Theos-Talk Archives (January 1997 Message tl00730)

Jerry Schueler wrote:

>Tom:
>>Correct intuition will trump correct logic any time.  But incorrect 
>>logic makes correct intuition impossible.
>
>This sounds good, but I don't know what it means.  What is
>"correct" logic or "correct" intuition?  Do you mean logic
>that works out to be "right?"  

Correct logic is to reason correctly, regardless of the truth of one's
premises.  

The following syllogism is, I hope, a correct use of logic:

If something exists, it is a human being.
My cat exists.
Therefore, my cat is a human being.  

My premises are questionable, but my use of logic is not.  If, with every
observation I have ever made of anything, I called what I saw a human
being, even my premises would be true, according to my use of language.
But according to a standard understanding of the English language, my
conclusion is false, not because I was illogical, at least within this
syllogism, but because my premises were false.    


>I often get intuitive feelings
>that are terribly illogical.  

What do you mean by "illogical?"  There is a significant difference between
non-logical and illogical.  A hunch that a plane is about to crash is not
illogical.  Emotions are not illogical.


>My Path lately has been
>one of listening to this inner voice rather than ignoring it.
>But this is not easy to do.  The mind prefers logic. Maybe your 
>experiences differ?

My experiences differ completely.  I have never known what I consider to be
"illogical intuitive feelings" to be correct.  If they mean something
different from what are commonly called "hunches," I would not even know
what they mean.  I frequently get premonitions, such as a feeling that the
phone is about to ring, and I do not remember one ever being correct.  I
have learned to ignore them.