Godly intuition
A recent study (1) apparently demonstrates that people with an intuitive thinking style are more likely to believe in God than those with a reflective thinking style. This is fair enough but one has to dig deeper into what is meant by "intuition" and "reflection." The study seems to define intuition as a process that is not systematic. In this context, intuition seems to be the same as instinct. This is an interesting thought that may require further analysis.
Some define instinct as hard wired into the brain. In simpler brains as in many animals, instinct is supposed to be imparted as part of the hardware. Kittens and puppies seem to know instinctively what to do in certain situations, away from their parents and with no training. Human babies, however, seem to lack instincts – their operating system comes with no preconceived ideas. What makes an individual is the software that is put on through training – by parents, teachers and other interactions. Thus, intuition, as defined in the article as a close proxy for instinct, likely misses the point.
How do humans acquire intuition? One could argue that intuition is gained by repeated experiments and the analysis of the inputs and outputs of those experiments. Thus, a human in the African Savannas will have remarkably developed intuition about where predators may be found and where water is likely to exist. On the other hand, a human in Wall Street, may have intuition as to how to convert a prospect into a client and how to maximize her profits. This "intuitive knowledge," comes from repeated experiments and close analyses of the results.
Thus, "intuition," is not a hard wired property, as the article appears to proclaim – but rather it is knowledge created from analyses of past information. "Reflection," on the other hand, is a process that is driven by status quo. The article is biased in that it assumes that the "status quo," i.e. "careful analysis of the situation at hand," by the scientific elite is somehow different from intuition. It has not provided any argument to make such a differentiation.
Thus, conclusions drawn from experiments with ex. ante biases are likely incorrect. Before differentiation can be made between intuitive and reflective thought processes, one has to have both a better definition for these terms as well as a robust understanding of the genetics of these processes.
Intuitive thinking may influence belief in God, Published: Tuesday, September 20, 2011 - 12:36 in Psychology & Sociology
