Intuitive knowledge is a natural human process. Intuition allows us to draw conclusions without a conscious train of thought. It's more natural for some people than others, but intuition is used by everyone. Although intuition isn't fully understood, and may just be a generalization of a collection of thought processes which elude human understanding, its main feature is drawing a conclusion based on a “hunch”.
When discussing the use of intuitive knowledge, personal experience should suffice for an answer. Intuition is often applied in situations where we don't have much information. An example of this is a social situation in which the feeling of being lied to cannot be shaken. Because one will not be told that one is being lied to, and there will often not be any evidence to prove that the person is lying, one will not be able to draw a conclusion solely through reason. Subconsciously we may notice subtleties such as abnormal eye movement, posture, or tone of voice, which may lead us to think, without consciously knowing why, that this person is lying. This shows us that intuition is often used in situations with scarce information.
Additionally, another situation where intuition takes center stage, would be in the case of a field in which one has much experience. Even in a subject governed by logical reasoning, such as mathematics, an equation giving a wrong answer will often be spotted by avid mathematics students. Looking at the equation they might quickly get a hunch and make the remark “this does not look right”. Although they do not exactly know why it does not look right, their experience instantly warns them of an error. Therefore, it is reasonable to conclude that intuitive knowledge is used by experts when working in their field.
Intuitive knowledge, as was previously mentioned, could be explained as unconscious thought. Considering that many human thoughts are based on logical reasoning (using induction and deduction ), intuition could just be the same process on a subconscious level. In stressful situations, where not much time is given for analysis, the subconscious may absorb subtle information which we are not consciously aware of. This string of subconscious information may then be processed, evaluated and linked subconsciously, ultimately appearing in conscious thought when completed. This is what we would call the “hunch”. Under this picture, intuitive knowledge does not contradict knowledge based on reason.
Although just an approximation of human cognitive functions, the Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), based on Jungian psychology, makes the distinction between people who are “intuitive”, and people who are “sensing” oriented. The difference between the two is that “sensors” tend to trust their five senses, trusting information which is in the present and tangible. “Intuitives”, on the other hand like to roam in the abstract and theoretical, often making networks of their knowledge. As this is only one of the many takes on human cognitive functions, it gives an alternate view of Intuition. Therefore, conclusion due to “hunches”, could just be the subconscious extraction of useful information from these vast information networks.
To conclude, intuitive knowledge is used for two main purposes: drawing a conclusion with vague information, and quickly analyzing situations and objects related to something a person is very familiar with. As stated above, intuition most likely does not contradict knowledge based on reason, but it merely a quick subconscious process including both logic and experience.
But then again, that's just my intuition.
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