Muscle memory, gut feeling, or simply instinct, we all know what it truly means, but do we really? According to Darwinism, years and years of evolution have really transformed, not only our physical aspects, but also our mental capabilities. So a feeling that you get when your insides are telling you that something isn’t right, or when you think something is right, it’s basically due to this evolution. However, what is instinct? Can it simply be described as the intuitive feeling that you get when you know something’s up? Is it the feeling that tells you that something is wrong, when all logical facts point in the other direction, or vice versa? The truth is, instincts are much more significant than that.
Our instincts are hardcoded in our way of life, and they happen through years of experience in similar situations. In other words, instincts are not only some traits that you pick up along the way, they are your experiences, the way you reacted to a particular situation in your life. Having said all that, should you trust your instincts? Should you learn to follow them? Definitely yes, and here are five reasons telling you, why.
Subconscious over Conscious:
It is a scientifically proven fact that almost 80% decisions that we make, are actually based on the logical thinking and calculations of our subconscious mind, not the conscious mind. When you are your conscious self, you can control your emotions, responses, and reactions, but when we talk about the subconscious mind, that is rarely the case. Instincts are directly related to our sub-consciousness. Our experiences, our reaction to those experiences, and life lessons attained because of those experiences, are all hardwired into our brain, thanks to our subconscious. So whenever you get that strange gut feeling again, it is probably because your mind is trying to tell you that something is going to go wrong, because it has gone wrong in the past.
Intuition:
Instincts emerge from the subconscious, which is why they result in a much more cohesive union among the body, mind, and the soul. Your intuition is like your decision support system. It’s more intelligent than you think it is. Your instincts help you without you even realizing it. They are your mind’s web crawlers, going through the database again and again, before an important decision, and coming to a certain conclusion.
Instincts are your mind’s defense system:
As instincts are hardcoded in your mind, courtesy of your previous experiences, they allow you to reuse those experiences whenever necessary. Instincts even help you ward off certain negative scenarios by the method of self-suggestion, i.e. the method of contradicting your own thought process.
Every nerve cell in your body is involved in the process:
When you are trying to stir up your brain to come up with a decision, your mind is constantly firing neurons throughout the body to stimulate your subconscious. These neurons aren’t just located locally around the brain, but they are situated throughout the body. So when you feel those butterflies in your tummy or if you have a gut feeling, it’s not because your gut is thinking about something, it’s because your brain is searching the subconscious for answers.
Logic vs Instincts:
What makes Spock such a great science officer? The fact that he is part Vulcan and part Human. He combines the cold and hard logic that Vulcans employ with the passion and feelings of a human, enabling him to take truly great decisions. Similarly, your instincts are hardcoded in the brain to do one of two things, either help your brain combine logic and facts with positive emotions, or challenge those logics and facts with a plan of their own. How you use those instincts, is up to you.
Misty Jhones