Although complete dependence on intuition is not suggested, intuition is often surprisingly accurate. But how do we know when to accept or reject our intuition, or more importantly, when should we discard explanations that are intuitively appealing?

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Intuition can often be the source of great confusion for most humans. Sometimes, it may work in favor for us, while other times, it works against us. Dictionary.com defines intuition as “A thing that one knows or considers likely from instinctive feeling rather than conscious reasoning.” Although complete dependence on intuition is not suggested, intuition is often surprisingly accurate. But how do we know when to accept or reject our intuition, or more importantly, when should we discard explanations that are intuitively appealing? In order to attempt to answer this question, this investigation will touch on three of the four ‘Ways of Knowing’: emotion, sense perception, and reason. The reliability of intuition will also be analyzed.

The obvious answer to this question can be demonstrated in a personal example. I used to have an addiction to Oreos, which are known to contain 60% fat and sugar (Nabisco). But because I wanted to be able to justify eating Oreos in such large quantities, I did some research on the nutrition facts and found that they contain 4% vitamin A, 2% vitamin C, and 10% calcium (Nabisco). These facts that showed that Oreos have some good nutrition in them formed an intuitively appealing explanation that would help justify my excessive consumption of Oreos. Although these facts may have been true, those small percentages did not actually prove that Oreos are healthy. Without a doubts, the fact that Oreos were made of of more than half fat and sugar proved the exact opposite. So was I still able to accept my intuitively appealing explanation? The main idea of this example was to show that intuitively appealing explanations that are false, with obvious evidence to prove it, should be discarded. But even though the answer to this question may seem simple, other situations must be studied before jumping to shallow conclusions.

So when can we keep explanations that are intuitively appealing? John Kord Lagemann, a famous author, said that “Intuition isn’t the enemy, but the ally, of reason.” This suggests that appealing intuitive feelings based on reason should not necessarily be discarded. One example that connects to this statement is the controversy between the two theories, Creationism and the Big Bang. Both are intuitively appealing, and come with an good amount of logical reasoning. The idea of creationism argues that the complexity of the universe and the earth makes it virtually impossible for everything to have formed by chance and that a supernatural being, such as God, must have created them using intelligent design. This argument is definitely a logical one. Although there is not yet a way to provide definite evidence for creationism, it should not be discarded either because of the lack of definite evidence against it. The same goes for the Big Bang theory, the idea that a sudden explosion once occurred one small point that contained all the matter and energy, starting a rapid expansion of the universe, thus resulting in the creation of the earth and the universe as it is today. Also, supported with logical reasoning, there is still no basis for discarding this explanation because there is no definite way to prove that this is not true.

A major category that must be acknowledged in order to thoroughly study this question is religion. Take Christianity as an example. Is there any way to prove against this intuitive explanation? Is there any way to prove that this explanation is true? The same goes for all other religions. Buddhists believe that a man named Siddhartha Gautama, after experiencing a peasant life of suffering, suddenly became enlightened, discovering the meaning of life. Because this supposedly happened in 500 to 600 BCE, it is virtually impossible to find any solid evidence that this either happened or did not happen. In the case of religion as an intuitively appealing explanation, we can suggest that these explanations should not be discarded.

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Another knowledge issue to consider when deciding whether or not to discard intuitively appealing explanation is the importance of sense perception and it’s relation to intuition. Can intuitively appealing explanations be kept when paired with perception? For instance, when I see the sun rise and set every morning and evening, it creates an intuitive feeling that the sun will rise and set tomorrow too. This example suggests that it is not valid to discard my appealing intuitive instincts when intuition is combined with perception.

However, a new knowledge issue arises from the previous example: Can sense perception be influenced ...

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