Are you a logical or intuitive thinker?

It seems to me this week’s topic is rather tricky!  I am not an expert on these things so whatever ideas I offer you should be taken with a pinch of salt!

Part of the problem is that we need to be careful how we define the words ‘logic’ and ‘intuition.’ Logic as a kind of formal skill dates back to the ancient Greeks (I think!) They came up with logical/mathematical formula that are still taught in university philosophy classes all over the world. For example:

All mammals are animals.

All elephants are mammals.

Therefore, all elephants are animals.

However, I think the question is intended to make us think about logic and intuition more in what are called ‘layman’s terms.’ A ‘layman’ is a non-professional in any job. So, ‘layman’s terms’ means the definitions that non-expert people use to explain an idea or thing. We often ask an expert whom we don’t understand to explain the problem again ‘using layman’s terms.’

Expert: The resulting chemical reaction creates a compound of hydrogen and oxygen.

Real person…: Could you explain that in in layman’s terms.

Expert: You get water.

I guess a logical person is someone who approaches problems and issues rather systematically while trying to arrive at a solution. On the other hand, an intuitive thinker may miss out many steps and arrive at a solution apparently without thinking too much about it. In reality, skilled professionals such as firefighters (I had a gut feeling we should run) and chess masters (looks like he played a move without even thinking about it) are simply reacting based on thousands of hours of accumulated experience.

I personally think there are better ways of trying to understand how people think. I came to this conclusion after reading a book by Daniel Kahneman called ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow.’ Kahneman won the Nobel prize for his work on bias and how it affects the way we think and react.  It seems we have two systems in our heads for thinking. The first reacts with little or no analysis to what is going around, allowing us to do things automatically without much effort. However, once a problem or situation becomes more complex or demanding (such as a math problem) the deep thinking system kicks in.  Unfortunately, the information the deep thinking system gets, filtered through our simple system is twisted as a result of many different kinds of biases. So, although we may think we are thinking in a logical, rational way in fact we are not.  An example of a bias might be exposure in the media.  This is why people are often nervous about driving near buses for weeks if a terrorist act occurs on one, even in another country. The actual probability of being killed compared to other dangers is almost zero.

So, I prefer to think of myself as someone struggling with many different biases rather than trying to label myself as either intuitive or logical. I guess if you want to know which I am you should take my English classes and try to figure it out!