Why
is intuition the key to personal growth?
It is virtually
impossible to find an idea or a so-called fact that every human being
accepts. The reason is that you cannot find an absolute proof, meaning
a proof that cannot be questioned by the human mind.
You probably believe the earth is round, but what proof do you have?
You might have seen a photo that was supposedly taken from space, but
photos can be manipulated. If you really want to, you can cast doubt
upon any “factual” evidence which seems to indicate that
the earth is round. Even if you took a trip to the international space
station and orbited the earth, you could still argue that this doesn’t
constitute absolute proof. You could have been hallucinating, you could
have been hypnotized or the whole trip might have been simulated in
some secret government facility.
These ideas are not meant to question that the earth is round, but to
point out that the human mind has an ability to doubt everything. Therefore,
one might reason that to our normal human awareness, there is no such
thing as absolute proof.
You can present
two people with the exact same idea. One of them might accept it as
the absolute truth, while the other will doubt it, ridicule it or reject
it as completely untrue. How do you explain this contrast? The simple
conclusion is that a person’s acceptance of an idea is not the
automatic product of the idea itself. It is not possible to find an
idea that every human being will accept. Therefore, the acceptance or
rejection of an idea must be based on a process that takes place inside
the mind of the individual person.
How do you accept an idea?
If there is no absolute proof, how do you ever come to accept any idea
or fact? Why aren’t you doubting everything? Well, experience
demonstrates that a person who doubts everything cannot function as
a normal human being.
Some people have a psychological disorder that causes them to doubt
everything, from their own identity to the most basic aspects of everyday
life. These people often experience severe anxiety, bordering on panic
attacks. In many cases, such people cannot function emotionally, and
they end up in a mental institution.
It is a basic fact that a normal human being needs to have a mental
and emotional foundation, namely a sense of identity. This sense of
identity is based on ideas or “facts” that are considered
valid and reliable. Without such a stable platform, we simply cannot
function.
How do you come to accept these ideas? You do so through a process that
takes place inside your own mind. If you want to find meaningful answers
to life’s deeper questions, you need to become more aware of this
process and how it works.
Inner and outer acceptance
Most people have a set of core beliefs that they consider to be valid,
reliable, factual or even above questioning. One might say that inside
your your mind is a container that stores your core beliefs. A core
belief is something that you rarely question.
Before an idea or fact is admitted into this container, it must go through
an evaluation process. Every person has a process for evaluating whether
an idea should be allowed into the hallowed circle of core beliefs.
When evaluating an idea, you can take two basic approaches:
- The
outer approach. When you take this approach, you accept the
idea based on outer evidence. For example, an idea might fit into
your existing beliefs, and therefore you accept that the idea must
be true. In other cases, an idea is presented by a person, organization
or belief system that you consider to be reliable, perhaps even infallible.
Once again, you accept the idea without truly evaluating the idea.
When you take the outer approach to accepting an idea, you are using
your intellect or your emotions. You might take an intellectual approach
and do a rational and logical evaluation of how the idea fits into
the framework of what you already accept. You might take an emotional
approach and accept the idea because you want it to be true or because
you gain some form of advantage by accepting the idea.
- The inner
approach. When you take this approach, you are evaluating
the idea in a way that goes beyond intellectual reasoning or emotional
desire. Instead of accepting the idea at face value, you are seeking
a deeper understanding of the idea. You are not simply comparing the
idea to your existing beliefs or to an outer belief system. You are
truly evaluating whether the idea is valid, and you are basing this
evaluation on something that goes beyond both the intellect and emotions.
When you take the inner approach, you are evaluating the idea by using
your intuition. Intuition could also be called a form of higher reasoning,
because it goes beyond both the intellect and the emotions.
Going beyond the relativity of intellect and emotions
The intellect and the emotions are relative faculties of the mind.
With the human
intellect, you can argue for or against any given idea without ever
reaching a final conclusion as to the validity of the idea. The intellect
compares every new idea to some existing idea and seeks to place the
new idea on a relative scale between true and false. However, true and
false are defined according to the belief-system currently accepted
by the intellect. The intellect is not concerned with truth in a larger
sense; it is only concerned with what fits into the framework of its
existing beliefs.
The human emotions
are ever-changing and cannot give you a stable platform for finding
meaningful answers to life’s questions. The emotions are not concerned
with truth; they simply believe what they want to believe or what seems
to offer a short-term advantage.
When you use your
intuition, you go beyond both the intellect and the emotions. You send
an idea to a higher part of your mind, and you allow that higher mind
to give you a deeper understanding of the idea. You then use this deeper
understanding (an understanding that is not effected by intellectual
analysis or emotional desire) to decide whether the idea is valid.
When you take this inner approach, you might not be able to give an
intellectual explanation of why you accept an idea. You simply know
that the idea is valid even though you cannot argue why. Your intuition
is also above the relative and ever-changing values of the emotions.
When you accept an idea intuitively, that acceptance has a timeless
and enduring quality.
If you truly want answers to life’s questions, you need to become
more conscious of your intuitive faculties, and you need to start using
them in a more systematic manner. Intuition can do much more for you
than help you find more profound answers. It can help you integrate
those answers so that you can use them to change your life for the better.
Most people don’t want answers out of mere curiosity; they want
answers that will help them transform their lives in a positive direction.
To learn about the
laws of personal growth.
To learn how to
sharpen your intuition.
Go back to How
to find answers main page.
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Copyright
© 2003 by Kim Michaels |
