Imagine you're in an unfamiliar dingy cafe or on a dark narrow road and in a fraction of a second, your body and mind send you a warning sign that something bad is going to happen. Would you listen to them?
According to University of New South Wales neuroscientist and psychologist Joel Pearson, a lot goes into that sixth sense. "[Your brain is] processing all the things in the environment; the time of day, how well it's lit, how well it's not lit, the pace the person's walking, for example, the shadows, the tone, and a hundred other [details]," he explains.
Call it intuition – a nebulous concept that Pearson has been studying for two and a half decades. As the author of a book called The Intuition Toolkit, he's settled on a definition that says, "It's the learned, positive use of unconscious information for better decisions or actions."
But it's a slippery term; not everyone can put their finger on it. So let's look at a Reddit thread that has plenty of stories to illustrate what Pearson is talking about. Started by platform user TheRealGreedyGoat, it invited people to share the scariest "trust your gut" feeling that they've had. Here are the most upvoted ones.
#1
I thought my son’s breathing was weird. He was 4 days old. I couldn’t even explain to his doctor what I thought was weird, I just knew it was weird. Took him into the pediatrician and she did a basic look at him, watched him breathe and said he was fine, I’m just “in anxious mommy mode”
yeah okay
following day I take him into the er telling them the same thing. “I don’t know what it is but his breathing is just weird” and boom his oxygen was 72. he ended up staying on supplemental oxygen at home for 2 months. I was crying to one of the nurses and he told me “mom instinct is real and I’ve seen it save a lot of kid’s lives.”.
255points
We managed to get in touch with the person who started this discussion, and they were kind enough to have a chat with us about it.
"I love asking Reddit users to share their life stories," TheRealGreedyGoat told Bored Panda.
"This allows me to learn more about people. Since I also have no problem reading all the comments, I find it incredibly interesting to engage with diverse perspectives and experiences."
#2
In the days of MySpace, a girl I knew through high school extracurriculars posted a vague warning about an active duty sailor she met online who seemed normal but suddenly wouldn’t take “no” for an answer. I messaged her to ask if she was okay and she told me his name, warning me not to engage with him if he tried to contact me. She then mentioned how she had been deleting some of her pics and profile details because she honestly thought he might try to show up where she worked or even at our shared after school activity.
Literally the following week, I had shown up for said extracurricular and was in the process of setting up with a few other people. The girl was in the women’s restroom down a long dark isolated hall far removed from the primary entryway. Out of nowhere, a guy who looked high school-ish in face and build (and could fit in with us only in that sense) but who I had never seen before, showed up and began looking around as if he knew the place and knew what he was after. I was used to other kids around my age dropping by to visit us out of curiosity, but they would normally just stand around awkwardly until approached. This guy’s level of focus struck me as extremely disconcerting and I couldn’t shake this feeling that I needed to tell the girl first and any nearby adult. Because I felt so weirded out, I already knew I didn’t want to talk to him, so I looked at the sign in sheet at the entryway. He was the creeper the girl told me about.
As soon as I knew that he couldn’t take notice of where I was headed, I booked it down the hall toward the women’s restroom where I found the girl and told her what I saw and how I knew it was him. She started crying uncontrollably and I told her to lock the door and that I was going to tell the adults in charge as soon as I could find them. I then found two of the adults and told them what I saw and knew of the situation, the fact that the guy in question was literally just in the other room from us, and that the girl had already locked herself in the bathroom. I was only 15; I don’t know how I stayed so calm. The adults kicked right into action, escorting the guy off the premises and filing a police report.
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211points
#3
When I was pregnant, I got bit by a Lyme tick at 28 weeks. Noticed the bullseye and got on antibiotics. My obgyn brushed it off after that, no harm done according to her. When I went to the hospital at 35 weeks to register for delivery (normal procedure here), I mentioned the Lyme but that i took abx.
Next day, they call me and tell me they want to induce at 37 weeks because Lyme can damage the placenta and they would rather not risk it. Oof.
I talked to my obgyn about it and she basically laughed it off telling me not to induce.
My gut instinct told me to induce, so I went with the hospitals advice and had my son at 37 weeks. He was tiny and it was a tough few weeks after that getting him to eat and stuff because he was so tiny and tired.
