CHAPTER 1

INTUITION

1.1 Etymology and Definition of the term ‘Intuition’

The term Intuition is derived from the Latin word "intueri" which means "to see within."
It is a way of knowing, of sensing the truth without explanations.
The dictionary definition of intuition is "quick and ready insight;" and "the act or process
of coming to direct knowledge without reasoning or inferring."
Intuition can in a sense be defined as the immediate apprehension by the mind or by the
senses without reasoning. Intuition imbues one with the knowledge of things without prior
knowledge or the use of reason.
Intuition, for example, includes the "AH HA!" or "Eureka!" discovery or sudden mental
revelation in which one's mind now perceives a new or different fit or solution of pieces of a
puzzle or problem.
It is also the ability to see an event or an object from a viewpoint of the cosmic whole,
from its culmination - the seed, the flower, and the fruit in relation to the whole. All stands
revealed the hearts, the motives, and the causes of all events.

1.2 Intuition – Original and Independent Source of Knowledge

In philosophy, intuition is the power of obtaining knowledge that cannot be acquired

either by inference or observation, by reason or experience. As such, intuition is thought of as an
original, independent source of knowledge, since it is designed to account for just those kinds of
knowledge that other sources do not provide. Knowledge of necessary truths and of moral
principles is sometimes explained in this way.
However, it is to be noted that when a person first becomes alert to intuitive messages it
may seem disturbing not to understand the importance or unimportance of the messages. It can
be quite frustrating when one gets a message, but does not get any logical reasoning along with
it. Explanations usually come along with intuitive messages on a "need to know basis."

1.3 Intuition and Decision Making

Intuition is fast. We make life-and-death decisions in split seconds, when we have to, and
we are often correct. This is of course the reason Intuition evolved in the first place — it
increases our chances of survival.
Intuition can encompass the ability to know valid solutions to problems and decision
making. For example, the recognition primed decision (RPD) model was described by Gary
Klein in order to explain how people can make relatively fast decisions without having to
compare options. Klein found that under time pressure, high stakes, and changing parameters,
experts used their base of experience to identify similar situations and intuitively choose feasible
solutions. The intuition is the pattern-matching process that quickly suggests feasible courses of
action. The analysis is the mental simulation, a conscious and deliberate review of the courses of
action.
 The reliability of one’s intuition depends greatly on past knowledge and occurrences in a
specific area. Someone who has more experiences with children will tend to have a better instinct
or intuition about what they should do in certain situations. This is not to say that one with a
great amount of experience is always going to have an accurate intuition (because some can be
biased); however, the chances of it being more reliable are definitely amplified.

1.4 Actual Experience of Intuition

The intuitive impressions come in a variety of different ways namely clairvoyance,

clairaudience and clairsentience.
1. Clairvoyance (clear seeing or clear vision) is experienced when an individual discerns
objects, people, or situations, not with the physical eyes, but with an internal sense sometimes
referred to as the "third eye". Such "visions" concern something beyond one's physical view, e.g.,
in the next room, down the street, or a thousand miles away.
2. Clairaudience (clear hearing) is the ability to receive thoughts or information about a
person or situation through an auditory sense instead of a visual one. This information is actually
inaudible to the normal hearing range. It can be experienced as delicate sounds such as music,
bells, or singing. It might also manifest as a knocking, siren, or other attention-getting sound.
Most often, it comes as a voice that is literally heard either directly in the brain or through the
auditory sense, as if it comes from beside or behind the person.
This voice can have many aspects, at times sounding like the person's own, and at others
taking on a change of tone, volume, or pitch and sounding like someone else. It can take on an
authoritarian tone or that of warning, gentle prodding, or encouragement. It can also be very
objective and matter-of-fact.
3. Clairsentience (clear sensing) is probably the most frequent way intuition manifests in
our lives, through hunches, gut feelings, or a sense of knowing without knowing how one knows.
This "sensing" is often accompanied by a physical sensation -- for some people in the solar
plexus, for others in the heart area. Some feel a prickling of their skin. The physical sensation
can vary with each person.
This information comes to us in a variety of ways. At times, it comes as a thought that
walks across the mind in a natural, subtle manner. When intuition comes to us in this way, it is so
much like the regular musings of our mind that we can easily miss it, dismiss it, or mistake it for
our own ruminations.

1.5 The Myers-Briggs Intuition Preference

People who have a preference for intuition are immersed in their impressions of the
meanings or patterns in their experiences. They would rather gain understanding through insight
than through hands-on experience.
Intuitive types tend to be concerned with what is possible and new, and they have an
orientation to the future. They are often interested in the abstract and in theory, and may enjoy
activities where they can use symbols or be creative. Their memory of things is often an
impression of what they thought was the essence of an event, rather than a memory of the literal
words or experiences associated with the event. They often like concepts in and of themselves,
even ones that do not have an immediate application, and they learn best when they have an
impression of the overall idea first.
People who prefer intuition may:
- recall events by what they read "between the lines" at the time
- solve problems through quick insight and through making leaps
- be interested in doing things that are new and different
- Place great trust in insights, symbols, and metaphors
- Sometimes focus so much on new possibilities that they miss the practicalities of
bringing them into reality.

