Trusting our instincts

A woman’s intuition may just be the most powerful force on earth.
But as scientists, we have been trained to focus on data. Yes, data is essential but it’s not enough. 

Research (yes – more data!) has shown that it’s impossible to consciously process all of the data that we are presented with in modern society and that our subconscious is much better at processing lots of data in very short periods of time. Think of those scenarios we often hear of where somebody faced with an emergency situation makes an instinctive decision and later finds out that it was the absolute right decision and that their subconscious had sensed something that the conscious didn’t have time to process. There is the example of the firefighter who told everybody to get out of the house but didn’t know why – it turned out the fire was in the basement and the floor was about to collapse. His subconscious had processed a huge amount of information (including information from his training, previous experiences as a firefighter, and the information his senses had in the burning house) in a short amount of time that his conscious couldn’t.
For women, the subconscious processing of information also includes people’s feelings, undercurrents in a conversation, relationships, and more. All incredibly important information. Information that can help bring about much better decisions and ultimately better outcomes for our colleagues, community, businesses, families, etc.
So the moral of the research is that our instincts are incredibly powerful and women have a particular skill in this area. However, this skill often dismissed. But please don’t. Please cultivate this amazing skill that you have. Go with your humanity, your womanness, your instincts, your hunches. It will make the world a better place.