The Amputation of Intuition: Living Without a Compass

Abstract The author proposes that we account more fully for the capacity of intuition, its vital importance for us as human beings, and the profound loss when it is not available. Intuition is described as a compass, intrinsic to being human, which informs sensing in ways that are not yet fully understood. A metaperspective is offered that draws on ideas from differing philosophical paradigms to illuminate intuition as a concept and its relationship with the bodymind. The bodymind is conceptualized as the system that provides humans with the means to make use of the raw data gathered through their full sensory experience. The author suggests that intuition provides an arterial network that facilitates the bodymind and offers the idea that in certain circumstances, intuitive function is deliberately amputated in the service of survival. This results in the bodymind becoming split into a separate body and mind. The author explores the impact of this loss.