Tier 4

ig - Intuition Goals

Intuition Goals

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Overview

Sometimes you know something without being able to articulate why. Intuition-driven goals feel right but can’t be defended logically yet. This procedure takes intuition seriously as data while testing whether it points to something real. Neither dismisses it nor accepts it uncritically.

Steps

Step 1: Articulate the Intuition

  1. State what you feel/sense as precisely as possible
  2. What is the intuition telling you to do or avoid?
  3. When did this intuition first appear? What triggered it?
  4. How strong is it? (faint hunch → strong conviction)
  5. Where in your experience might this pattern come from?

Step 2: Check for Known Biases

Before trusting intuition, check if it’s actually:

  1. Familiarity bias: “This feels right because it’s what I’ve always done”
  2. Fear response: “This feels wrong because it’s scary, not because it’s bad”
  3. Sunk cost: “This feels right because I’ve invested too much to change”
  4. Confirmation: “This feels right because I want it to be right”
  5. Status quo: “This feels risky because it’s different, not because it’s dangerous”

If a bias explains the intuition, flag it but don’t automatically dismiss — biased intuitions can still be correct.

Step 3: Test if It Points to Something Real

  1. What would be true about the world if your intuition is correct?
  2. Can you find any evidence for or against?
  3. Have others had similar intuitions in similar situations? What happened?
  4. What’s the track record of your intuition in this domain?
    • Expert intuition (10,000+ hours in domain): high weight
    • Novice intuition (new domain): lower weight, but don’t dismiss
  5. → INVOKE: /ar [intuition as claim] to explore what follows if right

Step 4: Find the Underlying Pattern

  1. Intuition is usually pattern recognition below conscious awareness
  2. What pattern might you be detecting?
  3. Can you make the implicit explicit? (“I think I’m sensing that [pattern]”)
  4. Does the explicit version still feel right?
  5. If you can articulate the pattern, you can test it directly

Step 5: Convert to Actionable Goal (or Not)

Based on findings:

Intuition validated: Pattern identified, evidence supports it → Convert to explicit goal with clear success criteria → Proceed with standard goal procedures

Intuition plausible but unverified: Can’t prove or disprove → Design a low-cost test/experiment → → INVOKE: /exd [experiment to test intuition] → Decide based on results

Intuition likely biased: Bias identified, no supporting evidence → Set aside for now, but note it → Proceed with explicit reasoning instead

Intuition contradicts evidence: Evidence says otherwise → Don’t dismiss entirely — track as a “dissenting signal” → The evidence might be wrong, but proceed with evidence for now

INTUITION ANALYSIS:
Intuition: [what you sense/feel]
Strength: [faint / moderate / strong]
Domain expertise: [expert / intermediate / novice]
Bias check: [biases identified, if any]
Pattern found: [explicit pattern, or "not yet articulated"]
Evidence: [supports / contradicts / insufficient]
Action: [convert to goal / test / set aside / track as dissent]

When to Use

  • When you have a strong feeling about a direction but can’t articulate why
  • When gut feeling contradicts analysis
  • When entering unfamiliar territory guided by instinct
  • When making decisions under uncertainty with expert experience

Verification

  • Intuition articulated as precisely as possible
  • Bias check performed
  • Evidence sought (not just relied on the feeling)
  • Underlying pattern sought
  • Clear action decided (convert / test / set aside)