Learning is a continuous process in a human life, it is one of the most constant phase every human must pass through and adapt to. When I say "constant" I meant the learning phase never ends. Often times, it is said that learning can only be achieved when a human being is willing to learn but that is not entirely true. There are some things in life we need to focus on to learn and this is mostly about matters of academics. Having to pass through the formal process of learning which requires the willingness of a human to study the material provided in order to be enlightened.
But then, there are somethings we learn in life through informal education, these things we never truly show the willingness to know it but we know it anyway. That is how complex life is, sometimes it forces us to learn somethings for the sake of our own survival. Imagine a non athletic person being chased by a wild animal, such person might not be a runner but at that moment he/she will manifest the ability and might even run faster than any athlete. You would wonder how such person manage to learn how to run but it is nothing extraordinary, that is just a person trying his/her best to survive based on instinct.
The ability of every human to survive is based on the amount of knowledge and skill we possess and our ability to apply the knowledge to appropriate and immediate situation at hand. All through the socialisation process, it is a race of survival but as humans grow and survive hurdles, so does our experience grow and this factor improves our knowledge and application of wisdom.
These are what makes human instinct stronger and dependable. Most people consider it to be the third eye, it is that thing that makes things fell wrong, despite everything pointing to the right direction. How well do I trust my instinct? I would say too well. It is not something I can completely describe with worlds. I have had considerable amount of time to nurture my instinct. Even as a child, all alone in a boarding school, I have had to plan on my own to survive complex situations.
As I grew older, I also learned to depend on my instinct. I also believe my instinct got sharper due to how much knowledge I acquire. Just like I explained earlier, it is not fully about formal education. Learning those things, and when the time comes that I need to make use of the knowledge, it is there for the rescue. I might not even be aware of what I know. My gut becomes a navigation tool and in that moment I just know exactly what to do.
It has saved me from making wrong financial decisions, especially in my dealings with the crypto space. Though I eventually had to learn the basics but at first, all I had was just my instinct. It was a very wild journey, knowing how complex the crypto space was and I was navigating it almost blind. It is something I call, learning by experiencing it. It definitely sounds cool but almost completely reckless. It like learning from what is learnt about something as you interact with it and also applying the knowledge immediately.
I survived based of my instinct, I definitely make some mistakes but that is the thing. Even those that are more aware of the crypto space more than I was in those days, made mistakes that completely knocked them out of the crypto space. For me, I wouldn't say I was lucky but I was careful. I knew my limits and I ask lot of questions, I was never too shy to seek help when needed. As time goes on, I became the master of my own craft.
Do I use my instinct when dealing with people? Always. The fact is, humans are more complicated than the crypto space. It takes a strong mind to deal with humans without falling apart. I don't know about others but just by listening to someone, I can tell when I being lied to or mislead. Though I'm also paranoid, I second guess everything till I'm sure of what I'm doing. This state of mind of mine, I wasn't born with it but I have dealt with lot of mischievous people and I have learnt hard lessons from my encounter with them.
It is not as if I'm always right but I can say, I'm never completely wrong. The thing about my instinct ending up being wrong is that, it is possible but not that I will be completely wrong about it. For me to doubt something, it means there is a reason for the doubt. My mind stores patterns of what has occurred in the past and the moment things are starting to look similar, my instinct kicks in, like a defence mechanism.
This write-up was inspired by weekly featured content titled Instinct in hive learners community.
Cover Image - generated using chatgpt
