1. Ways of Knowing (4)INTUITION AND FAITH

2. Intuition?Some common synonyms:Gut feelingsHunchesFirst impressionsRapid cognitionSnap judgements 3. IntuitionIntuitions are the judgements, solutions and ideas that pop into ourconsciousness without our being aware of the mental processes thatled to them. When you suddenly know the answer to a problemyouve been mulling over or when you know that you like someonebut cant tell why, your knowledge is intuitive.Jonathan Haidt and Craig Joseph, quoted in Theory of Knowledge, A Course Companion page 194 4. Intuition intuition is the result of the way our brains store, process andretrieve information on a subconscious level (Professor Gerard Hodgkinson ) the brain drawing on past experiences and external cues to make adecision but one that happens so fast the reaction is at a non-consciouslevel. All were aware of is a general feeling that somethingis right or wrong. 5. Intuition an example A Formula One driver braked sharply when nearing a hairpin bend withoutknowing why as a result he avoided hitting a pile-up of cars on the track ahead,undoubtedly saving his life.In hindsight the driver realised that the crowd, which would have normally beencheering him on, wasnt looking at him coming up to the bend but was lookingthe other way in a static, frozen way. That was the cue. He didnt consciouslyprocess this, but he knew something was wrong and stopped in time. 6. Intuitiona book about rapid cognition... The kind ofthinking that happens in a blink of an eyewhen you meet someone for the first time,or walk into a house you might buy or readthe first sentences of a book.... You mindtakes about two seconds to jump to a seriesof conclusions... In Blink Im trying tounderstand those two seconds.http://gladwell.com/blink/blink-q-and-a-with-malcolm/ 7. IntuitionIntuition strikes me as a concept weuse to describe emotional reactions,gut feelingsthoughts and impressionsthat dont seem entirely rational. But Ithink that what goes on in that firsttwo seconds is perfectly rational. Itsthinkingits just thinking that moves alittle faster and operates a little moremysteriously than the kind ofdeliberate, conscious decision-makingthat we usually associate withthinking.I guess I just want to get people to takerapid cognition seriously. When itcomes to something like dating, we allreadily admit to the importance ofwhat happens in the first instant whentwo people meet. But we wont admitto the importance of what happens inthe first two seconds when we talkabout what happens when someoneencounters a new idea, or when weinterview someone for a job, or when amilitary general has to make a decisionin the heat of battlehttp://gladwell.com/blink/blink-q-and-a-with-malcolm/ 8. Social IntuitionCharacter judgementsIs someone lying?Relationships 9. Intuition in MathsAnd I was sitting here at this desk ...... and I was trying, convincing myself that itdidn't work, just seeing exactly what the problem was, when suddenly, totallyunexpectedly, I had this incredible revelation. I realized what was holding me upwas exactly what would resolve the problem I had had in my Iwasawa theoryattempt three years earlier, wasIt was the mostthe most important momentof my working life. It was so indescribably beautiful; it was so simple and soelegant, and I just stared in disbelief for twenty minutes. ..........My originalapproach to the problem from three years before would make exactly that work........ So, the first night, I went back and slept on it. I checked through it again thenext morning, and by eleven o'clock, I was satisfied and I went down and toldmy wife, "I've got it. I think I've got it. I've found it. Andrew Wiles on finding thesolution to Fermats last Theoremhttp://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/transcripts/2414proof.html 10. Intuition always right?We have many intuitions in our life, and the point is that many ofthese intuitions are wrong. The question is, are we going to testthose intuitions? We can think about how we're going to test thisintuition in our private life, in our business life, and most particularlywhen it goes to policy, ...... when you create new stock markets,when you create other policies taxation, health care and so onDan Ariely on TEDhttp://www.ted.com/talks/dan_ariely_on_our_buggy_moral_code/transcript?language=en#t-938000 11. Intuition and decision making"You've got to be able to back up your decisions - you can't just say 'because I said so'"http://www.open.edu/openlearn/money-management/management/business-studies/rita-clifton-on-intuition-versus-planning 12. FaithoI believe in intuitions and inspirations...I sometimes FEEL that I am right. I do notKNOW that I am. Albert EinsteinoFaith is a passionate intuition William WordsworthoFaith consists in believing when it is beyond the power of reason to believe VoltaireoFaith means believing the unbelievable GK ChestertonoFaith is to believe what we do not see, and the reward of this faith is to see what webelieve St Augustine 13. FaithI do not think there is a demonstrative proof (like Euclid) of Christianity, nor ofthe existence of matter, nor of the good will and honesty of my best and oldestfriends. I think all three are (except perhaps the second) far more probable thanthe alternatives.As to why God doesn't make it demonstratively clear; are we sure that He iseven interested in the kind of Theism which would be a compelled logical assentto a conclusive argument? Are we interested in it in personal matters? I demandfrom my friend trust in my good faith which is certain without demonstrativeproof. It wouldn't be confidence at all if he waited for rigorous proof.CS Lewis 14. Faith and knowledge claimsFaith and religion (a faith?)Faith as belief not requiring (compelling) evidence?Faith as justification?Is faith the same as assumption? 15. Faith and knowledge claimsFaith and ethics?Authority - what do you take on faith (or trust)?Faith as trust in others?Are faith and science antithetical? 16. Newman teaches us that if we have accepted thetruth of Christ and committed our lives to him,there can be no separation between what webelieve and the way we live our lives.Pope Benedict XVIThere is no absolute truth. You are committingan act of personal faith when you claim thatthe scientific method, including mathematicsand logic, is the privileged road to truth. Othercultures might believe that truth is to be foundin a rabbit's entrails, or the ravings of aprophet up a pole. It is only your personalfaith in science that leads you to favour yourbrand of truth.Richard Dawkins 17. Faith personal or shared knowledge?I believe .... We believe..... Personal belief (is that the same as intuition?) Faith as shared culture