Intuition is not a rejection of evidence — it is a rebalancing!
A few days ago, I attended one of those events I genuinely enjoy—the kind that feeds both your curiosity and your existential dread (in a good way, I promise). You know, the kind of space where you go to keep learning and unlearning.
As usual, I found myself in conversations where people
passionately talked about technology, data analytics, and artificial
intelligence with the kind of faith one usually reserves for spiritual
awakenings. Data, it seemed, was the hero in every story. Neatly structured,
backed by code, approved by algorithms. Very clean. Very logical. Very...
certain.
But somewhere between the fourth pie chart and the seventh
mention of “machine learning,” something nudged me—not the data, but my gut.
🤖 The Logic Overload
So I raised my hand (politely, of course—this isn’t
Twitter), and asked a question that had been quietly brewing:
“Have you thought about the other side of this? The parts of technology
and AI that might be... not so shiny?”
Cue awkward silence.
To no one’s surprise, the answer was a polite “not really.”
Maybe they hadn’t thought about it, maybe they didn’t want to. But that wasn’t
the real issue.
What struck me more was this growing narrative—this idea
that data-driven approaches are not just one way of knowing, but the
only way. That logic, numbers, and dashboards are here to save us from
ourselves. And intuition? Well, that belongs in the crystal shop next to the
incense sticks.
⚖️ Data vs. Intuition? Or Data and
Intuition?
At that point, I offered a gentle nudge to the conversation.
“What if we didn’t treat data and intuition like they’re rivals in a Netflix
courtroom drama?” I suggested.
“What if they’re actually… co-workers?”
I brought up an example from medicine—where Indigenous
knowledge systems are slowly (finally) being recognised for the wisdom they
hold. Systems that rely not just on data, but on observation, storytelling,
connection to land, body, and spirit. Intuition, here, is not a last resort.
It’s a way of knowing—relational, experiential, and deeply embedded in
lived realities.
Feminist scholars like Sara Ahmed and Patricia Hill Collins
have long argued this: that embodied experience and intuition are legitimate
sources of knowledge. Not soft. Not irrational. Just different from the
dominant mode of Western rationality.
Decolonial thinkers take it even further, asking who gets to
decide what counts as “knowledge” in the first place. Spoiler alert: it’s often
not the communities whose wisdom has been passed down orally, communally, and
spiritually for generations.
💡 Your Gut Isn’t
Guessing—It’s Speaking
Let’s be clear: I’m not here to cancel data. I love a good
bar chart. But I also love that feeling when something just clicks, even
if you can’t explain it in an Excel sheet. Leaders, teachers, healers, even the
barista who remembers your exact coffee order without ever writing it down—they
all work with a blend of knowledge forms. Data + intuition = magic.
In fact, in moments of ambiguity, values clashes, or ethical
dilemmas, intuition is often what helps us make sense of the mess. It reflects
accumulated experience, context, emotion, and care. It's that pause before a
decision, the whisper in a noisy room, the sense that maybe the spreadsheet isn't
telling the whole story.
🌍 A Decolonial
Rebalancing Act
So, here’s the thing: intuition isn’t a threat to science or
evidence. It’s a rebalancing. A soft but persistent reminder that
knowledge isn’t just analytic—it’s also affective, embodied, and
context-dependent.
In feminist and decolonial frameworks, embracing intuition
is part of a broader movement: to re-center marginalised ways of knowing,
to honour complexity, and to move away from a one-size-fits-all epistemology
that’s worn thin.
Because maybe—just maybe—the most ethical, responsive, and
holistic decisions aren’t made despite our intuition, but because of it.
So next time you’re in a room full of data-enthusiasts, and
your gut quietly taps you on the shoulder—listen. You’re not being irrational.
You’re just remembering that knowledge comes in many forms.
And honestly? The best leaders I know don’t just follow the
numbers. They follow the numbers... and their heart.
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