Trust Your Gut
Sarah Bernhardt as Hamlet
Q: Shakespeare’s Hamlet is about a young man who doesn’t respond to his first best instinct, which is to avenge his father’s murder by killing his uncle. If Hamlet had listened to his gut, how would the play be different?
A: This is not a scientific kind of question. But the play would have been shorter and probably fewer people would have been killed.
- From Through Analysis, Gut Reaction Gains Credibility, in today’s New York Times
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- Published:
- 08.28.07 / 2am
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- Alec Soth: Asked and Answered
August 28th, 2007 at 6:00 pm
It’s a ridiculous question, and I tripped over it when I read it this morning in the Times. Almost spilled my coffee.
Hamlet is a play, not process notes.
The question sounds like it should appear on an SAT or English Lit Advanced Placement exam.
Gigerenzer’s answer is perfect.
BUT, I bet you could come up with counter examples where following your gut resulted in deeply tragic situations where, perhaps, cool and measured analysis would have had a better outcome.