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Do only dead fish swim with the stream?

The role of intuition, emotion and deliberation in love and work

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Emotion und Intuition in Führung und Organisation

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Abstract

The conflict between intuitive insight and deliberate thinking has been acknowledged in both philosophy and popular culture. Thus, Blaise Pascal argued that “The heart has its reasons which reason does not understand.” The title of one of Connie Francis’ songs is “My heart has a mind of its own.” More recently, Daniel Kahneman has suggested differentiating between two systems of thinking: a fast intuitive system and a slow intellectual system.

“Only dead fish swim with the stream.”

(Malcolm Muggeridge)

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Gigerenzer (2007); Kahneman (2011).

  2. 2.

    Ben-Ze’ev (2000).

  3. 3.

    Bergson (1907, p. 155).

  4. 4.

    See, e.g., Spinoza (1677). IIp40s1, 2; IIp47; V5p33. On the importance, in 17th century philosophy, of emotions for knowledge, see James 1997, Chaps. 910.

  5. 5.

    Smith und Lazarus (1990, p. 629).

  6. 6.

    Ben-Ze’ev (2009); Goleman (1998, p. 7, part 4).

  7. 7.

    Dijksterhuis et al. (2006).

  8. 8.

    Calvillo und Penaloza (2009), Lassiter et al. (2009), Segal (2004), Sio und Ormerod (2009).

  9. 9.

    See Ben-Ze’ev (1993).

  10. 10.

    Segal (2004).

  11. 11.

    For a more detailed discussion see Ben-Ze’ev (1993, Chap. 4).

  12. 12.

    Dijksterhuis et al. (2006), Calvillo und Penaloza (2009), Lassiter et al. (2009), Segal (2004).

  13. 13.

    Gigerenzer (2007, p. 18).

  14. 14.

    Aristotle, On dreams: 460b; see also Nicomachean Ethics: 1149a26–29.

  15. 15.

    Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, 1103b12–20; Ewin (1992, p. 142).

  16. 16.

    Kant (1797). Metaphysics of Morals, § 17.

  17. 17.

    Elster (1999, p. 91), see also Ben-Ze’ev (2000, p. 165).

  18. 18.

    Coontz (2005, p. 15, 18).

  19. 19.

    Bruckner (2013).

  20. 20.

    Gigerenzer (2007).

  21. 21.

    Simsion (2013).

  22. 22.

    Ben-Ze’ev und Goussinsky (2008).

  23. 23.

    Russell (1968, p. 195–96), cited in Irvine (2006, p. 14–15).

  24. 24.

    Our focus is on drifting as a “local” decision-making mechanism in love or work. We do not address the wider issue of drifting as an attitude to all your life or personality trait, for this see, e.g., Sennett (1999), Rosa (2013).

  25. 25.

    Wittgenstein (1967, p. 504).

  26. 26.

    Krebs (2002, 2014, in press).

  27. 27.

    For the first kind of studies, see, e.g., Jose et al.(2010), Rhoades et al. (2012), Stanley et al. (2006) for the second kind, see, e.g., Kulu und Boyle (2010), Lillard et al. (1995); Manning und Cohen (2012).

  28. 28.

    Jones und Adams (1999).

  29. 29.

    Stanley et al. (2006).

  30. 30.

    Stanley et al. (2006).

  31. 31.

    Kulu und Boyle (2010), Lillard et al. (1995).

  32. 32.

    Manning und Cohen (2012), see also Kelmer et al. (2013).

  33. 33.

    Eisenberg und Fabes (1992).

  34. 34.

    Hochschild (1983).

  35. 35.

    Hochschild (1983).

  36. 36.

    For review, see Van Putten et al. 2013.

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Correspondence to Angelika Krebs .

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Ben-Ze’ev, A., Krebs, A. (2015). Do only dead fish swim with the stream?. In: Fröse, M., Kaudela-Baum, S., Dievernich, F. (eds) Emotion und Intuition in Führung und Organisation. uniscope. Publikationen der SGO Stiftung. Springer Gabler, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-07796-9_3

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