Beyond science and art: The role of intuition

“Albert Einstein once spoke of intuition as a sacred gift and likened rationality to a faithful servant. Our basic purpose was to shift the tendency to worship the servant and ignore the sacred.”

Bob Samples (1976)

In an increasingly complex and technological world based on rational decision-making, human-centered concepts such as intuition are increasingly being acknowledged to play a pivotal role. However, intuition is as such still underexposed in many scientific research areas and the concept is not well understood. We aim to set up an interdisciplinary art-science Leiden Lorentz workshop on intuition, in order to unravel its concept.

Aim of the workshop
The aim of this workshop is to exchange scientific and artistic perspectives in the area of intuition to create a better understanding of the concept, its role and implications in both science & society.

In this workshop we will explore

1) which factors contribute to intuition and related concepts, as seen from different disciplinary perspectives?

2) how factors related to intuition contribute to the solution of complex challenges in our society?

More specifically, the sub-aims of the workshop are to: 

1. Identify innovative, interdisciplinary views on existing models of intuition and related concepts, using an interdisciplinary community of local and internationally-oriented experts;
2. Disentangle possible mechanisms via which intuition might work, specifically in health-care decision-making processes or in the creation of visual art;
3. Explore how these different forms of intuition might play a role in different (human and non-human) contexts, such as artistic, art-historic, philosophical, sociological, psychological, biological, neurological, or physical contexts;
4. Develop an understanding of how these concepts of intuition work and how they may contribute to solving societal challenges.