Gut

The first topic of my first lecture in DEVC50 (Introduction to Science Communication) is the four ways of knowing. They are: 1) authority, 2) common sense, 3) intuition, and 4) science.

One way of knowing is not necessarily better than the other, but my lecture has always been biased toward science. After all, it is a science communication subject. What makes science “special” (again, not necessarily “better”), in a nutshell, is the rigor one applies to arrive at “truth.” Here, a scientist (or, really, anyone who wants to “know”) follows the scientific method beginning with observation all the way to proving/disproving his hypothesis. It’s not a perfect process by any stretch but it has proven to be useful in generating new knowledge, especially in the hard sciences.

But y’know?

Sometimes — well, most of the time — intuition proves to be a rather bang on way of knowing. It’s no surprise that we are often advised to “trust our instincts” and “go with our gut.” There’s no need for hard proof or thorough experimentation; our hunch or sneaking suspicion is already good enough.

Could have turned left
Could have turned right
But I ended up here
Bang in the middle of real life

Intuition, Natalie Imbruglia