How to train one's intuition?

[technics]

Start placing yourself into the shoes of others, whether they be animate or inanimate.

Thanks for the advice, especially the "inanimate".

Strategy games are good for exercising intuition

I researched strategy games a month ago for this purpose and ended up with: Go and X-Com. Anyone?

Martial arts which incorporate sparring e.g. Boxing, Muay Thai, MMA etc. where you are forced to read body language, read signs and outsmart your opponent (otherwise you get hit)

Reading signs and language, that's it! The "soft stuff" which engages intuition, but incomprehensible for logic. Like hands on clay.

Watching films and paying attention to the plot. Try reading the situation to see what comes next, ask yourself if the screenplay writer could of changed or added anything to the plot.

I do this naturally, seeing the future developments. But what I have forgotten is that "asking if the writer could have changed or added anything to the plot". I used to do that naturally, too, usually seeing "rail track schematics".

Acting; join your local theater club or when you watch a film or read a book try acting out how you would respond to a certain situation that the character is in, try connecting with the character and becoming the character.

Damn, I have really neglected a few ways of thinking.

 

[knight in battle]

i'm not sure you can train intuition. in my experience it happens/exists without my direct participation. it would be like me trying to control what songs come on the radio.

Very nice analogy. I think the idea of listening to the radio shows an openness to randomness, or the "raw data" of Ni. (which exists peculiarly as dominant function exclusively in INJs). My INFP friend prefers to have his songs on CD, so he can listen just to the ones he likes. You and I both enjoy listening to the radio (because of not enjoying the hassle of making CD's perhaps?).

 

[subwayrider]

How do you do it? I'm not talking about everyday intuition, hunches etc. But situations where your intuition is pushed to its limits, as in coming up with an idea for a movie in 5 minutes, real-time strategy etc. I realized my intuition (or perhaps creativity) has been tanking. It's still there, but not so active and powerful as it used to be.

The outcome of one of those events might depend on how often, and to what extent, you apply your intuition when you solve problems.

There's also the belief that intuition can't really be willed. People who believe this might find it helpful to focus their attention on an entirely different matter, until the answer to the original question might *pop* into their minds.

 

[technics]

There's also the belief that intuition can't really be willed.

What I'm after is not really "will", but rather situations where one's intuition is put to the test. And everyday life intuition really doesn't do it. Even the hardcore Intuitives don't use their intuition at maximum in real life. It's like using a car on a horizontal road and using the same car uphill. It's the same car (=intuition), but different playing fields.

 

[knight in battle]

There are two good ways to develop your Ni:

1. Watch movies that develop your secondary Fe, which creates context for Ni.
2. Make predictions about situations and people's behaviors/thoughts. (Use your intuition and polish it.)

One thing I forget to do is writing out my intuitive thoughts on paper. Often, I come to a conclusion intuitively about how I want to interact with people, etc, that I forget to write out what my conclusions are and see them with my own eyes.

 

[Untitled]

is this about moments of "inspiration"? inspiration is such a rush but it is just the beginning of an idea which may be very flawed and needs to be worked out completely through a longer creative process. the really great work that people do only starts with inspiration and they sweat over it for countless hours afterwards. no one composes greatness in a matter of minutes. but at least the good news is that one inspiration leads to another.

I know you may be referring to the importance of learning how to be a good craftsman so to speak, that getting the perfect song for example won't help you much if you don't know how to craft a convincing form for it...if you get what I mean but I also feel that you do sometimes just get the 95% perfect thing, almost ready product. I have for example written my sofar best song in almost real time, where I'm moreso taking down dictation than "composing". That would imply doing too much as a word. I find the best and purest things come down like that and the more I kind of stay out of the process, the better. Like being the secretary of the muses. When I'm confused, agitated or have some secret agenda I only get bits and pieces and that's when being a craftsman helps. It also helps to never tell anyone how you work cause they labour over things by "doing" and "working" much and will want to kick you in the butt...
But hey it's hard work being uncluttered on the inside....so...you know...

