Ask PG: The difference between instinct and emotion?

[langer]

Like most people who will read this, I'm in my 20s and working on a startup I founded. Almost all the advice I've read and listened to regarding decision-making is consistent:

- follow your instincts

- don't get too emotionally attached to your startup

But in order to hone your instincts, surely you want them to be as in touch with your startup as possible? If this is true, and instincts and emotions were the same thing, then this would lead to a contradiction in the advice.

Therefore, I'm beginning to think that there must be a difference between instinct and emotion. However, I'm struggling to distinguish between the two inside myself.

So - is there a difference between instinct and emotion? If there is, what is it?

[pg]

Don't worry about the words. I think what these apparently conflicting quotes are about is optimism management. You want to be hopeful that you can one day produce something great, but assume what you have so far is crap. Or if you want a cheerier version, will seem like crap later compared to the marvelous stuff you'll make.

Incidentally, this applies to many types of work, not just startups.

[nostrademons]

This was referred to as the Stockdale Paradox in Good to Great:

"Confront the brutal facts of your current situation, but never give up hope."

http://www.jimcollins.com/lab/brutalFacts/index.html#

[langer]

I agree with you on this when thinking about your startup/product as a whole, however this isn't the problem I'm so interested in.

My question is more about how to identify the appropriate drivers for making specific decisions when there are too many unknown variables in play to come up with a conclusion through logical analysis.

[randy]

This semantic inquiry is pretty trivial. They mean different things and carry different degrees of importance to different people. Who cares if they're the same or not? When reading advice, you shouldn't take the words literally, but rather come up with your own interpretation. My interpretation of this type of advice boils down to: 'When faced with a decision, think about it [your emotions and instincts come into play here] and do what you feel is right.'

P.S. As an aside: My personal interpretation paints them as fairly distinct, though related, things: Instinct tells you what you should do, Emotion tells you how you feel. They sometimes feed one another (i.e. You see a pretty girl and emotionally fall head over heels which makes your instinct tells you to do something before this angel walks out of your life forever) and sometimes are in conflict with one another (i.e. Your instinct tells you to sell your company because you've subconsciously crunched the numbers and outcomes and decided it's for the best, but you can't emotionally bear the thought of living another day without the baby you've worked so hard on).

[iamelgringo]

Instinct is a gut level "this is wrong" or "this is the right way to go". It's getting as much information you can about the decision in front of you, synthesizing it all and going with your gut.

Emotion is the "Oh Crap!" the "This rocks! I'm going to be a guhzillionaire." or "I'm doomed" feelings. Emotion is the "But I've worked so hard on this, I cant let it go" feelings.

[IsaacSchlueter]

It's a difference of attitude more than subject. In a way, your emotions are your instincts, but that's a bit like saying that your brain is your mind. While that may be true, there's a big difference between talking about brains and talking about minds.

When someone says, "Follow your instincts," they're saying "Be very aware of the information that your emotions are providing to you, because it'll often be the most useful information you have."

When they say "don't get too emotionally involved," they mean "If your emotions start screaming at you, don't freak out and start acting stupid."

Take Jack Bauer from 24. He acts quickly, and is very aware of the information his emotions tell him, but he also is rational and careful, which is why he sees the way out of every situation. The similarity is pretty striking, actually. In a startup, you're in a situation with high stakes where decisive action is crucial, the stakes are high, the odds are stacked against you, cracking under the pressure is a sure-fire way to fail, and you never sleep.

Be like Jack Bauer. (He's also got some good lessons on dealing with troublesome investors ;)

[langer]

Good answer. I like your interpretations of the advice. I also like the brain/mind analogy.

Unfortunately I'm not a 24 watcher so can't relate to Jack Bauer (yet); maybe I'll watch an episode or two now :)

[boredguy8]

Good question, and I'm interested in hearing PG's answer. But so far, nobody's given a /principled/ way you can discriminate between the two. For instance, why can't I have an instinct that "I'm doomed"? Are emotions just 'bad' and instincts just good? Of course not.

I think the point of the advice you've mentioned is this: you're probably going to fail. 99% of just about anything is crap. But failing shouldn't depress you. Nor should you get overly tied to emotional success, less hubris be your downfall.

So get emotionally tied to your instincts: let that fervor help you push through where other people give up. But realize: there's a reason other people give up: you're likely going to fail. But, because you're you, you see things differently than others have, and you can see /why/ they've failed and /how/ you'll succeed.

Is there a bit of a contradiction there? ...meh, who cares? If you /have/ to create, that you're going to fail (most likely) won't stop you, and as a result, you're less likely to fail. But if you do, don't be emotionally tied up in the failure (or the success).

Capiche?

[JacobAldridge]

There's definitely a difference between gut feel instinct and emotional processing. There's also a third element, which is analysing data.

The difference lies in how you like to receive, process, and communicate information - for example, speaking personally, I take a lot of time to process a decision because I do so through a range of emotions, while many intuitive people I know make the same decision much faster.

Also be mindful that the power of these influences differ for different people, and there's no right or wrong. Which is right for you?

