• Question: Is it rational to trust your 'gut feeling'?

    Asked by anon-297802 to Ola, Nora, John, Gustav on 16 Jul 2021.
    • Photo: Gustav Markkula

      Gustav Markkula answered on 7 Jul 2021:

      Oh, interesting question. My short answer would probably be yes, especially if you have substantial previous experience of the type of decision that you are making. The brain can be really good at learning what gives a good outcome and what doesn’t in a given situation, but it doesn’t necessarily tell you *why* the preferred “gut feeling” decision alternative is the preferred one.

      I think a longer answer might go into counter-questions such as: What does it mean to be rational anyway? Typically “rational” means making the “best” decision, according to reason and logic, but how do you measure what is “best”? In some rare situations, for example for a company, that might be measured in for example money, but for us as individuals “best” is typically something more complicated, more related to how we will feel about different outcomes, or differently put how “rewarding” different outcomes will be to us, and it is known that the “reward system” in the brain is involved in a lot of our decision making. Which sort of brings us back to the gut feelings again. 🙂

    • Photo: Nora Vyas

      Nora Vyas answered on 10 Jul 2021:

      Thanks for this question. Our “gut feeling” may be a reflection of some of our previous experiences in similar experiences (where we have learnt a lesson) alongside the type of ‘vibe’ or feeling we get when we are asked to respond to something or do something for someone. Typically we think of a ‘gut feeling’ where there is something negative… a situation where we reflect upon the pros and cons. Gut instincts should typically be considered alongside a rational mind on what’s right for you. Hope this helps! 🙂

Comments

  • Photo: anon-297802

    anon-297802 commented on :

    Thank you! That’s really helpful and interesting 🙂

  • Photo: Jennifer

    Jennifer commented on :

    This is really interesting, there has been some research into doctors using their gut feeling around medical decisions. So they may have a patient in front of them who they feel has something seriously wrong with them but they can’t say why they feel that way. We think that what is happening is that they are using their experience and knowledge but they just aren’t able to put their finger on where this knowledge has explicitly come from.