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It is not really "not thinking", but not using your conscious mind, which can only focus on a single thing. You think with your subconscious mind too. But this

It is not really "not thinking", but not using your conscious mind, which can only focus on a single thing. You think with your subconscious mind too. But this can do multiple things at the same time, way faster than the logical mind. The harder you focus on a single thing, the more you ignore the entire system and the slower you perform. It is not just instinct as the article say, a tennis player does not play by instinct because nobody knows how to play tennis when he is born. It is by training that you develop intuition. If you train well you can perform well without thinking consciously. Training well is hard work and takes a lot of time too. If you follow your instincts you are predictable and an easy prey. I can hunt or fish animals because they follow their instincts too well.

colechristensen 6y ago
There is a word that is missing from the language or at least common usage, and that is differentiating something done with conscious effort of every little detail, and something you just do without thinking about it. (there are probably lots of words which somewhat fit the bill) The hardest way to do something is complete conscious control of every step, the easiest way is something you can do perfectly on autopilot. "Flow" is about being able to do something very well with almost minimal conscious control. (I would expand flow to being more than this, but it is at least a defining characteristic)
- Jtsummers 6y ago
  Intuition versus instinct. Instinct is innate, intuition is developed. "The more you know", if you have a better breadth and depth of knowledge and experience to draw from you can "intuit" the (or a) proper course of action without the need for deliberate and thorough reasoning. Many people use the term "instinct" when "intuition" may be the better term.
- taejavu 6y ago
  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Centipede%27s_Dilemma https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Centipede%27s_Dilemma
- tunesmith 6y ago
  Isn't that Type 1 vs Type 2 thinking, Daniel Kahneman? Sure, it's great if we could use Type 1 thinking for everything, but the problem is when things are counterintuitive. So what you really need is a good rule to follow to know when to engage in Type 2 thinking. My current programming team is doing way too much Type 1 thinking.
  - colechristensen 6y ago
    Close but no, thinking vs doing.
    - username90 6y ago
      You can't do without thinking.
      - colechristensen 6y ago
        Like riding a bicycle, there is a whole lot you do without the consciousness forward thinking about it. Sure pieces of your brain are actually doing the mechanics of controlling your body and thus the bicycle... but you aren't thinking about it consciously (mostly). Imagine posing a dummy walking down the street in stop-motion animation. You are very consciously controlling every aspect, every tiny movement is subject to your awareness and decision. Compared to walking down the street yourself. You don't think about balancing, placing each step, contracting and releasing dozens of muscles in sync... it just happens. Sure sometimes you make very explicit decisions on where to step, to avoid a puddle or dog shit or whatever, but most of the time all of that is way outside of conscious control, you just do it.
  - username90 6y ago
    Type 2 thinking shapes your type 1 thinking and after a while your type 1 thinking is more accurate than your type 2 thinking for the task, that was the point of this article.
- garden_hermit 6y ago
  "Tacit knowledge" I think captures what you are talking about. Its the knowledge embedded in our bodies and automatic responses. Most commonly this can refer to mechanical tasks, like when you go on autopilot while driving. It can also be used to describe mental tasks and ways of thinking. An engineer has tacit knowledge that shapes their natural way of thinking and intuition. A novelist, a nurse, or a tailor, in contrast, will have very different mental structures.
- tremon 6y ago
  In Dutch that word would be "automatisme": a habit so ingrained in your mechanical memory that it doesn't require conscious thought. Thinking about it, wouldn't the word "habit" cover it in English? It makes me smile to realize that our habits are so ingrained, we don't even realize we have a word for it :)
  - colechristensen 6y ago
    That's great, I can't seem to find a dutch dictionary that includes that word, but I do find it in french with presumably a very similar meaning. Habit is close, but with a different application. Habits likewise can be done without thinking but with more of a insinuation that the behavior is a sort of regular repeating part of your life. Like a smoking habit or your morning routine.

colechristensen 6y ago

There is a word that is missing from the language or at least common usage, and that is differentiating something done with conscious effort of every little detail, and something you just do without thinking about it. (there are probably lots of words which somewhat fit the bill) The hardest way to do something is complete conscious control of every step, the easiest way is something you can do perfectly on autopilot. "Flow" is about being able to do something very well with almost minimal conscious control. (I would expand flow to being more than this, but it is at least a defining characteristic)

Jtsummers 6y ago
Intuition versus instinct. Instinct is innate, intuition is developed. "The more you know", if you have a better breadth and depth of knowledge and experience to draw from you can "intuit" the (or a) proper course of action without the need for deliberate and thorough reasoning. Many people use the term "instinct" when "intuition" may be the better term.
taejavu 6y ago
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Centipede%27s_Dilemma https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Centipede%27s_Dilemma
tunesmith 6y ago
Isn't that Type 1 vs Type 2 thinking, Daniel Kahneman? Sure, it's great if we could use Type 1 thinking for everything, but the problem is when things are counterintuitive. So what you really need is a good rule to follow to know when to engage in Type 2 thinking. My current programming team is doing way too much Type 1 thinking.
- colechristensen 6y ago
  Close but no, thinking vs doing.
  - username90 6y ago
    You can't do without thinking.
    - colechristensen 6y ago
      Like riding a bicycle, there is a whole lot you do without the consciousness forward thinking about it. Sure pieces of your brain are actually doing the mechanics of controlling your body and thus the bicycle... but you aren't thinking about it consciously (mostly). Imagine posing a dummy walking down the street in stop-motion animation. You are very consciously controlling every aspect, every tiny movement is subject to your awareness and decision. Compared to walking down the street yourself. You don't think about balancing, placing each step, contracting and releasing dozens of muscles in sync... it just happens. Sure sometimes you make very explicit decisions on where to step, to avoid a puddle or dog shit or whatever, but most of the time all of that is way outside of conscious control, you just do it.
- username90 6y ago
  Type 2 thinking shapes your type 1 thinking and after a while your type 1 thinking is more accurate than your type 2 thinking for the task, that was the point of this article.
garden_hermit 6y ago
"Tacit knowledge" I think captures what you are talking about. Its the knowledge embedded in our bodies and automatic responses. Most commonly this can refer to mechanical tasks, like when you go on autopilot while driving. It can also be used to describe mental tasks and ways of thinking. An engineer has tacit knowledge that shapes their natural way of thinking and intuition. A novelist, a nurse, or a tailor, in contrast, will have very different mental structures.
tremon 6y ago
In Dutch that word would be "automatisme": a habit so ingrained in your mechanical memory that it doesn't require conscious thought. Thinking about it, wouldn't the word "habit" cover it in English? It makes me smile to realize that our habits are so ingrained, we don't even realize we have a word for it :)
- colechristensen 6y ago
  That's great, I can't seem to find a dutch dictionary that includes that word, but I do find it in french with presumably a very similar meaning. Habit is close, but with a different application. Habits likewise can be done without thinking but with more of a insinuation that the behavior is a sort of regular repeating part of your life. Like a smoking habit or your morning routine.