02 February 2015

Notes - Sunday/Monday AM / on threads and intuition

1 February 2015
Dusk. You and Carol have had a quiet day. After the Sunday paper and breakfast you had a long nap, then did your forty minutes of exercises. You had a late lunch of microwaved scrambled eggs and a piece of pumpkin bread. You both watched this week’s “Elementary” and “Blue Bloods”. Mostly the outside air has been filled with a heavy mist or sprinkling rain. – Amorella

         1743 hours. It has been a rather laid back, quiet and pleasant day. Nothing much was planned and nothing much has been done. I am glad I did the exercises though even though I didn’t start until 1235. “Blacklist” begins again tonight. I have our weekly shows set for the DVR. I think we might go to Columbus on Tuesday to see Mary Lou and Gayle and visit Ralph, who is out of the hospital and has improved a bit, at least enough to return to the rehabilitation center, then return home.

2 February 15
         Mid-morning. You are at the doctor’s office waiting for Carol this cold snow flurried morning. Last night you had Papa John’s pizza, the usual which was excellent, and watched the Superbowl from the second quarter on. Much to your surprised you happily enjoyed the game more than you thought you would. – Amorella

         1042 hours. For not knowing but a couple names of the players I got into the game itself. What a fourth quarter. And, this is the second time we’ve seen a game on our fifty-inch screen. It does make watching much more exciting. We went up to bed afterwards but Carol turned on the bedroom TV a bit later and saw that “Blacklist” was beginning. She turned it off but I was hooked and went back downstairs to watch the show. Dewey’s, that the name of the pizza we had Saturday and Skyline was the Cincinnati chili place we ate Saturday night. Amazing how long it takes for memory to raise itself up. Anyone who lives in the Cincinnati area since 1972 and not remember Skyline Chili ought to have her or his head examined. I mean really, it is like not remembering the name Graeters.

         You are making a joke but it does bother you. – Amorella

         1052 hours. It does. The older I am the less funny it is.

         Post. - Amorella

         1138 hours. We are home. 

         You had lunch at Chipotle/Panera and were greeted by a couple of the regulars at Panera. Both were collecting dishes from customers and/or taking food out to them. One was your butcher at Kroger’s many years ago, now retired and working part time. The other, a younger woman once commented on how attractive your beard was and chatted with both you and Carol. Both always smile upon seeing you two and it is a good feeling. Mutual likes out of the blue. Presently you are at Bethesda North where Carol is having tests on her leg to make sure she does not have a blood clot. Tomorrow you are heading to Columbus to see her sisters. – Amorella

         1353 hours. I may stop and see Cathy and Tod while we are up there. How does the mutual likes work at least in the books? It is not the same as a ‘soul mate’ I don’t suppose, so would I call it a ‘heart mate’ though it is more casual. Usually people might say, “We made a connection,” in such a situation.

         “Making a connection” is an apt phrase here; not so deep as a heart or soul connection (in here such experiences do exist but are not as you might think). Let’s call this ‘clued’ non-verbal communication to being with. Drop the definition of ‘clued’ here. Begin with the origin of the word. – Amorella

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ORIGIN late Middle English: variant of clew. The original sense was ‘a ball of thread’; hence one used to guide a person out of a labyrinth (literally or figuratively). Sense 1 of the noun dates from the early 17th cent.
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cluenoun

1 a piece of evidence or information used in the detection of a crime or solving of a mystery: police officers are still searching for clues.

• a fact or idea that serves as a guide or aid in a task or problem: archaeological evidence can give clues about the past.

2 a verbal formula giving an indication as to what is to be inserted in a particular space in a crossword or other puzzle.

verb (clues, clueing, clued) [ with obj. ] (clue someone in) informal
inform someone about a particular matter: Stella had clued her in about Peter.

Edited from - Oxford/American Software

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         1408 hours. What comes to mind in context is ‘an invisible thread’ as an analogy for development. This reminds me of the string of fate.

