“Life is about rhythm. We vibrate, our hearts are pumping blood. We are rhythm machine, that’s what we are” Mickey Heart

“I knew the shot was in as soon as I hit it”. This is what Harry Kane, Tottenham striker and England captain, said after he scored his 350th career goal. He now has 213 goals in the Premier League and is on track to overtake Alan Shearer as the top scorer of all time. 

We seem to have a funny relationship with intuition. In a world of big data, the right way to do things is to gather all the available information, analyse it carefully and reach the ‘right’ conclusion.

There is no doubt that this view has its merits. Data can and has provided powerful insights. Especially since the turn of the millennium where the internet proper has created vast pools of data which, thanks to cloud computing, can now be processed and analysed at much lower cost.

Companies have got better at tailoring products and services to meet customer needs and can leverage the power of Google and Meta’s marketing tools to target specific audiences. Weather forecasting has gotten a lot better. Mapping software can predict journey times based on traffic information, though as a cyclist I feel Google has some way to go optimising maps for cycling for traffic free routes. 

Intuition can be unreliable. It falls into what Kahneman describes as ‘System 1’ thinking, which involves associating new information with existing patterns, or thoughts rather than creating new patterns for new experience. Intuition is finding analogy with the old and can lead to biases like anchoring and how quickly information comes to mind (see availability heuristic).

A good example of anchoring suggested by my mate Ben: if Strava has a monthly cycling achievement to cycle 1,250 km you’re going to be anchored to thinking this is a decent amount, but if Strava has an achievement for 125 km you might cycle less.

Logical reasoning is, therefore, a crucial mediator and absolutely necessary for making effective decisions. However, what’s fascinating is that studies show that combining analytical thinking with gut or intuitive thinking can help us make better, faster and more accurate decisions.

This is especially true where you are running the risk of over-thinking, or where there isn’t a clear-cut, “correct” answer. In these moments, drawing on our gut can help escape decision-making paralysis.  

When making decisions like this, our brain and gut are connected by a network of hundreds of millions of neurons. This is an information superhighway where chemicals and hormones whizz along are constantly providing feedback between the brain and gut on everything from how hungry we are, our stress levels to our mood and overall emotional well-being. This is the brain-gut link.

The Dance, Henri Matisse

You might be wondering, but how does the gut affect decision-making? Aren’t decisions made by ‘thinking’ which takes place in the brain?

Emerging research over the past few years indicates that not only is our brain “aware” of our gut microbes, but these bacteria can influence our perception of the world and alter our behaviour. 

How does this happen? When you approach a decision intuitively, your brain works in tandem with your gut to quickly assess all your memories, past learnings, personal needs, and preferences and then makes the wisest decision given the context. In this way, intuition is a form of emotional and experiential data. The gut is our “second brain” – when we access memories this stimulates the chemicals and hormones in the gut that influence our perception of these memories. The gut shapes our understanding of the past.

This is how Harry Kane knows the strike is a goal before it hits the back of the net. The brain links up with the gut to make an assessment of the feel of the strike, position of the keeper and many other factors all in a millisecond compared to previous experience.

The gut is home to a diverse community of microorganisms known as the gut microbiome. These microbes produce metabolites and chemicals that interact with the nervous system, affecting brain function and behaviour.

One good way to maintain the health of your gut microbiome is to eat a diverse range of whole foods, including fermented foods like yogurt, kefir and sauerkraut, limit sugar and avoid unnecessary use of antibiotics which kill off bad and good bacteria indiscriminately. Michael Mosley’s Just One Thing podcast is great for this stuff. 

Note to self. Next time I’m struggling to make sense of a big data set, I’ll eat an apple and make sure I get enough sleep. Healthy body, healthy mind. Simple but not easy.