The Truth About Gut Instinct: When to Trust It and When Not To

Welcome to the Figuring It Out podcast. Should you trust your gut instinct, or is it letting you down more than you realise? Dr Alex George and research scientist Dr Kathryn Bates explore the neuroscience of intuition, why it can sometimes be remarkably accurate and sometimes badly wrong, and how you can tell the difference. Plus: is gut instinct just your body noticing something before your conscious mind catches up? Is female intuition real? Does sleeping on a big decision actually help? And could anxiety be mistaken for intuition? No lectures. No easy answers. Just two people trying their best to figure it out. Have a question or dilemma you'd like us to tackle in a future episode? We'd love to hear from you. Email us at hello@figuringitoutpod.com. If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to like, subscribe and let us know in the comments: What topic should we try to figure out next? We're not here to give medical advice, we’re just two friends exploring the science and figuring out life together. If you have any concerns about your health, please speak to your doctor. Timestamps: 00:02:05 – Cillian Murphy: "Believe Your Instinct Over Intellect" — Is He Right? 00:07:37 – How Alex's Gut Told Him a Patient Was Dying Before the Tests Did 00:09:09 – The Mel Robbins TikTok With 2.7 Million Views — And Why It's Wrong 00:11:31 – "The Musician or the Mathematician?" Catching Your Brain's Stereotypes Red-Handed 00:15:23 – Kind vs Wicked Environments: Why Baking Trains Your Gut and People Don't 00:38:13 – Alex's Near-Death Story: The Night His Gut Instinct Saved His Life 00:44:59 – The "10,000 Hours" Theory of Why Women Read Emotions Better 00:46:31 – What Happens When You Flip the Power Dynamic at Work 00:53:02 – Is Anxiety Just Your Gut Talking? The Answer That Surprised Us I speak with workplaces and organisations about mental fitness. If you’d like to find out more, please email Faye at fb@insanity.com. Check out my new book - Am I Normal? https://tinyurl.com/f78r3bje Order my book - The Mind Manual https://tinyurl.com/mt7fhkze Order my children’s book - A Better Day https://tinyurl.com/bdeh9vkr Download The Men's Mental Fitness App - Mettle https://linktr.ee/mettleapp