Science shows intuition helps with decisions

How do you make decisions?  We can get the idea that a making a good decision comes from rationally weighing up all of the relevant information we can get our hands on.

That’s all very well, but these days we can find ourselves absolutely overwhelmed by information, facts and figures along with expert advice and the opinions of anyone who knows us.

When it comes to cutting through a mountain of information in making a decision, scientists have surprisingly come out in favour of us paying attention to our intuition.

Researchers at Cornell University divided people into two groups who then took part in two experiments in which they were asked to choose a car.  In one experiment, they were given sixteen pieces of information to base their decision on.  In another, they were given a lot more information than that.  One of the groups was asked to focus on their feelings and the other were asked to make their choice based on the details they’d been given.

The results were fascinating.  When there were only sixteen pieces of information, the group that were told to take a rational approach in terms of weighing up the details made better decisions.  But when there was a lot more information to process, the group asked to allow themselves to be led by their feelings made much better decisions 70 per cent of the time.  Not only that, but those asked to connect with their feelings reported that they were much more satisfied with the decision that they had made.

The results have led the researchers involved to acknowledge that following our gut feel or intuition might be the most effective way to steer through a mountain of detail towards making a good decision.

So how do you make this work for you?  If you’re facing a decision of any kind, whether it’s what car to buy, what career path to follow, or even what you should do on a weekend, do your research by all means.  But then put all of that to one side and give your intuition a chance to speak to you.  It can be hard to find the space to allow that inner psychic knowing to emerge in today’s busy life, but research like this shows the value of the amazing guiding force that we all have within us.

If you’re very in tune with how your psychic intuition shows up, it’s just a matter of paying attention to the messages it gives you.  If you aren’t as confident at your ability to tune in, you could lay out lots of pieces of paper showing images or words that capture what you’re trying to decide between, hold a pendulum over the lot and see which way it moves.  You’ll find more articles about how to make and use pendulums on this site.

Whatever else, this research should give you the confidence to trust your own psychic intuition as a good source of your own inner authority.

Loads of love,

Michele x