Working with intuitive people is a gift. I’ve learned so much about consciousness in the past several years that it has revolutionized the way I think and approach problems.
One of the questions clients often ask is this: “How can people be so stupid?”
When a client asks this question (usually not phrased quite so bluntly) I know that this person has lost sight of how uniquely they process information and how they ping situations to discern the highest good. Folks with less active intuition and empathy do not recognize patterns in the same way. Intuitives literally vibrate with knowing, and they have a habit of believing that others operate in the same way. But others do not simply “know” what is going on behind the scenes. They are more likely to perceive the facade, rather than the machinations behind it, and they are dismayed and shocked when a subterfuge or corruption is revealed.
Intuitive folks are then surprised by how surprised everyone else seems to be about what has come to light. This happens on the personal level (how did my friend not know her husband was having an affair?) Or it may be more global (how did people not catch the speculation on conspiracy radio 10 years earlier that outlined the scandal now being exposed publicly?)
When people make a huge to-do about something you have known and worried about for years, it can seem like people are dense, hysterical, or both. But remember, we truly have different sorts of intelligence and we truly need one another. Consciousness is like a huge brain, and some of us are functioning with intuitive centers, while others of us have laser-like logic. We are not meant to be dismissive of each other, we are meant to help each other and thrive together.
Try to move back into loving and accepting those who process information and experience life differently than you. They are not dopey, not by a long shot. Here are a few notions that may help you regain a sense of perspective.
1. Rushing and being too busy cause psychic blindness. Being busy and tired, as well as keeping intuition switched off, cause us to accept the “presented” information with fewer questions. Possibly this is why using our own intuition has been taboo for so many centuries.
2. Pattern recognition is not the same for everyone. Intuitive people have connected the dots long before the hard evidence rolled in. It takes a lot of dots to paint a picture with facts, so intuitive people regularly ask the question: “Didn’t we already all know this?” No, we didn’t. You did. The rest of us are just now getting the memo. Be tolerant.
3. Confirmation bias causes us to miss early cues. This psychological factor causes us to delete clues in conflict with our existing beliefs. We tend to notice things that “corroborate” our beliefs and to discount or fail to notice factors that conflict with our views. Thus change that is in too great a contrast with our beliefs and expectations can sneak up on us, because we automatically overlook the subtle clues that it is happening. Small bits of worrisome patterns may begin to pile up, but we don’t really recognize the accumulation. The intuitive, who has been worrying about the growing pile of clues for years, then is amazed when her neighbors run out of their homes and start shaking their fists at the mountain across the street that appeared overnight.
4. We are in a time of masks slipping off. There really is a cluster effect, whatever the cause. And we are now in a phase of facades falling away, lies being revealed and truths coming to light. So if you are an intuitive soul, fasten your psychic seat-belt and expect that more of the same is coming. You know, down deep, that emerging truth is a good thing, even though nobody likes the sensation of shifting sands beneath our feet.
5. Being judgmental may impair resilience. Experts in The Survivor Personality, such as the late Al Siebert, speculate that “making others wrong” gums up our flexibility. People who respond effectively move into the moment, trusting their instincts. They know right from wrong, but they don’t spend much time rolling their eyes or indulging in diatribes. They are too busy landing on their feet and helping others out of burning buildings. If you find yourself getting stuck in judgment or disapproval of others, add a touch of Zen into your thinking and be mindful of your ability to be fully here, even in the presence of events or people who trigger disappointment.
We are all trying to keep our hearts open and our minds awake. Keep at it. Every good thing that you do, say, think or feel matters.

