Discernment & knowing

Discernment & Knowing concerns how humans make sense of information, sensation, experience and uncertainty. Inner Technology does not ask us to choose between intellect and intuition. It asks us to become better at knowing which kind of information we are dealing with, how much confidence it deserves and what else needs to be considered.

A useful starting point is the difference between an experience and the conclusion you draw from it. Reality literacy explores that distinction; cognitive defusion describes a way of relating to thoughts without treating every thought as a fact.

The five capacities

Clarity

Clarity is the capacity to distinguish what is relevant from what is merely loud.

Intuition

Intuition is the capacity to register patterns before conscious reasoning has fully articulated them.

Perspective

Perspective is the capacity to move beyond a single viewpoint without losing the ability to stand somewhere.

Truth

Truth is the capacity to remain oriented toward what is actually the case, even when reality is inconvenient to our preferred story.

Wisdom

Wisdom is the capacity to bring knowledge, experience, uncertainty, values, context and consequence into proportionate judgment.

How these capacities work together

The relationships matter as much as the individual capacities. Follow any connection below to see how these abilities support, regulate or complicate one another.

Person reading an I AWAKE book

Not sure where to begin?