Intuition as a key competence in the 21st century

Scientific principles, professional application and transrational development

Abstract

The term „intuition“ is already found about 2500 years ago, as a central concept in philosophy, epistemolgy and theology. Due to the industrialisation and rationalisation of the modern society the engagement with intuition deteriorated to a sidetopic of philosophical debates. But in the last two decades one could observe a leap up of interest. The scientific intuition becomes more and more a topic in the basic research in the fields of psychology and neuroscience and is therefore rehabilitated as a serious factor in the attempt to understand the human mind (Gigerenzer 2008). Along with that goes a zeitgeist, which obviously makes it easier to treat intuition (like related topics such as emotion, creativity and mindfulness) in the context of profession and science. Many people share the experience that essential insights and decisions emerge not only by rational effort, but that intuitive approaches in it’s different facets are very important in mastering professional tasks and can therefore be considered as a professional competence. The integration of intuition as a complementary pole to reason finally plays a crucial role in understanding our own consciousness as well as in the global evolution of consciousness, that is an essential part of our current affairs. In this article I would like to outline three essential perspectives on intuition: Intuition in basic psychological science Intuition as a competence Intuition as part of a transrational evolution of consciousness