Counter intuitive decisions

When to decide upon your intuition?

Normally you take decisions based upon the interaction between your brain ( = the computer?), your actual senses (Sensors = eyes, ears, etc) and the conscious experiences, facts and believes, so called data (CD = Conscious Data) that are memorized (stored) in your head.


By deduction and induction your brain finally leads you to the best possible decision through interaction with these senses and data.

But there are other forms of decision making, based upon instinct or intuition.


Instinctive decisions

Our DNA has been build up and modified over a number of generations. When you where born this anchored DNA information emerges from every cell in your body and leads you on exactly the right moment to the right response. It's generated from your subconscious, present in every cell of your body and occurs without any specific interference of your brain.
Some simple examples of human instinctive response for newborns are:

• Breathing
• Naturally swim when placed in water
• Naturally turn to suckle

Intuitive decisions

Intuitive decisions are decisions you finally take upon your 'gut feeling'.

There are 3 types of intuitive decisions, based upon the time you have to take a decision:

1. Decision time limited to split second
   In these cases (attack, fire) you take the decision on basis of your instinct (reflex), without interference of your brain.
   Remember these instinct decisions are not always right. For example, if your car starts to skid or swerve, although your instinct is telling you, never slam on the breaks!.
   
   
2. Decision time in minutes
   Now you take the decision upon a combination of your instinct, your senses and the nearby experiences filed in your head. Your brain combines this information and you try to take a 'sensible' decision.
   However, recent research has shown that in case of a combination of instinct and short brain interaction participants performed better when given almost no time to think.
   
   
3. Decision time in days
   Just like when you have to decide in minutes, you are now even more able to think about your final decision. In this case you can take along the advices of other people (friends, professional help, foes, etc) and do some desk research to take into account some new facts.
   This process of deciding leads to the "I've done everything I could" decision type and may include all kind of aspects such as fairness, believes and clairvoyance.
   However, also in this situation decisions can turn out wrong. First of all you cannot take all the varying circumstances into account. Secondly, the logic of your Brain isn't always right and often tightly connected to what your intuition or sum up of experiences is telling you.

Counter intuitive decisions
A good example of misleading your brain and intuition at the same time is the so called Monty Hall problem, sometimes also called 'three door problem'.

Monthy Hall Problem The set of Monty Hall's game show "Let's Make a Deal" has three closed doors. Behind one of these doors is a first prize, a car. Behind the other two doors are goats. The contestant does not know where the car is, but Monty Hall does. The contestant picks a door and Monty opens one of the remaining doors, one he knows doesn't hide the car. If the contestant has already chosen the correct door, Monty is equally likely to open either of the two remaining doors. After Monty has shown a goat behind the door that he opens, the contestant is always given the option to switch doors. What's the contestant's best strategy? Stay with her choice or switch to the remaining door?

The answer to this problem is simple but counterintuitive:
Switching gives you a 2/3 change of winning. Staying with your original choice a 1/3 change.

If you doubt this:

• Try it yourself by means of simulation
• Imagine there are a hundred doors, you picked one and Monty opens the 98 other doors with a goat and keeps one door closed. Would you switch now?

The shown examples make clear that intuition and logical thought are often different modes of the functioning of the brain as a whole.
Let's conclude that it's best to use your intuition in 'split seconds decisions' and in cases where your reasoning, research and conversations do not lead to a convincing logical final decision.
However stay alert on the fact that even when your mind and intuition agree on a decision, the outcome can be wrong.
So, if possible, let your brain decide when to use your intuition.

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