Philosophy Discussion Forums | A Humans-Only Club for Open-Minded Discussion & Debate

[Raymond]

It's very reliable! My gut feeling abou the non-existence of the Higgs particle led me to a self-consistent, coherent explanatory scheme laying at the foundation of quarks and leptons, and their mass. There is no asymmetry between matter and antimatter, as my gut feeling always told me so.

There was a discussion I excited. About time dilation for two observers in circular motion, diametrically opposed to one another. My gut feeling immediately told me they would see each other's clocks go in the same pace as the other's. Which is so, but the others needed derivations.

[Good_Egg]

The proposition that you can always tell if someone is lying and the proposition that you can never tell if somebody is lying seem to be both evidently false. So the right answer can only be "sometimes".

That's only one area in which "gut feeling" operates. But I suspect the answer applies to other areas equally.

And something that only works sometimes is generally not considered reliable.

That is a reasonable way to look at the question. But then 'gut feeling' becomes unreliable, and a factor that should be neglected when making decisions. But is it good to totally override our gut feelings and do the opposite?

What sort of well-ordered life do you have that you can afford to neglect things that "work sometimes" ?

Some of us are stuck with unreliable software, unreliable colleagues, unreliable memories...

[LuckyR]

The proposition that you can always tell if someone is lying and the proposition that you can never tell if somebody is lying seem to be both evidently false. So the right answer can only be "sometimes".

That's only one area in which "gut feeling" operates. But I suspect the answer applies to other areas equally.

And something that only works sometimes is generally not considered reliable.

That is a reasonable way to look at the question. But then 'gut feeling' becomes unreliable, and a factor that should be neglected when making decisions. But is it good to totally override our gut feelings and do the opposite?

What sort of well-ordered life do you have that you can afford to neglect things that "work sometimes" ?

Some of us are stuck with unreliable software, unreliable colleagues, unreliable memories...

We all agree gut feelings are not 100% accurate, but most also agree that it does provide insight at better than random chance. Thus whether or not to rely on it depends on the risks and benefits of using vs ignoring. If I have no financial expertise and I have a gut feeling on investing my retirement on a particular penny stock, the risk of getting it wrong is enormous with no logical reason for the feeling to be correct. Don't make the investment. OTOH, if a seemingly nice man offers to help a lone woman carry her grocery bags to the deserted parking garage elevator, she has a lifetime of experience assessing men and their hidden intentions, the risk to her if her gut feeling is correct is enormous and the downside of insulting a truly nice man if her gut feeling is wrong is so small, that she absolutely should follow her gut feeling.

[Elephant]

Is it a reliable aid to use in critical decision making? Or is it a way of surfacing our hidden fears, which will ultimately hinder us from taking risky but correct decisions?

The use of gut feeling in decision-making should be made with caution. Some people are way too suspicious or mistrustful. So, their gut feeling would be negative towards others. This is not good. I think gut feeling should be used by people who have moderate views and temperaments. I mean, being a war commander -- should we trust his gut feeling or should we look at the communication and information exchanges regarding the situation? Also, if one is not feeling well, the use of gut feeling would only amount to pessimistic decision.