Gave away sits at the center of this dementia and brain health question.
We used to rely on our intuition naturally, like a quiet inner guide that helped us make decisions without needing all the facts laid out. Intuition is that special kind of knowing that doesn’t come from careful thinking or seeing things with our eyes—it’s more like an immediate understanding or feeling about what’s true or right. It’s how we sometimes just *know* something without being able to explain why.
But over time, many of us have given away this intuitive power. How did this happen? One big reason is the rise of logic and reason as the ultimate ways to understand everything around us. We learned early on that facts, evidence, and step-by-step thinking are what count most. Schools teach us to solve problems by following rules and checking answers carefully rather than trusting a gut feeling. This made intuition seem unreliable or even silly compared to hard data.
Another factor is how busy and noisy modern life has become. Our minds are often overwhelmed with information, distractions, and constant demands for proof before making choices. When every decision needs justification—whether at work or in daily life—we start ignoring those subtle inner signals because they don’t come with charts or reports backing them up.
Also, some people confuse intuition with guesswork or wishful thinking. Without learning how to recognize good intuition versus random hunches, it can be easy to dismiss it altogether as just imagination running wild.
Yet intuition isn’t magic; it’s actually your brain processing lots of tiny clues quickly—things you might not consciously notice but your body picks up on anyway: changes in tone of voice, facial expressions, subtle shifts in energy around you. This “quiet data” gets assembled beneath your awareness into a feeling about what might be true before your logical mind catches up.
When we stop listening because we want everything spelled out clearly first—or when we let fear of being wrong override trust in ourselves—we lose touch with this powerful internal compass.
Reclaiming intuitive power means slowing down enough to notice those feelings again: the sense something feels right even if you can’t explain why; the uneasy vibe warning you something isn’t quite right; the sudden clarity about which choice aligns best with who you really are inside.
It takes practice—like pausing for a moment before reacting or journaling thoughts without judgment—to strengthen this skill once more amid today’s fast pace and endless noise.
In giving away our intuitive power for certainty and control through logic alone, we’ve lost access to an original source of knowledge deeply connected to who we are beyond facts—the kind that helps navigate complex human situations where numbers don’t tell the whole story but feelings do matter profoundly.
For more, see National Institute on Aging.
