Defining intuition

The word intuition is derived from the Latin intueor – to see; intuition is thus often invoked to explain how the mind can “see” answers to problems or decisions in the absence of explicit reasoning – a “gut reaction”.

But intuition need not refer to some magical process by which answers pop into our minds from thin air or from deep within the unconscious. On the contrary: intuitive decisions are often a product of previous intense

e and/or extensive explicit thinking.

Such decisions may appear subjectively fast and effortless because they are made on the basis of recognition.