There are two good ways to develop your Ni:

1. Watch movies that develop your secondary Fe, which creates context for Ni.
2. Make predictions about situations and people's behaviors/thoughts. (Use your intuition and polish it.)

One thing I forget to do is writing out my intuitive thoughts on paper. Often, I come to a conclusion intuitively about how I want to interact with people, etc, that I forget to write out what my conclusions are and see them with my own eyes.

Great advice! I think the very nicely shared advice in some of the earlier posts, though interesting, wouldn't really work with me, as staying on one train of hypothetical development would for me feel tasking.
This advice given by Knight In Battle is what I've done most my life aswell and I also find it helps.
I also second the writing aspect. I have journals where I write free-flow thoughts and intuitions in a kind of a streamy, happen what may kind of a way. They often start contrived but then free up and I get into a flow. That's when the magic happens. ;D I return to these writings later and find that they pre-describe situations I've gotten into or larger themes for works to come, or give several usable outlines I can later reflect on.
Working intuition is kind of non-doing more than doing for me but I think the advice on developing Fe sounded interesting.

 

[Moon Pix]

I know you may be referring to the importance of learning how to be a good craftsman so to speak, that getting the perfect song for example won't help you much if you don't know how to craft a convincing form for it...if you get what I mean but I also feel that you do sometimes just get the 95% perfect thing, almost ready product. I have for example written my sofar best song in almost real time, where I'm moreso taking down dictation than "composing". That would imply doing too much as a word. I find the best and purest things come down like that and the more I kind of stay out of the process, the better. Like being the secretary of the muses. When I'm confused, agitated or have some secret agenda I only get bits and pieces and that's when being a craftsman helps. It also helps to never tell anyone how you work cause they labour over things by "doing" and "working" much and will want to kick you in the butt...

The example that always comes to my mind when people talk about pulling something from the unconscious in this manner is the story Bob Dylan always tells when he's asked about how he wrote "Like A Rolling Stone." Supposedly he sat down at the type writer and just started typing untill he ended up with what he described as "one long piece of vomit sixty pages long." Then he edited it down to the version you hear on the record.

I can imagine that writing something in that fashion must feel like entering an altered state of consciousness where you feel disconnected from reality, especially if the piece is really long and requires you to be writing for an extended period of time.

 

[Sir]

I have found that meditation works best for me when exercising intuition.

Ideas that I've never considered before just *POP* into my head and make perfect sense when I clear my mind, ignore outer sensory input, and focus on my breathing to look *inward*.
Then when I look up these ideas on Google and read whatever Wikipedia article that shows up, they match up to a certain degree of accuracy.

Imagine intuition and outer sensory input as two polar extremes on different ends of a line segment.

The less you rely on your outer senses, the more you're moving away from that direction on the line and towards intuition.

I like to think of intuition as your 'inner' senses.

Even if you're not a Buddhist, this may interest assist you in training intuition: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayatana

 

[knight in battle]

It is suggested by Drenthe that Introverted Intuition is felt when ideas are simply allowed to flow into consciousness. I suppose any activity that allows your mind to drift (such as simple sports, meditation, reading, writing, instrumental music) will make room for the flow of background Intuition to surface.

I have come to the conclusion that Introverted Intuition in practice is a predictive, informative function (whereas Extroverted Intuition is produces new "options" for activity) that allows you to see situations and people with different frames of mind. It is drawn to conceptualize situations to reform a particular system of thought.

To train it, I would suggest testing some of the things that you have predicted or inferred. Go ahead and find out if your "reading" of a situation is correct.

 

[Trifoilum]

Adding more things everyone (which is AWESOME) have been putting here; there are lots of aspects one could train in one's intuition.

There are the frequency (how often can you hear your intuition), intensity (how loud is the voice), clarity, complexity.. This is generally one huge part / aspects of intuition. To train this part, generally get in touch with the inner voice. Meditate; write (the 'confessional' type); retain focus on nothing.

