The Science of Intuition

We like to think we’re in control of our lives. And to some extent, we are. Are we truly choosing, or just running on patterns?

What is free will?

Can’t we make life choices that illustrate our freedom and autonomy? Or are we living a fated and predestined life? Who is writing the script?

Well, that depends. Doesn’t it? How much of our behavior is already set up for us within biology, society, and routines?

As humans, we are bound to evolutionary control and biological cues—night means sleep, spring means planting, and so on. Could we plant in the winter? Sure, we have the freedom to do that. But the consequences are unfavorable, so we are deterred from doing so. Some could argue it’s in our genetics. We can accept things like being a “morning person” or “I’m not a runner”, but is this destined, or can this be changed? Can we ever improve our exercise and eating habits in a sustainable way? Or are we doomed to crushing Doritos at midnight every night? Can we rewire this? It may not help crops grow in the winter, but could we change our health and establish habits that actually stick?

Does that mean we can wake up and choose where to go, what to eat, and how to cook it?

Toddlers are a great example of displaying raw free will and what happens when it gets checked. As adults, we internalize the tantrums that toddlers often emit when they can’t get their way. We understand why we often cannot do what we want. This means you can choose your actions, but can you choose your consequences? Can you then choose better actions to get better consequences? Generally, yes, but how can we do this to improve ourselves? We hear often that you have to lay “boundaries”. Aren’t boundaries just consequences that are followed through? Boundaries only work if we follow through. If we promise we won’t answer late-night texts from an ex but, keep doing it anyways, are we really choosing, or just following an old pattern?

Speaking of money, in modern society, we want to buy stuff. Couldn’t we take the stuff? Sure. But then there are consequences- both legal and hopefully moral. So we need to have something to exchange that is the same worth as what we want to buy. Money is just paper until we assign it value. How did we all agree on this? Why is this system built on something so arbitrary? Like money, behaviors, and choices gain value based on outcomes. We act in ways that bring the “best return” but does that mean we are choosing freely?

All of this is pedantic and obvious to us now. What it illustrates is the power of consequences. We humans fall into repetitive behavior patterns because we strive for likely outcomes. Therefore, if humans fall into repetitive behavior patterns, do we really have free will?

But don’t we have free will? Sure. You can get up in the morning and decide to drive to the beach instead of your job. But you might not like what happens if you go to your job the next day (if you can even make it there the next day without getting fired first for not showing up). Then you can’t buy gas to go to the beach.

Consequences shape our behavior. We can link daily events into a chain that illustrates the cause and effect of our decisions. When we repeat those consequences and the outcomes are favorable, we likely want to continue repeating those consequences.

Humans are also privileged to memory, planning ahead, and routines. We build routines to maximize productivity, but do they control us more than we control them? How much of our daily life is chosen or just on autopilot? How can we change what does not work for us?

Are we truly autonomous? Is it an illusion? We can “decide” what we want to be when we grow up, but that is a long-term goal and ultimately decided by smaller goals that are achieved. It is achieved by routines and repeating favorable consequences.

Guess what—our first years of life are not really in our control. The results of our parents' and guardians' actions and consequences can really impact our choices and future daily lives. So when you get to that magical year of 18, and you’re an adult “free” to do what you want, are we really free? Or are we shaped by our history of past consequences?

Now we’re old enough to do rebellious things like get a tattoo or dye our hair freely without a parent questioning (“Mom, I’m an adult, I can do what I want”). We can choose what color to dye our hair to match our “identity,” but what is an identity? Is it our favorite color? Is it our favorite TV show? We think there are aspects of our identity or personality because they’re part of us. But what if we’ve just had favorable consequences repeated whenever we’ve chosen a color or a certain TV show? Is “identity” just the cover page of our book that illustrates our consequence history? If our identity and personality are just a collection of repeated patterns, can we rewrite them? Or are we just all tigers convincing ourselves we’ve changed our stripes?

What does all of this mean? If our entire lives are built upon the results of past consequences, can we really choose our future? Or is that an illusion, too?

What about decision-making? How do we know what is the right decision to make? That deep gut feeling—is it actually intuition and “knowing”? Or is it just an anticipation of a consequence as a result of our history?

Photo by Vladislav Babienko on Unsplash

There are many questions and many ways to interpret these concepts of “deciding,” “identity,” “past,” “future,” “intuition,” and “free will.” Many labels for these concepts are embedded in us as immediate acceptance; however, if we can break down these terms into observable and measurable event chains, can we break through the smoke and mirrors and hack the system? Can we impart change in our individual lives or even system-wide?

If everything we do is shaped by the past—can we break free from it? Can we actually rewire our identity, our habits, and our decisions? If we reverse-engineer our choices, can we actually rewrite our future? That’s what we’re digging into next.