intuitive knowledge is a process by which we perceive information from the environment, which is processed through the unconscious on the basis of previously learned experiences or patterns, allowing us to have an impression of reality or give an answer in a specific way. immediate. (3)

By virtue of the above, below we describe the main characteristics of intuitive knowledge:

1. It is a type of informal knowledge that comes from intuition

One of the characteristics of intuitive knowledge is that it does not belong to the rational or formal world , it does not come from the academic world, although it does form part of a Learning process .

To highlight: Intuition is a faculty that human beings have, which develops throughout life and allows them to understand situations, gestures or reactions from the environment and people, without the need to resort to reason. For this reason, intuitive knowledge is considered a type of informal knowledge.

2. It is obtained from previously experienced situations

Everyday experience is the fundamental basis for developing intuitive knowledge.

In this sense, the human being faces daily a number of situations, which are resolved as they appear and this intuitive knowledge is fed on the basis of other experiences already acquired , or through learning new situations.

3. It appears spontaneously and immediately

Intuitive knowledge has the characteristic of appearing automatically and involuntarily, at the moment when the brain needs the interpretation of a situation, which does not require a process of analysis or human reflection.

Note: It is a Spontaneous and Unpremeditated Act that occurs in the Cognitive Process of the unconscious and that allows the individual to have an instinctive interpretation of reality,Just by extracting some data from the environment.

4. It is related to creativity

At this point, the creative imagination of the individual and the disposition of a broad mind, to accept all the variables within this intuitive thoughtprocess, play a very important role.

To highlight: Creativity allows you to approach spaces, interpretations or situations based on experiences already lived, which allow you to immediately compare previous situations with the current one and Get anAppreciative Conclusionof what happens around.

5. Allows you to solve problems and react to stimuli

Intuitive knowledge is one of the tools most used daily by human beings without realizing it, since it allows countless situations

Likewise, it also allows an adequate and rapid response to a variety of stimuli that appear unexpectedly, and the survival of the individual may depend on it.

How to put intuitive knowledge into practice?

Unconsciously, as the human being experiences different situations in daily life, he Obtains a corrective learning to those situations to have a better intuitive knowledge.

For this reason, we have the following examples of situations in which we involuntarily use intuitive knowledge :

• When we intuitively perceive a person ‘s happiness, sadness, depression or anger through facial gestures .
• When we are able to intuitively predict the weather conditions at a given time.
• When we face a danger and react intuitively and immediately, to face it or move away.
• When through gestures we know that a person is lying to us.

Key Findings

• Intuitive knowledge arises from the accumulation of experiences from childhood.
• Intuitive knowledge comprises a set of skills and abilities that are acquired throughout life.
• Intuitive knowledge develops in the unconscious and is specific to each individual .
• Intuitive knowledge arises spontaneously , reacting to stimuli, allowing problem solving.