1.6 Educative Importance of Intuition

As an element of educational method intuition means the grasp of knowledge by

concrete, experimental or intellectual, ways of apprehension. The immediate perception of
sensuous or material objects by our senses is called sensuous or empirical intuition, the
immediate apprehension of intellectual or immaterial objects by our intelligence is called
intellectual intuition. It may be remarked that Kant calls empirical intuitions our knowledge of
objects through sensation, and pure intuition our perception of space and time as the forms a
priori of sensibility. Again, our intuitions may be called external or internal, according as the
objects perceived are external objects or internal objects or acts.
The importance of intuition as a process and element of knowledge is easily seen if we
observe that it is intuition which furnishes us with the first experimental data as well as with the
primary concepts and the fundamental judgments or principles which are the primitive elements
and the foundation of every scientific and philosophical speculation. This importance, however,
has been falsely exaggerated to an extent which tends to destroy the validity of human reason.
There has been an attempt to make of intuition, under different names, the central and
fundamental element of our power of acquiring knowledge, and the only process or operation
that can put us into contact with reality.
 CHAPTER II
SYSTEMATIC STUDY

Systematic study is important in scientific courses. Systematic method is experimental

method. It is objective. An analyst does not decide how things should be, but observes how
things are. A short definition of scientific method is: OBSERVE - HYPOTHESIZE - TEST.
Of course, this definition is incomplete. How one analyzes this process and makes conclusions is
of basic importance to scientific method.

2.1 Scientific Method

The word science has its origins in the Latin verb scire, meaning "to know." Although,
one can "know" through tenacity, authority, faith, intuition, or science, the method of science (or
the "scientific method") is distinct in its notion of intersubjective certification. In other words, it
should be possible for other investigators to ascertain the truth content of scientific
explanation(s). "Scientific knowledge thus rests on the bedrock of empirical testability".
Empirical replication depends on a comparison of "objective" observations of different
researchers studying the phenomenon.
The fundamental characteristic of the scientific method is empiricism—knowledge is
based on observations, i.e., that all propositions be subjected to an empirical test. It holds on to
the doctrine that all knowledge is derived from sense-experience
Analysis often includes a syllogistic procedure, deductive and inductive
reasoning/generalizing. The criteria for truth are fundamental even before analysis.

2.2 Uniqueness of Scientific Method

Scientific method strongly emphasizes empiricism and rationalism over intuition or belief
in religious doctrines. Nevertheless, the others do play a role in scientific method. Skepticism is a
necessary ingredient to enable us not only to question crackpot ideas, but also to abandon our
past preferred theories when a better, more inclusive one turns up. This, indeed, is a major
difference between science and intuition. Science in contrast to intuition admits error when it is
demonstrated. Science concerns phenomena that are observable by all, allowing experimental
results to be replicated. Therefore, there is a constant winnowing and sifting for a better fit of
observations and experimental results to one or another hypothesis or theory.
Generally, any model is better than none. Current "dogma" is expected to change. When
more data are available, a more explicit and inclusive hypothesis or theory can be stated. Since
several hypotheses may explain known observation, how does one choose among them? Science
employs William of Occam's razor/Law of Parsimony/Law of Economy of Hypotheses: Use the
simplest hypothesis that explains all the data. Therefore, a tentative acceptance of a
scientific theory is appropriate so long as we are ready to revise the theory if it fails some test.
2.3 The Scientific Attitude is a Critical Attitude

Science often begins with criticizing "myths" or "dogma" -- testing or trying to "falsify"
the currently accepted notion or hypothesis. Science passes on theories, but also a critical attitude
towards them. The critical attitude, the tradition of free discussion of theories with the aim of
discovering their weak spots so that they may be improved upon, is the attitude of
reasonableness, of rationality. The first school not mainly concerned with the preservation of a
dogma was founded by the Greek Thales. This foundation became a tradition of critical
discussion in Greek philosophy.

2.4 Science and Objectivity

All observation is potentially contaminated, whether by our theories or our worldview or

our past experiences, but we should deny the conclusion that science cannot, therefore,
objectively choose from among rival theories on the basis of empirical testing. Obviously, if
objectivity requires that the choice between rival theories be made with certainty (no possibility
of error), then science is not objective. In science, all knowledge claims are tentative, subject to
revision on the basis of new evidence. Although science cannot provide one with hundred
percent certainty, yet it is the most, if not the only, objective mode of pursuing knowledge. This
pursuit is dependent upon the imagination as well as critical and analytical skills of the scientist.
It is generally believed that the goal of the pursuit is the discovery of truth.

