Everyday Intuition: What Psychology, Science, and Psychics Can Teach Us About Finding and Trusting Our Inner Voice

Journalist Greenwood (Love in the Time of Incarceration) provides a fascinating and wide-ranging exploration of what it means to trust one’s gut. Drawing on the work of neuroscientists, psychologists, philosophers, and psychics, she unpacks scientific theories that the brain subconsciously recognizes and reacts to patterns in the world based on past experiences (especially those associated with fear), and therapeutic notions that see intuition as more akin to developing self-confidence and ownership of one’s choices. Elsewhere, Greenwood offers advice on untangling intuition from anxiety and other “protective mechanisms” that mimic it—for example, by identifying emotional and physical states (like hunger, exhaustion, and anger) that mask the intuitive voice; recognizing common thought distortions; or using psychedelics or hypnosis as aids. Examining intuition as a culturally informed phenomenon, she also makes incisive points about how the stereotyped notion of “women’s intuition” may stem from how women and other marginalized groups developed a close awareness of the moods and emotions of those in power as a survival mechanism. Readers will be captivated. (May)