Next day, they call me and tell me they want to induce at 37 weeks because Lyme can damage the placenta and they would rather not risk it. Oof.
I talked to my obgyn about it and she basically laughed it off telling me not to induce.
My gut instinct told me to induce, so I went with the hospitals advice and had my son at 37 weeks. He was tiny and it was a tough few weeks after that getting him to eat and stuff because he was so tiny and tired.
The hospital sent the placenta to pathology.
It was severely damaged and wouldn’t have held up much longer.
It was severely damaged and wouldn’t have held up much longer.
If I had listened to my obgyn, I would have probably lost my son.
Needless to say, I switched obgyns after that.
181points
After going through the replies they'd received, TheRealGreedyGoat noticed a few common themes. Mainly, encounters with strangers or navigating unfamiliar environments.
"When you feel something is wrong about someone or 'creepy,' there's probably a fair reason to listen to it. I’ve read comments saying they had this feeling and ignored it and wished they didn't."
#4
Not me, my grandfather. He used to never wear his seatbelt. One day he's driving around with my mom and suddenly remarks, "I feel like I'm about to go through the windshield" and buckles in. Less than 30 seconds later, as they're going through an intersection, a car blows the red light going like 40mph and slams into my grandpa's side of the car.
He walked away with nothing worse than some fractured ribs and now he always wears his seatbelt.
168points
#5
At school there was an event with a little buffet line. I was in line next to one of my classmates I didn’t know well. Nothing happened. Might’ve said a word or two to him. I went to sit down next to my now-husband. We hadn’t been dating long. He whispered that I should never be alone with the classmate that was next to me in line. I pushed him for more- did he know him? He said no, never seen him before, but he could tell he was a bad dude. Couldn’t really explain it.
Later that year we learned he r*ped at least 7 classmates.
Husband said he’s only gotten that feeling a few times but it always pans out. He just can read criminal sociopaths or something. We listen to that gut feeling when it happens.
166points
Many do. 70 percent of adults in the UK, for example, always listen to their instincts, with 35 percent physically getting a "gut feeling" about situations, a recent poll of 2,000 Brits has revealed.
Nearly one in five rely on their intuition to tell them if something’s wrong regarding their health and two in five follow this "gut-guru" to guide them when it comes to trusting their partner.
#6
I’ve had a few. A coworker in the office next to mine, I just felt one day something was wrong. I asked him if he was okay, he said he was fine, I got him a cookie. He died that night. I’m glad I did something nice for him and I’m glad I asked how he was.
3 dudes I’ve met gave me a gut feeling to steer clear. One then brought a gun to school, called in bomb threats, in jail now, may have m**dered his girlfriend. Another was caught breaking into women’s dorm rooms while they were asleep. The third date r*ped my friend.
I don’t believe in esp. I do believe your brain is gathering a lot of information that you aren’t really focused on that can tell you things you might feel as gut instinct.
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158points
#7
I noticed pain in my lower back one morning and thought I slept on it wrong or something. Throughout the day it continued and started to feel like when you get kicked in the groin.
Thought to myself it's probably cancer.
Did a self check and didn't think I noticed anything and had my GF do the same and she wasn't sure.
Called a urology office on my gut feeling and got the last appointment before Christmas break. It was cancer but it was super early. Got an orchiectomy a few days later, then some mild chemo a few months later and have been just fine ever since.
EDIT for more information because this blew up:
I had noticed some similar pain that lasted a weekend or so a month or so before the pain that sent me to the doctor. The doctor was very kind considering I walked into his office and said "I think I have cancer." He and fellow both did a gloved hands on exam of both testicles. The decided to do an ultrasound on both testicles next at the same exam. Showed me both images and there was a huge difference between the normal and irregular. The next step was surgery to remove the bad testicle which is called an orchiectomy. Scheduled it for 3 days later with the same doctor in an outpatient surgery center attached to their building. Surgery went well and then I was kind of in limbo for a few months.
The urologist recommended radiation therapy, talked to a radiation oncologist who recommended chemotherapy. Talked to a Chemotherapy oncologist who recommended observation with the urologist. Had a follow up with all three and finally decided to do 2 rounds of carboplatin at a highish dose but over a short period.
Shaved my head into a mohawk expecting to lose my hair but did not and just ended up looking like a goober. Had some medical debt and stupidly paid that over student loans which messed up my credit for a second. Though the experience made me realize how caring and kind and amazing my girlfriend at the time was and we have been together ever since. Married for 7 years now :D 10/10 would do again.
144points
TheRealGreedyGoat belongs to the majority; the Redditor also believes intuition can be a reliable guide. "I had this experience too. I was in a forest and the scenery was beautiful. I looked at an area near a cliff I wanted to look out at and got this weird feeling I shouldn't stand there. I reasoned with myself that there were probably ticks. My friend and I talked for a while and then I heard a giant crash. I turned to the spot I was just about to stay at and there was a giant log there. It would have crushed me! And we wouldn't have been able to get help because we were a bit lost."
#8
My dead best friend “visited” me in my dream and ran into her in a grocery store. I remember I was ecstatic to see her and blabbed and she just simply responded “you’re sick” and I woke up. In a few days I found out I had high risk cervical lesions and needed surgery.
135points
#9
This is not mine but is chilling...
About 15 years back, I worked with a guy who told me that in his younger days ( aged c 12 iirc) he attended a local youth club. One night, the guy that ran it wanted the boys to go "Shirts v Skins" for a game of football or whatever.
My workmate was to be in the 'skins' team- He refused to take his shirt off, one thing led to another , a big drama ensued, he got kicked out club and sent home. His Mum and Dad weren't happy, starting giving him a row, asking why he'd made such a fuss, he said he wasn't comfortable taking his top off in front of the youth leader as "there was just something about the guy"...
A few years later, the youth leader, Thomas Hamilton, brutally m**dered 16 children and their teacher in Dunblane Primary School.
134points
Psychologist Joel Pearson highlighted that the information we are conscious of receiving – the sound of a colleague on the telephone, the smell of coffee when we walk past a cafe, the feeling of hot sun on our skin – is but the tip of an iceberg.
"The brain is really good at restricting the spotlight, so it can make all the resources focused on one narrow thing, like a spotlight on the stage,” he said. But all of that sensory information – the bottom part of the iceberg – is still being processed. And for that, we should be very grateful.
#10
I was driving a very remote road in rural Australia. No streetlights, dead straight, pitch black, no other people for 100+ kilometres. It was between Bourketown and Julia Creek in far north Queensland.
The song "can't stop" by the red hot chili peppers was playing and it repeated "stop" three times half way through the song. I thought huh.. f*****g weird for Bluetooth to be messing around after it's been perfect for the last 8 hours of driving but as I finished that thought, I had a feeling there was something more to it .. so I slowed right down .. I must have got to about 60kmh when a herd? Of donkeys wondered onto the road. Had I been going the 120km I would have hit them no doubt and very likely been in quite a decent accident. I was going just slow enough to navigate them and ended up having to swerve onto the side of the road which is just dirt... Any faster the car would have skidded and likely rolled.
No cell phone signal and literally no one else around.
Everytime I hear that song and particularly where it repeated, I get a wicked shiver and can only think if I hadn't slowed down it could have been a very poor outcome.
125points
#11
Someone I came in contact with at work semi frequently (once every 1-2 months) gave me the creeps but for no apparent reason. He never said anything inappropriate or touched me, and I could never figure out why.
A couple years later it came to light he was drugging young patients and videotaping SA'ing them in his clinic (family medicine doctor) his wife found the footage and turned him in.
I have so many situations like this but this one definitely stands out. I live by the mantra if it feels weird it is weird. Our gut instincts are usually spot on.
118points
#12
Not me, but my daughter. We were at a mall and had just arrived at the food court. My daughter (24) suddenly got agitated and said, "We have to leave! We have to leave now!"
I thought she was about to get sick and told her to head to the car, that I was going to get her siblings some lunch, and we'd be right out. She looked terrified and said, "NO! We have to go NOW!"
I had no idea what was wrong but we quickly went to the car. We were still in the parking lot 10 minutes later, waiting in traffic, when several police cars zoomed in with sirens going. Found out later a gang fight broke out in the food court where we'd just been. A dozen people were arrested.