2.5 Science and Truth

Two conceptions of science embody two different valuations of scientific life and of the
purpose of scientific enquiry.
In the first conception, truth takes shape in the mind of the observer: it is his imaginative
grasp of what might be true that provides the incentive for finding out, so far as he can, what is
true. This viewpoint is supported by other scholars of science.
According to the second conception, truth resides in nature and is to be got at only
through the evidence of the senses: apprehension leads by a direct pathway to comprehension,
and the scientist's task is essentially one of discernment.
Inasmuch as these two sets of opinions contradict each other flatly in every particular, it
seems hardly possible that they should both be true; but anyone who has actually done or
reflected deeply upon scientific research knows that there is in fact a great deal of truth in both of
them. For a scientist must indeed be freely imaginative and yet skeptical, creative and yet a
critic. What are usually thought of as two alternative and indeed competing accounts of the two
successive and complementary episodes of thought that occur in every advance of scientific
understanding. This general conception of science which reconciles the two sets of contradictory
opinions is sometimes called the 'hypothetico-deductive' conception.
 CHAPTER III
COMPLEMENTING INTUITION WITH SYSTEMATIC STUDY IN
ORGANIZATION BEHAVIOR

3.1 Objectivity and Intuition

Western science has a reputation of being "coldly objective" while eastern knowledge is
not divorced from emotion, and is said to be guided from the gut. In truth, intuition and passion
are critical to scientific inquiry in both eastern and non-eastern contexts, but the eastern approach
embraces intuition and feeling readily, while western science approach might view intuition as
the least objective part of a process of inquiry, and mistrusts decisions made on intuitive hunches
alone.
This is a key point in the perceived conflict between science and intuition, but any
respected and experienced cultural practitioner would accede that not all hunches are reliable,
and that the best intuitive guidance is based on long experience and a subconscious matching of
options with what is known to be true. It should also be pointed out that the "objective" approach
can be a limitation of western science when it allows for amoral or immoral scientific
developments. Some of these have been of extreme disservice to humankind, and such a history
accounts for much of the general public's current distrust of "science."
However, it is to be noted that intuition can’t get to be as objective as systematic
approach; the reason being that intuition is very personal and the person with his emotions is
involved in it.

3.2 Limitations of Intuition

Intuition also has several limitations. Some of these mirror the advantages of Logic based
systems. Intuition based systems cannot do long term predictions. Intuition cannot do high
precision predictions, and are not productive. They cannot generate new knowledge by
mechanical manipulation of the existing theory since there is no such thing as "theory".
Intuition requires prior experience. Intuitions are acquired by learning, and the benefit of
learning what happens in a given situation is only available if one encounters the same situation
again. Lacking prior experience with an identical situation, one has to make a generalization of a
previous "precedent" experience in order to guess what the "consequent" event will be.
The limits of relying on intuition are made worse by the fact that people tend to
overestimate the accuracy of what they know. Recent surveys reveal that 86 percent of managers
thought their organization was treating their employees well. However, only 55 percent of the
employees thought they were well treated.
3.3 Need to Complement Intuition with Systematic Study

Day in and day out one comes across persons of all walks of life and from varied and
diversified cultures, regions, backgrounds and settings. More often than not, one tends or
inclined to judge or make conclusions on people at the very first sight, may it be on the
efficiency or the capabilities of a person. It is true though that most of these conclusions, as time
passes by, prove erroneous. Nevertheless, there is a better scope of making a right and fitting
evaluation of a person if one is led to systematically study and understand the behavioral pattern
of a person.
In as much as Organization Behavior is the field of study that investigates the impact that
individuals, groups and structures have on behavior within organization for the purpose of
applying such knowledge towards improving an organization’s effectiveness, it is very much
essential to adopt a well-disciplined and systematic approach in making the work place a
pleasant place to be in.
In an organization, it is quintessential to take into consideration the sociological
influences, psychological bearings, personality traits of a person before concluding or pigeon
holing a person to be such and such.
In dealing with the colleagues in an organization, it is essential to give time to persons to
get acclimatized to new settings and newer colleagues. All these require a systematic approach
towards one and all.
In an organization, where individuals of all sorts work towards a common goal, there is
enrichment owing to the uniqueness of thought, imagination and creativity of every person.
Hence, a manager in an institution can not afford to go by some established theories in dealing
with the workers. He needs to be discrete in his approach to each one. In fact, a manager needs to
deal with each worker differently keeping in mind his/her temperament and personality traits. All
these require that
Further, a desirable manager is one who relates with his wards individually, situating the
person in his wider environment of past experiences.
Going by and dealing with people based on one’s impressions isn’t the right way as the
one looks at the world with one’s own eyes and not exactly as the world actually is. It is true to
fact though, that most of these impressions have a bearing and sometimes come to one’s aid in
solving issues but to rely completely on these would be senseless too.
 COMPLEMENTING INTUITION
WITH SYSTEMATIC STUDY
OF ORGANIZATION BEHAVIOR

UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF

PROF. VIKRAMAJITH GOSWAMI

Name: Kolhandai Yesu

Roll No: 84020
Branch: ECE III
College: DBCET