A recent front-page article in The New York Times was entitled, “In Battle, Hunches Prove to be Valuable Assets.” The article—continuing from the front page of the newspaper to take up the full page on A6—describes the research done with soldiers on subjects like “how the brain processes images, how well it reads emotions and how it manages surges in stress hormones.” Dr. Antonio Damasio, director of the Brain and Creativity Institute at the University of Southern California, is quoted in the article:

Not long ago people thought of emotions as old stuff, or just feelings—feelings that had little to do with rational decision making, or that got in the way of it. Now that position has reversed. We understand emotions as practical action programs that work to solve a problem, often before we’re conscious of it. These processes are at work continually; in pilots, leaders of expeditions, parents, all of us.”

The either/or thinking—logical, rational, conscious thinking versus hunches, feelings, “gut responses”—once again proves to be too simplistic.

There is always some part of us—our emotional center—that is trying hard to keep us “in a positively regulated life.” This regulation is “a deep and defining part of who we are.” Emotions exist to keep danger away or to help us take advantage of opportunities. They help us “maintain the coherence of [life’s] structures and function against life-threatening odds.” (Dr. Damasio’s best-selling book Looking for Spinoza: Joy, Sorrow and the Feeling Brain discusses this subject in depth and is a captivating read.)

The NY Times piece relates in fascinating detail stories of soldiers in Iraq who just had a feeling…or just “knew” something was wrong…or sensed a danger was at hand…or realized something was “off” even though there was no logical reason. The story that begins and ends the article is about Sergeant Edward Tierney who saved his soldiers from serious injury or death from a car bomb in Mosul, Iraq, by sensing that something was wrong when there was no conscious explanation for this “knowing.” The article concludes:

Since then, Sergeant Tierney has often run back the tape in his head, looking for the detail that tipped him off….”I can’t point to one thing,” he said, “I just had that feeling you have when you walk out of the house and know you forgot something—you got your keys, it’s not that—and need a few moments to figure out what it is.” He added, “I feel very fortunate none of my men were killed or badly wounded.”