The Gut is Right After All

A Wall Street Journal article points to how our brains make up our minds long before we are conscious of the choice. Some might say that this negates free will. I would argue that it means that our gut instinct knows first and that our heads then try to make the logical case to support.

Comments

[MJ]

Says a lot, doesn't it, about those times when we have to really, really work on consciously talking ourselves into doing something.

I think this is very much still free will - it's just our basic free will (before we start factoring in the shoulds and should nots).

[Carol Ross]

Thanks, MJ, for your comments, especially the reminder about the shoulds and should nots. These are what many coaches call Gremlins--the voices in our heads that often keep us in the status quo. They do indeed cloud up the picture.

I try to monitor my energy and when I find myself resistant to something, it's a sign that something underneath the conscious mind is at play. Being able to listen to that "inner voice" is something I've had to practice. When I've been able to do that successfully, it's made all the difference.

[MJ]

I almost betrayed my gut today and agreed (since I "should") to meet with someone (not someone at work, but someone involved in a nonprofit with which I'm involved) who serially "forgets" to meet or address things until the last minute, and then pleads with me to accomodate the created emergency. But then a legit meeting came up and I've held fast to "no, I'm not going to be yanked around." In this case my gut is telling me "we've had enough of this routine, we don't need this annoyance in our life any longer."

This is separate from, but facially similiar, to the in-a-rut Gremlin that tells me "no, you don't want to go out and see X" only because I'm tired or feeling blah at the moment. I make myself override that Gremlin now.