The Agile Mind Means Intuitive Problem-Solving Gains Credibility and Pizaz

 The Agile Mind, by Wilma Koutstaal Ph.D, an encyclopedic description of brain processes and functions, supports the benefits of flexibility in thinking. What's an agile mind do for you, you might wonder? Koutstaal promotes collaborative processing of problem-solving rather than the intuitive vs. rational problem-solving thinking, the topic I've posted about recently, spoken about publicly, and have obsessed about privately.

In my informal research, and also in academic research, women are in the majority of people who state and demonstrate a preference for intuitive, automatic, System 1 thinking, all somewhat similar. Men are in the majority of those preferring rational, deliberate, System 2 thinking. Before neuroscience research burst  into public awareness, rational, step-by-step problem-solving was the generally accepted "correct" thinking process for intelligent thinkers. Other styles were often dismissed: far out, la-la land thinking, silly, certainly unscientific —  and female.

"What passes for woman's intuition is often nothing more than man's transparency," is an old saying. Even in the second decade of the 21st century, you don't hear about men's intuition and women's logical thinking.

 "The struggle of the male to learn to listen to and respect his own intuitive, inner prompting is the greatest challenge of all. His conditioning has been so powerful that it has all but destroyed his ability to be self-aware."

"Men have been found to deny woman intellect; they have credited her with instinct, with intuition, with a capacity to correlate cause and effect much as a dog connects its collar with a walk."

"I would rather trust a woman's instinct than a man's reason."

( all quotes above from http://www.wisdomquotes.com/topics/men/)

The good news for women is that the intuitive style is gaining credibility — and pizaz. You might even find men asking you to teach them how to be more intuitive. Unfortunately, it's a tough thing to teach, but some bright woman out there will figure out a way to do so and become a rich, famous guru!