Intuitive Knowledge - Concept, examples, rational knowledge

We explain that it is intuitive knowledge, its validity, importance and other characteristics.In addition, its relationship with rational knowledge.

Intuitive knowledge helps make decisions quickly.

What is intuitive knowledge?

By intuitive knowledge or intuitive thinking we usually refer to the forms of immediate knowledge that do not come from rational and conscious processes , that is, that are obtained without prior analysis and reasoning, but they are the result of certain unconscious processes that we usually call intuition.

Intuitive thinking is generally fast, agile, and is linked to creativity , so it is not usually known about "Where it comes from", that is, it is dark, hermetic.Therefore, it is not always considered as a valid way of thinking, especially in formal settings, although when it comes to solving problems it is as valid as any other.

Intuition has been the field of study of psychology and the theory of knowledge, and although it is often linked with pseudosciences and occult explanations, its presence in the human brain is undeniable.Simply is due to unconscious processes , more than supernatural perceptions.

Characteristics of intuitive knowledge

Intuitive knowledge, as we said above, is part of informal, often inexplicable, ways of knowing that flow quickly and without prior analysis.Often we realize its existence when we face novel situations .

Intuitive knowledge is usually obtained from similar past situations , or remotely similar, so that the individual manages to make a kind of creative deduction to solve the problem that presents itself.

Intuitive knowledge usually manifests itself in moments of risk , of pressure or immediacy, in which there is no time frame for reasoning or evaluation.It is given in the form of spontaneous actions or immediate or creative logics.

It can serve you: logical thinking

Examples of intuitive knowledge

Some examples of intuitive knowledge are:

• Empathy often operates on the basis of intuitive knowledge, when allows us to know the mood of a person without knowing it beforehand, or without explicit manifestations of sentimentality (crying, screams of pain, etc.).


• In risky situations, intuitive knowledge gives us an advantage of survival , allowing us an immediate reaction or a second of doubt before taking an action, for example, when they offer us a drink and something It tells us not to take it, it can be our intuition deducing something strange in the environment and warning us of the danger.


• When we have performed a task for a long time, or we are familiar with some kind of activity that is given to us easily, it is more common to observe intuitive knowledge appear: we are so accustomed to the task, that if they ask us a different one, we can apply their patterns to the new one and deduce things before they are explained to us.

Importance of intuitive knowledge

Intuitive knowledge allows us to distrust apparently harmless situations.

Intuitive thinking and intuitive knowledge are forms of reasoning closely linked to the subconscious and our irrational aspects.they enjoy some speed and freedom in our minds.

This means that they are primitive but functional modes of thinking and learning, part of our animal aspect, or simply of our less visible mental scheme.In any case, it is a form of knowledge that will always be available, even if we lack formal education and rational.

Intuitive knowledge and rational knowledge

Intuitive knowledge often opposes rational knowledge, to the extent that the latter is not fast and unconscious, but more leisurely and visible, conscious .

In addition, knowledge rational fruit of an effort to accumulate information, deduce new data from the premises and reach logical, replicable, demonstrable conclusions.If intuitive knowledge is formed in secret, the rational instead needs training, training and practice , depending on the issue.

Other types of knowledge

Other types of knowledge are:

• Religious knowledge .It is linked to the mystical and religious experience, that is, to the knowledge that studies the link between the human being and the divine.


• Scientific knowledge .It is derived from the application of the scientific method to the different hypotheses that arise from the observation of reality, in order to demonstrate through experiments what are the laws that govern the universe.


• Empirical knowledge .It is acquired through direct experience, repetition or participation, without requiring an approximation to the abstract, but from the things themselves.


• Philosophical knowledge .It follows from human thought, in the abstract, using various logical methods or formal reasoning, which does not always follow directly from reality, but from the imaginary representation of the real.