For more information, check out a company I work with (UK Based) is focussed on these differences - http://www.thinkfeelknow.com/what.html

If that doesn't answer your question, I apologise.

[mdakin]

"Instinct" in this sense refers to "intuition." A less ambiguous statement would be "follow your intuition." Intuition refers to suspecting that something is true that you've not yet proven to be true.

An emotion is a subjective form of an intuition. You have emotions about questions that may be answered many ways, and must be answered in a personal way. In general you could not prove an emotion to be true.

I think the point is to go with the non-emotional instincts over the emotional ones when there is a conflict.

Personally, when my emotions and intuitions about something are out of sync I know I have a problem and perhaps some more rigor/attention is warranted. I don't like operating if the emotional and non-emotional instincts are out of sync.

[qaexl]

In the context of decision making, emotions are those impulses within you that you perceive to "move". Though there are lots of emotions -- anger, hatred, jealousy, joy, lust, etc. -- those emotions come from two basic sources: fear (repulsion) and pleasure (attraction).

By movement, I specifically mean the direction of attention. We tend to avoid paying attention to what we fear, and strive to pay attention to what gives us pleasure. When making a conscious decision, fear (uncertainty, and doubt) is what makes a person hesitate. Pleasure (lust, greed) is what makes a person jump in without regard to risk. You perceive emotions by movement. You have to stand still (mentally speaking), then watch for the movement in the emotions. Because our attention naturally shy away from what we fear, those things tends to get ignored. Because our attention naturally seeks out what we like, we tend to cling to and attach ourselves to those things. When we cling to things we like, we also tend to fear losing them.

Instinct generally refers to survival instincts, and as such are closely tied with emotions.

Intuition, what I think those quotes refer to, don't refer to the absence of emotions so much as being in a state of mind where you are mentally still so you an observe all the movements of emotions. When you observe a particular emotional impulse long enough, it will identify itself to you (that is, you can rationally verbalize that emotional impulse). Once the emotion is identified and heard, they generally pass on and trouble you no more. At some point, you're left with just mental stillness. That's where intuition kicks in.

Just so you know, while some of this sounds like Freudian psychology, where I practice these ideas actually comes from my practice of martial arts. There is not enough time to stand there analyzing the angles and force vectors of an incoming blow, much less formulate a response. That is way too slow. Yet, someone who merely acts just on reflex isn't always able to prevail. There are people with enough trained awareness to manipulate someone's purely reflexive movements. To do well, you have to be able to not only have clear intuition, you have to be able to physically act on it to take advantage of the tiny moments of opportunity. Otherwise, you are unable to seize the initiative and execute on your strategy.

The story passed in martial arts lore is looking into a pool of water: when there are ripples, it is hard to see the reflection. You have to wait for the ripples to smooth over. When the reflection is clear, your image is clear, it looks almost like the real thing. But if it looks too real, and you reach out to touch the image to prove its realness, then ripples form, breaking its clarity. That's the nature of intuition.

I can't say I have successfully applied this to a startup, but maybe you will be able to.

[volida]

Emotions are for something real and you have to learn to handle them.

Instinct is about something you don't know and may not exist, therefore the only way to know is only by trying.

To follow your insticts and dont get too emotionally attached to something, contains action. therefore actions involve something else, called ability to execute.

That is why execution is above everything.

But excluding an action e.g. not get too emotionally attached, which is translated not to be dedicated, is something that may prevent you from fulfilling your instincts.

In short, you get to decide what you wanna do. Either live the emotions of not following your instincts or live the emotions of trying to make those instincts a reality.

[langer]

I understand that execution can be an implementation of your instincts, however execution can also involve acting on your emotions.

"something real" could also be "something you don't know and may not exist" so I don't quite see how that answers the question. Could you give an example to articulate what you mean?

[chris_l]

From wikipedia: "Instinct is the inherent disposition of a living organism toward a particular behavior. Instincts are generally inherited patterns of responses or reactions to certain kinds of stimuli."

I don't think you want to follow this in running your startup. I would rather recommend Intuition, or following a higher, above-rational understanding, rather than your animal reflexes. Intuition is most effective when not clouded by emotions, hence by becoming emotionally detached you can better use Intuition.

[gills]

Trust yourself while you're building and growing.

If you fail: don't spend the rest of your life kicking yourself, walking in circles, and murmuring "they just didn't see the vision" under your breath. Learn and move on.

If you succeed: let the product evolve with your customers or the needs of company X that bought you out. Learn and move on.

[MaysonL]

Probably a clearer word than "instinct" in this context would be "intuition".

[jpeterson]

They're really quite different. Instinct is your mind's way of clueing you in on something that you didn't know you knew.

Emotion is just a reaction.

[stevenwagner]

Instinct is a type of emotion. Instinct is the opposite of intuition. Instinct is from the past. Intuition is from the future.

[viergroupie]

Other questions for PG:

- Why does God allow evil?

- Does P = NP?

- How does it feel to be so gosh darn awesome?