Sci&Tech History

As defined by Young(1983), intuition is the activity of the right hemisphere of the brain. However, Young’s definition does not lead to a rational theory, because we can’t conclude for it, how to increase or how our intuition work. Modern research on the functioning of memory shows that deep memorization occurs during sleep, when our conciusness is switched off. More over, can intuiton be learned and be manipulyzed? In their book Mind over Machine, H. Dreyfus and S. Dreyfus(1986) describe an experiment about the analytical part of the brain of chess players saturated(by giving them more and more complicated arithmetical problems, controlled by a computer) and then compared how such saturation influences their chess play. For expert players, such saturation didn’t influence their play at all. While for novices, saturation destroyed their ability to play chess. The conclusion from this experiment is  that the kind of decision making depends critically on the level of experience: it is analytical for beginners and deliberative or intuitive for masters.

Another example of testing the rational evolutionary definition of intuition related to linguistic intuition was conducted by Chomsky. In his seminal work, Chomsky used this example as a substantiation of the need to develop a theory of universal grammar, interpreting children’s ability as an inheritance of a natural universal grammar. A rational evolutionary definition of intuition provides not only behavioral but also rational explanation of this ability. Children have brains of 10^11-10^12 neurons, almost empty, and they need 10^4 times less for speech. Children observe mothers when speaking, visually note their facial expressions of approval or disapproval, and quickly learn what language use correct. After all, even if intuition is preverbal, it is used when we speak; this linguistic intuition is mostly learned.

Credit:  Creative Space, Andrejz P. Wierzbicki & Yoshiteru Nakamori, Springer, 2005.

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