Intuition: Its Powers and Perils

Description

How reliable is our intuition? How much should we depend on gut-level instinct rather than rational analysis when we play the stock market, choose a mate, hire an employee, or assess our own abilities? In this engaging and accessible book, David G. Myers shows us that while intuition can provide us with useful—and often amazing—insights, it can also dangerously mislead us. Drawing on recent psychological research, Myers discusses the powers and perils of intuition when: • judges and jurors determine who is telling the truth; • mental health workers predict whether someone is at risk for suicide or crime; • coaches, players, and fans decide who has the hot hand or the hot bat; • personnel directors hire new employees; • psychics claim to be clairvoyant or to have premonitions; • and much more. Contents Acknowledgments Introduction part I. the powers of intuition 1. Thinking Without Awareness 2. Social Intuition 3. Intuitive Expertise and Creativity part II. The Perils of Intuition 4. Intuitions About Our Past and Future 5. Intuitions About Our Competence and Virtue 6. Intuitions About Reality part III. practical intuition 7. Sports Intuition 8. Investment Intuition 9. Clinical Intuition 10. Interviewer Intuition 11. Risk Intuition 12. Gamblers’ Intuition 13. Psychic Intuition Epilogue Notes Index