Intuitive messages

But Nissy, how would you know that the apparently unrelated idea hasn't got some relation to your stream-of-consciousness which you cannot see or have forgotten? Like a consciously-forgotten memory triggered by a physical sensation or un-noticed thought association? (I often have dreams with unfamiliar elements apparently unrelated to my waking experiences ... but ages later, on reflection, I suddenly realise how my unconscious mind got & used them.)
Also - how do you know what is 'intuition' rather than a random thought (though I don't 'believe' in randomness - but that's another discussion.) Is it only with hindsight, when you know your random thought was correct, that you label it 'intuition'?

Starshower said:

But Nissy, how would you know that the apparently unrelated idea hasn't got some relation to your stream-of-consciousness which you cannot see or have forgotten? Like a consciously-forgotten memory triggered by a physical sensation or un-noticed thought association?

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I'm going with Occam's Razor, here.

Why? Why did Occam & his many followers assume, totally illogically & irrationally, that the simpler / simplest explanation or knee-jerk reaction or metaphysical belief is automatically & always the right one?
Even as a child, I always thought that was plain silly. After all, the earth LOOKS flat ...

I echo Mary's questions earlier in this thread about what intuition means to many people and how one differentiates it from mere momentary whims or unconsciously-triggered thoughts.
I don't see why ignorance about something means that there is this mysterious & ill-defined thing called 'intuition'.
(Hang on ... wasn't that last statement itself a bit Occam's-razor-ish?! )

Starshower said:

But Nissy, how would you know that the apparently unrelated idea hasn't got some relation to your stream-of-consciousness which you cannot see or have forgotten? Like a consciously-forgotten memory triggered by a physical sensation or un-noticed thought association? (I often have dreams with unfamiliar elements apparently unrelated to my waking experiences ... but ages later, on reflection, I suddenly realise how my unconscious mind got & used them.)
Also - how do you know what is 'intuition' rather than a random thought (though I don't 'believe' in randomness - but that's another discussion.) Is it only with hindsight, when you know your random thought was correct, that you label it 'intuition'?

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AHHHH ! The synchronistic principle - very good point !

Starshower said:

I echo Mary's questions earlier in this thread about what intuition means to many people and how one differentiates it from mere momentary whims or unconsciously-triggered thoughts.
I don't see why ignorance about something means that there is this mysterious & ill-defined thing called 'intuition'.

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Yes ... that is why, so many times I come back to my original statement in the 2nd post in the other thread about 'what is intuition' ... 2 threads later and a plethora of opinions and facts and ideas and thoughts about it ... I think it still stands;

" Intuition is a conscious realisation that came from an unconscious conclusion."

Starshower said:

(Hang on ... wasn't that last statement itself a bit Occam's-razor-ish?! )

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Now there is a new word for the dictionary ! I will have to see if I can fit it in to a conversation today;

"Hey Man ... that's a bit Occam's-razorish ." ... love it!

Hear hear, ravenest - to this & to your earlier posts. I think we've cracked it!

See Malcolm Gladwell's famous book: "Blink" on this very subject. We unconsciously notice, digest, process, integrate & file vastly more stuff than we think we do. Then it can pop up to the surface of our awareness complete - like Venus from the ocean (my metaphor.)

That metaphor is SOOOO apt!

Did you deliberately choose that? The reason I ask is lately I have observed a dynamic with Venus (via psychological astrology) that does exactly that ... and not only that, it veers around the conciousness and goes straight to action - often causing great trouble for the unfortunate person who is susceptible to that. They say they 'had no choice' and 'just HAD to do it' ('it' being something very detrimental and even ruinous to themselves).

Starshower said:

Hear hear, ravenest - to this & to your earlier posts. I think we've cracked it!

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And this part is amusing. ... I 'cracked' it long ago .... and have been 'fencing' with variant opinion ever since (mostly in the other thread ... this one has been less' conlfictual'

- probably because of the way it was started ... if one sees that Venus dynamic at work (and it's pretty scary, I have seen it over-ride other very strong unconscious impulses - like a mothers protective instinct and even self-preservation ) one is wary of how one interprets 'intuition' and other 'messages' from subjective and supposedly objective sources.

Recently I was dealing with someone who had a desire to burn parts of their body ... they felt this was a 'special spiritual' message to them and related to their current spiritual practice ... sure it seems crazy to us ... but not to them ... I think we managed to find a cause of it, where it came from and how to address it healthfully without suppression (otherwise it will just pop up somewhere else in another form).