Your gut is totally trustworthy in letting you known when you’ve –consumed too much food or alcohol, when mealtime is drawing near, and when to take heartburn pills. As an adviser in matters political, spiritual, intellectual, or social, however, it is poorly engineered to help guide your choices. Although revered by many as a decision making tool, the gut cannot reason, analyze, research, weigh evidence, or perform any of the functions vital to arriving at valid conclusions. It knows nothing of skepticism – is somebody trying to pull the wool over my eyes – or critical thinking, a kind of mental self-discipline that underlies all processes directed toward getting at the truth.
For those in a hurry who can’t be bothered about the results of their actions and wish not to be weighed down by facts and evidence, the gut is at least as reliable an adviser as the big toe or an ear lobe, so stick with it. This approach may require considerable shouting and blustering about the correctness of your decisions to help prove how sincere you are. It’s good preparation for holding center stage at a tea party as well. The only down side is that gut reactions to issues make you an instrument of someone else’s (usually a thinking person’s) will. But if you don’t mind being used and exploited, then it could work for you.
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