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Red string of fate

The red string of fate, also referred to as the red thread of destiny, red thread of fate, and other variants, is an East Asian belief originating from Chinese legend and is also used in Japanese legend. According to this myth, the gods tie an invisible red string around the ankles of those that are destined to be soul mates and will one day marry each other. Often, in Japanese culture, it is thought to be tied around the little finger. According to Chinese legend, the deity in charge of "the red thread" is believed to be Yuè Xià Lǎo, the old lunar matchmaker god who is also in charge of marriages.
The two people connected by the red thread are destined lovers, regardless of time, place, or circumstances. This magical cord may stretch or tangle, but never break. This myth is similar to the Western concept of soul mates or a twin flame.
Folklore

One story featuring the red string of fate involves a young boy. Walking home one night, a young boy sees an old man standing beneath the moonlight (Yue Xia Lao). The man explains to the boy that he is attached to his destined wife by a red thread. Yue Xia Lao shows the boy the young girl who is destined to be his wife. Being young and having no interest in having a wife, the young boy picks up a rock and throws it at the girl, running away. Many years later, when the boy has grown into a young man, his parents arrange a wedding for him. On the night of his wedding, his wife waits for him in their bedroom, with the traditional veil covering her face. Raising it, the man is delighted to find that his wife is one of the great beauties of his village. However, she wears an adornment on her eyebrow. He asks her why she wears it and she responds that when she was a young girl, a boy threw a rock at her that struck her, leaving a scar on her eyebrow. She self-consciously wears the adornment to cover it up. The woman is, in fact, the same young girl connected to the man by the red thread shown to him by Yue Xia Lao back in his childhood, showing that they were connected by the red string of fate.

From – Wikipedia Offline -
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         You dropped Carol off at home and drove to Kings Honda to get an oil change (where you are waiting for the car) as you had a coupon and did not have one for your usual oil change store. You have checked other online sources but the closest reference you can find is above. The other reference (the golden thread) is from Greek mythology. – Amorella

         1526 hours. The Red Thread of Fate reminds me of the Greek Three Fates with threads being woven. Somehow this is not what is in my mind to describe an “immediate connection” with someone. I don’t think of this connection as spiritual, but it does not have to be a physical connection either, I mean I am not thinking of an immediate ‘sexual’ arousal connection in male or female. Sexual ‘heat’ is something else. Perhaps this is a waste of time. I think the mutual ‘likes’ is intuitive.

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Intuition (mind)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Intuition, a phenomenon of the mind, describes the ability to acquire knowledge without inference or the use of reason The word intuition comes from Latin verb intueri translated as consider or from late middle English word intuit to contemplate. Intuition is often interpreted with varied meaning from intuition being glimpses of greater knowledge to only a function of mind; however, processes by which and why they happen typically remain mostly unknown to the thinker, as opposed to the view of rational thinking.

Intuition has been subject of discussion from ancient philosophy to modern psychology, also a topic of interest in various religions and esoteric domains, as well as a common subject of writings and is often misunderstood & misinterpreted with instinct, truth, belief, meaning and other subjects. The right brain is popularly associated with intuitive processes such as aesthetic or generally creative abilities. . . .
Intuition in Philosophy

Philosophy of the mind is one of the main branches in philosophy which deals with the concept of intuition, Intuition has been dealt with both Eastern & Western philosophers in great details, understanding and definitions have been varying in nature and often confusingly mistreated with words like truth, belief, meaning and others with intuition.

Intuition in Eastern Philosophy

In the East Intuition is mostly intertwined with religion and spirituality, and various meanings exist from different religious texts.

Hinduism

In Hinduism various philosophers have tried to decipher the Vedic and other esoteric texts & have brought about various interpretation.

Sri Aurobindo finds humans are evolutionary beings who currently are not fully developed and are only in transitional period, Intuition currently in human beings are just outer rims and only glimpses of wider & higher self knowing knowledge beyond human intelligence, a knowledge where there is no division between the knowledge and the knower and where understanding of reality is in its entirety, currently he finds the mind often twists and always diminishes the quality of knowledge from intuition. He finds that with time intuition will be the main function of human mind, thought and thinking would become a secondary activity of the mind. He also goes on to suggest the possible ways that one can try to achieve this state.

Osho finds consciousness of human beings to be in increasing order from basic animal instincts to intelligence and intuition, and humans being constantly living in that conscious state often moving between this states depending on there affinity and he also suggests living in the state of intuition is one of the ultimate aim of humanity.
Advaitha vedanta (a school of thought) finds intuition is kind of experience through which one can come in contact and experience Brahman.

Buddhism

Buddhism finds intuition being a faculty in the mind of immediate knowledge & puts the term intuition beyond mental process of thinking, as it finds the intellect would never know about itself and cannot go beyond its function. Various exercises and ways have also been mentioned to develop ones Intuition ability called kó-an, which would lead to states of satori. In parts of Zen Buddhism it is termed as a mental state between Universal mind and individual discriminating mind.

Islam

In Islam there are various scholars with varied interpretation of intuition (often termed as hads, hitting correctly on a mark), sometimes relating the ability of having intuitive knowledge to prophet hood. Siháb al Din-al suhrawadi in his book philosophy of illumination (ishráq) finds intuition is a knowledge got through illumination and is of mystical in nature and also suggests mystical contemplation (mushãhada) on this to bring about correct judgements, while Ibn Sīnā finds the ability of having intuition as a "prophetic capacity" terms it as a knowledge obtained without intentionally acquiring it. He finds regular knowledge is based on imitation while intuitive knowledge as based on intellectual certitude.

Intuition in Western Philosophy

Papirus Oxyrhynchus, with fragment of Plato's Republic
In the West, intuition does not appear as a separate field of study, and early mention and definition can be traced back to Plato, in his book Republic he tries to define intuition as a fundamental capacity of human reason to comprehend the true nature of reality. In his discussion with Meno & Phaedo describes it as a Pre-existing knowledge residing in soul of eternity, and a phenomenon by which one becomes conscious of pre-existing knowledge and he provides an example of mathematical truths to describe that they are not arrived at by reasoning but a knowledge already present or in a dormant form and accessible to our intuitive capacity, This concept by Plato is also sometimes referred to as anamnesis. The study was later continued by his followers.

In his book Meditations on first philosophy, Descartes refers to a intuition as a preexisting knowledge gained through rational reasoning or discovering truth of a thing through thinking about it, this definition is commonly referred to as rational intuition. While later philosphers, such as Hume, whose interpretation of Intuition has been termed as ambiguous as he claims intuition to be a recognition of relations (relation of time and place and causation) while he states that "the resemblance" (recognition of relations) "will strike the eye" (which would not require further examination but goes on to state) "or rather in mind" attributing intuition to power of mind which goes against the theory of empiricism.

Immanuel Kant finds intuition is thought of as basic sensory information provided by the cognitive faculty of sensibility (equivalent to what might loosely be called perception). Kant held that our mind casts all of our external intuitions in the form of space, and all of our internal intuitions (memory, thought) in the form of time. Intuitionism is a position advanced by Luitzen Egbertus Jan Brouwer in philosophy of mathematics derived from Kant's claim that all mathematical knowledge is knowledge of the pure forms of the intuition - that is, intuition that is not empirical. Intuitionistic logic was devised by Arend Heyting to accommodate this position (and has been adopted by other forms of constructivism in general). It is characterized by rejecting the law of excluded middle: as a consequence it does not in general accept rules such as double negation elimination and the use of reductio ad absurdum to prove the existence of something.
Intuitions are customarily appealed to independently of any particular theory of how intuitions provide evidence for claims, and there are divergent accounts of what sort of mental state intuitions are, ranging from mere spontaneous judgment to a special presentation of a necessary truth. However, in recent years a number of philosophers, especially George Bealer have tried to defend appeals to intuition against Quinean doubts about conceptual analysis. A different challenge to appeals to intuition has recently come from experimental philosophers, who argue that appeals to intuition must be informed by the methods of social science.

The metaphilosophical assumption that philosophy depends on intuitions has recently been challenged by some philosophers. Tim Williamson has argued that intuition plays no special role in philosophy practice, and that skepticism about intuition cannot be meaningfully separated from a general skepticism about judgment. On this view, there are no qualitative differences between the methods of philosophy and common sense, the sciences or mathematics.

Intuition in psychology

Girl with a Book by Jose Ferraz de Almeida Junior
Sigmund Freud finds knowledge could only be attained through intellectual manipulation of carefully observations and rejects any other means of acquiring knowledge such as intuition, and his findings could have been analytic turn of his mind towards the subject. In Carl Jung’s theory of the ego, described in 1916 in Psychological Types, intuition was an "irrational function", opposed most directly by sensation, and opposed less strongly by the "rational functions" of thinking and feeling. Jung defined intuition as "perception via the unconscious": using sense-perception only as a starting point, to bring forth ideas, images, possibilities, ways out of a blocked situation, by a process that is mostly unconscious.
Jung said that a person in whom intuition was dominant, an "intuitive type", acted not on the basis of rational judgment but on sheer intensity of perception. An extroverted intuitive type, "the natural champion of all minorities with a future", orients to new and promising but unproven possibilities, often leaving to chase after a new possibility before old ventures have borne fruit, oblivious to his or her own welfare in the constant pursuit of change. An introverted intuitive type orients by images from the unconscious, ever exploring the psychic world of the archetypes, seeking to perceive the meaning of events, but often having no interest in playing a role in those events and not seeing any connection between the contents of the psychic world and him or herself. Jung thought that extroverted intuitive types were likely entrepreneurs, speculators, cultural revolutionaries, often undone by a desire to escape every situation before it becomes settled and constraining repeatedly leaving lovers for the sake of new romantic possibilities. His introverted intuitive types were likely mystics, prophets, or cranks, struggling with a tension between protecting their visions from influence by others and making their ideas comprehensible and reasonably persuasive to others—a necessity for those visions to bear real fruit.

In more-recent psychology, intuition can encompass the ability to know valid solutions to problems and decision making. For example, the recognition primed decision (RPD) model explains how people can make relatively fast decisions without having to compare options. Gary Klein found that under time pressure, high stakes, and changing parameters, experts used their base of experience to identify similar situations and intuitively choose feasible solutions. Thus, model is a blend of intuition and analysis. The intuition is the pattern-matching process that quickly suggests feasible courses of action. The analysis is the mental simulation, a conscious and deliberate review of the courses of action.

According to the renowned neuropsychologist and neurobiologist Roger Wolcott Sperry though, intuition is a right-brain activity while factual and mathematical analysis is a left-brain activity.

A lot of time instinct is misinterpreted as intuition and it's reliability considered to be dependent on past knowledge and occurrences in a specific area. For example, someone who has had more experiences with children will tend to have a better instinct about what they should do in certain situations with them. This is not to say that one with a great amount of experience is always going to have an accurate intuition.

Intuitive abilities were quantitatively tested at Yale University in the 1970s. While studying nonverbal communication, researchers noted that some subjects were able to read nonverbal facial cues before reinforcement occurred. In employing a similar design, they noted that highly intuitive subjects made decisions quickly but could not identify their rationale. Their level of accuracy, however, did not differ from that of non intuitive subjects.

Colloquial usage

Intuition, as a gut feeling based on experience, has been found to be useful for business leaders for making judgement about people, culture and strategy. Law enforcement officers often claim to observe suspects and immediately "know" that they possess a weapon or illicit narcotic substances, which could also be action of instincts. Often unable to articulate why they reacted or what prompted them at the time of the event, they sometimes retrospectively can plot their actions based upon what had been clear and present danger signals. Such examples liken intuition to "gut feelings" and when viable illustrate preconscious activity.

Selected and edited from Wikipedia – Intuition (Mind)

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What Is Intuition, And How Do We Use It?

Francis Cholle's view about intuition.

Post published by Francis P Cholle on Aug 31, 2011 in The Intuitive Compass

Using your Intuitive Compass

Have you ever had a moment where you felt as though something wasn't right? Perhaps stepping into a parking lot late at night, or feeling negative around someone without knowing why? And if you've experienced this before, have you shrugged it off, dismissing it as illogical nonsense?

As a culture, we have learned to believe that rationality is what should prevail when making decisions about anything from crucial business mergers to what to eat for lunch. But what of that "inner voice", that gut feeling, that little something instinctual from within that tells us how we feel beneath those layers of logic?
Instinct and Intuition, as I define it, is this:

• Instinct is our innate inclination toward a particular behavior (as opposed to a learned response).

• A gut feeling—or a hunch—is a sensation that appears quickly in consciousness (noticeable enough to be acted on if one chooses to) without us being fully aware of the underlying reasons for its occurrence.

• Intuition is a process that gives us the ability to know something directly without analytic reasoning, bridging the gap between the conscious and nonconscious parts of our mind, and also between instinct and reason.

In essence, we need both instinct and reason to make the best possible decisions for ourselves, our businesses, and our families. Unfortunately, many of us—even when we experience success using this lesser acknowledged part of us-are uncomfortable with the idea of using our instincts as a guidance tool. We are embarrassed to say that we follow hunches, we mistrust the sometimes-cryptic messages that our instincts send to us, and consequently we diminish our capacity to leverage the power of our own instincts when we need them most. Our discomfort with the idea of relying on our instincts is based on millennia of cultural prejudice.
Think of the common phrase, ‘‘We are not like animals.'' It tells us that the assumed difference between humans and animals is humans' ability to reason with our instinctual impulses, and the unspoken message is that reason is a higher and better quality to possess. The thing is, not only are we like animals, we are animals. However, we are animals with the distinct advantage of having both instinct and reason at our disposal. So we don't actually have to reject either morality or instinct; rather, we have the capacity to honor and call upon both.

We don't have to reject scientific logic in order to benefit from instinct. We can honor and call upon all of these tools, and we can seek balance. And by seeking this balance we will finally bring all of the resources of our brain into action. Until about a hundred years ago science wasn't even aware of the role of our unconscious, but studies now show that only 20 percent of the brain's gray matter is dedicated to conscious thoughts, while 80 percent is dedicated to nonconscious thoughts.

So, speaking logically (no pun intended!), how could we possibly be making the best decisions for ourselves without including the nonconscious parts of our being?

Now that we have this figured out—how do we include intuition into our everyday life? Since we've spent so long ignoring or dismissing this aspect of self, how do we now successfully re-integrate it into our practical decisions? The answer is simple: dialogue it.
The conscious is an expert at logic and will use it relentlessly.
Conversely, the unconscious mind searches through the past, present, and future and connects with hunches and feelings in
 a nonlinear way. Its process is cryptic to the logical mind, as it defies the conventional laws of time and space. For example:

You: What should I wear today?
Your Unconscious: Red.
You: Red what?
Your Unconscious: I don't know, just something red.
You: Why?
Your Unconscious: Feels good.
You: But I have an interview today; isn't red too aggressive?
Your Unconscious: You're missing the point.
You: What's the point?
Your Unconscious: You like red. It makes you feel happy.
You: What has happiness got to do with this?
Your Unconscious: Everything. You: How?
Your Unconscious: You'll see; just trust me on this.

And perhaps in doing this, because you simply feel good, your confidence exudes more at your interview, and you receive the job based on this. Perhaps your interviewer loves red, and enjoys that you were bold enough to not wear black. Perhaps the color is what makes you stand out from so many others. Who knows? The point is, you listened to your instincts and made your decision, including intuition and benefitting from it, without worrying about the logical reasons why.

But let's not stop there. Here are three ways to listen to that internal voice and allow its guidance into your everyday life:

1 - Keep a journal. Writing your thoughts and feelings down on paper—even if you "think" you have little to say—helps the nonconscious mind open up. You may find you're writing words and phrases that don't make sense to you, or stir emotional responses rather than intellectual responses. When this happens, it leads to:
2 - Turn off Your Inner Critic. Often times we rationalize away those voices within. This time, listen without judgment. Allow the inner dialogues to happen without fear or ridicule.

3 - Find a Solitary Place. A place where you can allow emotions to flow freely is an imperative part of finding and retaining the building blocks of intuition. Here you may also want to create an emotional connection to an object, a color, a piece of music or literature - anything that will allow feelings to stir that are solely from within and do not carry intellectual or rational reasoning.

These three exercises will aid you in creating a new, deeper relationship with the self, help clarify that inner voice, and allow you to bring your true instinctual awareness back into your rational everyday life.

From - https://www.psychologytodayDOTcom/blog/the-intuitive-compass/201108/what-is-intuition-and-how-do-we-use-it

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         Evening. You had left over Papa John’s pizza for supper after you drove to Performance Kings Honda to have the oil changed at the seventy thousand miles marker. Battery will need to be replaced soon and the brake disks will need to be re-conditioned in about six months also. You both watched last night’s episode of Masterpiece Classic as well as Masterpiece Mystery. Kim called to see how Carol was and you told her you are coming up tomorrow and will stop by in the afternoon. Such has been your day. You do write most every day, boy, just not on the book.  – Amorella

         2155 hours. These were interesting pieces on ‘intuition’. I may have dropped them in the blog more than once, but each time I go over the material I gain some renewed insight, especially on how words, by their nature, suggest when I would rather they state. Our species is ‘connected’ in ways invisible and yet common enough that people have had real experiences in the unseen threads that I feel exist in our nature as well as the nature of perhaps all living species. One has to train to be attuning to these threads that lie below the threshold of consciousness. Through Amorella I continue training myself.

         I agree, but your training is not always through me. Post. - Amorella

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