There are the variety (on which topics do you want your intuition to help you with?), the direction (positive?negative? idealistic? cynic? optimistic? pessimistic?), the ingenuity, the innovatory of the contents...This is other huge aspects of intuition. To train this part, see / do a lot of things. Guide our senses; watch our reactions and opinions upon something; analyze and see where it belongs to. Write (of the 'creative' / 'musing' type). Play games, do sports; do any activity and either dig deeper, or spread wider.

There are the effectiveness, efficiency, and in general; the effect of your intuition and how it relates to us, our present;past;future. This is also another huge part of intuition. To train this, mainly follow whatever the voice is telling us. Make a plan upon it. Follow it, and see it done with our own hands......or go down in a blaze of glory.

 

[technics]

When I was studying arts my professor always told us to ask "What is the artwork telling you? What does it say?". And that could apply to anything: painting, sculpture, company logo, tactility of materials, sound, website navigation, social institutions etc. I think that is a pretty isolated bubble for engaging in one's intuition. It still isn't top notch level because it's just reading as opposed to creating which I think is 1-2 levels above the former. I think the quote "What I can not create I do not understand" expresses that difference very clearly.

 

[Jillian]

No one has answered this from a scientific point of view. Part of my graduate thesis was the study of intuition from a creative and biological viewpoint. From my research the answer to your question is actually quite simple. Intuition can be described as that "ah-ha" moment. That moment of discovery is the result of your brain actively searching all your memories for the right answer to a lingering question. Your brain searches your conscious and subconscious mind for the answer. Many people say they reach that intuitive moment when doing mindless activities like taking a shower or driving. That's because your conscious is distracted allowing your subconscious to be free. So.. long story short.. the more you have in your memory bank (subconscious/conscious) the quicker you will arrive at your intuitive "ah-ha" moment. How do you fill your memory bank? Experience!! Simple as that. The more you live life, study, learn, build things with your own two hands, get to know people, research, and be conscious of what you mentally consume.. the better developed your intuitive nature will be. That's why whenever I feel "stuck" or have writer's block I take a drive or I let the problem go for a few days. Your mind will continuously search for your answer even when you're consciously not looking. This is why meditation works also. But it doesn't have to be quiet meditation. You just have to give it time and get out in the world rather than search for answers in a dark room in front of a computer screen. This is all based on scientific research I studied for a few years but I try to explain it in laymen's terms because I think it's fascinating! Hope that helps!

 

[Jillian]

Also, Our creative process can become habitual. We have certain ways we all start brainstorming. This can be an artists worst nightmare too. The solution is to engage our minds to constantly challenge our own processes. Read Lateral Thinking by Edward De Bono. He's the king of creative thought processes. He explains it simply as "You cannot dig a hole in a different place by digging the same hole deeper". One simple exercise I do when I'm stuck in my own cycle is to pick up a dictionary or random book and open it to a random page and point my finger somewhere on the page. Whatever word pops up is where I start my brainstorming process. So if it lands on "balloon" then start approaching your movie idea from the word balloon. You'll be amazed at the things you will come up with. I have seen and worked on amazing projects that used this simple technique. Sometimes your intuition needs a little push or a different starting point.

 

[Vict]

Good thread.

I'd say much of what I believe to be intuition/my gut is experience. Knowing what to expect, what's next in the order of events, etc., which is informed by what I've already experienced myself. Unfortunately, this fucks things up when I'm in an unexpected situation. I'm forced to go in somewhat blind and develop new mental connections. A leads to B leads to this newly formed experience leads to D.

 

[Untitled]

Many people say they reach that intuitive moment when doing mindless activities like taking a shower or driving. That's because your conscious is distracted allowing your subconscious to be free.

That's why I'm imploring to all scientists PLEASE INVENT SHOWERPROOF DICTATION DEVICES AND NOTEPADS!!! :wave: