The facts on Intuition..More thoughts on the Intuitionist

As I was reading the Intuitionist an interesting thought struck me, at least I found it interesting. I find the conflict between the intuitionists and Empiricists extremely fascinating as I have already posted once about this topic. I then started wondering what it is that makes the two respective parties so different. From a scientific standpoint it can be argued that the Intuitionists just are not as evolved as the Empiricists, but this is not to say they are less human or by any means less intelligent, if anything I would think it may mean the exact opposite.  

In nature animals are extremely in tune with their surroundings and it seems to me that this is the secret of the intuitionists. They rely on their senses, and although it is referred to as “voodoo” in the novel, actually it is the technique most animals rely on for survival. Pre-dating the industrial revolution and the development of mankind to its present state, humans once depended on their senses for survival in a much similar way. The American Indians are good examples of this. Their survival depended on their ability to hunt food and stay a step ahead of Mother Nature.  Although people today do not always depend on senses for survival as they used to, the capability is still there, and like some Indians were better hunters, the intuitionists may just be more in touch with their senses.

The catalyst for this post was actually an example I saw of Empiricism and Intuitionism working together successfully. On the show Bones, the main characters, Dr. Brennan and Agent Booth work together to solve murders, and while Dr. Brennan is extremely intelligent she can work only with what she sees, the facts that are placed before her. Her partner, (Agent Booth), is the intuitionist; he works by knowing people and being in-tune with their basic natures. Even though Booth and Brennan often do not understand each other, they have developed a kind of co-dependent partnership that really does not function successfully without facts and feelings. They solve crimes faster together and although this is admittedly a fictional representation, it does nonetheless show how the nature of the two sides may be opposite, but that they can be mutually beneficial. In the Intuitionist, according to one passage Lila Mae has a perfect record with her inspections thus far and this is not at all understood by the Empiricists. I thought of Dr. Brennan because try as she might she cannot figure out how Booth’s intuition can be right so much of the time. In the beginning, in fact, they hated each other because of these very reasons. She called him superstitious, and he found her stubborn and unrelenting. I do not think that it was a necessity that both sides were able to explain themselves to one another as that they were eventually able to respect each others’ capabilities. 

-Elizabeth