The Intuitive Mode: Being Guided Towards The New

The Intuitive Mode: Being Guided Towards The New The emergence of new knowledge is often associated with intuition. Researchers report that they have been guided towards insights and discoveries by hunches that appeared without conscious reasoning. Some artists claim that the act of creation is characterized by intuitive guidance in which they are manifesting knowledge that emerges from a non-conscious source. [1] Within the research project the phenomenon of being in a mode of intuitive guidance in the context of knowledge creation is investigated. Research was conducted on the basis of literature on intuition in the domains of psychology and philosophy, as well as on personal accounts of subjects experiencing the intuitive mode. Conceptualizations of intuition were identified and summarized. Holistic intuition, as described by C.G. Jung and Jerome Bruner, is characterized by the integration of multiple cues without conscious awareness or explicit rules. Due to the formation of new knowledge it seems to provide a common ground for examining the intuitive mode. A definition of the intuitive mode is introduced along with conditions for its arising. It is determined by an episode of hunches -being consciously aware- that guide the subject towards the manifestation of new knowledge; the scientist towards an insight or a discovery, the artist towards the act of creation. It gets active when one is in immediate contact with an object, meaning that no expectations or schemes are applied on whatever is about to emerge. Furthermore, it pursues the quest of one´s will; e.g., the artist having the explicit will to come up with a painting or a piece of music.