What exactly is “intuition”?
If someone is intuitive, does it mean they have a magical power or are somehow in tune with the unseen, surrounding energy of our world?
Or does it have more grounding in science than we think?
An article by the American Psychological Association summarizes research identifying what intuition actually is. As driving a car is a learned skill, it eventually becomes natural and almost intuitive. In the world of medicine, a novice, or beginner, has no experience and must therefore use rules and guidelines to assess patients and develop a diagnosis. They have no prior feedback to draw from and therefore must acquire as much information as possible before coming to a hypothesis. As the beginner gains experience, the rules and guidelines become automatic, much like driving. Ideally, the further the practitioner advances in their field, the more automatic their decisions are based. This is true with physical therapists, massage therapists, acupuncturists, etc. The complex and detailed thought processes that determine their decisions in the clinic are based on experience and knowledge. On the outside, it may seem effortless and “intuitive”, and although these processes have actually become automatic, there is still an immense amount of information thats processed with every decision.
Perhaps intuition is more a quality of an expert than a magician.