We have absolutely no idea what she picked up on. There was no yelling or angry voices, no groups gathering, no people who appeared to be anything but families getting lunch. But somehow she knew something was about to happen.
111points
#13
I worked at a bar and had a very friendly gentleman offer to buy me dinner after we had some banter about favourite beer. I was flattered and he was handsome but something in me didn’t feel that it sat right. Turns out he was a serial k***er and k***ed a backpacker (Grace Millane, give it a google, but proceed with caution), mere weeks later. Police interviewed me to try and find out more of what he had said. He had offered to take a few girls out before he k***ed Grace. Grace and I were the same ageheight/build. I still have nightmares and survivors guilt. He also r*ped some ladies too. Trust your f*****g gut.
107points
#14
Not sure if it qualifies but I used to live and work in the suburbs. One evening I was driving home at dusk. I was 18-19 and had the house to myself. Brother was out of town and Mom was at her parents.
My job was about 10 miles from my house and maybe 6 turns on decently sized roads. I’m a fairly observant person and it wouldn’t be odd for the same car to be behind me for half of those turns but this time a car “followed” me all the way to my residential street. I got a gut feeling I was being followed so I passed my house and turned left. My house was one over from the corner of another residential street that was a quarter mile loop that also had another small street in it that reconnected to the loop then back to my street.
This car followed me as I made a loop. I then turned right to restart the loop and it followed me again. This time I turned down the small street and completed the loop again. It followed me one more time. As I was about to make the loop for the 4th time they finally drove off. I drove around another 5 mins just to make sure they didn’t circle back as I had nowhere else to park except out front of my house but I was creeped out the rest of the night.
I slept with my door locked and barricaded and with a big kitchen knife. I have no idea if or why they followed me. Don’t know if it was a friend pranking me or if my brother put one of his friends up to it since it’s the only time that’s ever happened and it was quite coincidental that I was alone. I worked retail and some of the employees did have records so I just don’t know. .
106points
#15
One evening I had this sudden urge to study the heimlich maneuver. Figured I had seen it on TV but didn’t understand the technique and how effective it truly was.
A month later I went to stay at my cousin and his new gf in another city to see a concert. I wake up the next day from the concert hungover af and my cousin is at work and his gf enters the room, panic on her face and grabbing her throat. I jumped out of bed in my boxers, hopped behind my cousins gf and started doing the maneuver. And after a few pumps…. poof out comes a advil… She had taken one of those massive gel tabs of advil and apparently it musta got stuck. Anyway…. I was hungover as heck, but having what I learned fresh in my memory def helped me in that situation.
A month later I went to stay at my cousin and his new gf in another city to see a concert. I wake up the next day from the concert hungover af and my cousin is at work and his gf enters the room, panic on her face and grabbing her throat. I jumped out of bed in my boxers, hopped behind my cousins gf and started doing the maneuver. And after a few pumps…. poof out comes a advil… She had taken one of those massive gel tabs of advil and apparently it musta got stuck. Anyway…. I was hungover as heck, but having what I learned fresh in my memory def helped me in that situation.
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102points
#16
Not my feeling but my mom's a few weeks ago. She works near me and also lives near me and was going home at lunch to meet a plumber and offered to drive me to my house so I could let my dog out. I normally take the bus to work and then bus home at lunch and back, so the plan was for her to drive me home so I could walk my dog for a bit longer and then I'd take the bus back. But when we got to my house she said she thought she better just drive me back to work real quick (it's like 10 minutes) and then go meet the plumber. On our way back we saw ambulances and police cars going back towards my house. I pulled up the police scanner and we realized there was a shooting at my bus stop at the time I would have been waiting for the bus back to work.
93points
#17
When I was about 11/12 walking home from school with my friend (same age), a man driving a red car drove past, slowed down and watched us. He then drove off, turned around, came back and did the exact same thing. Slowly drove past and watched us. He did this at least 5 times as we continued walking home.
I had the worst feeling in my gut, I knew something was wrong… My friend was almost home so I said to her, as soon as this red car drives off and we can’t see it, we’re gonna run as fast as we can home. As soon as we lost sight of the car we both ran in opposite directions home. I have never run so fast in my life.
The street I had to go down was a dead end and had a park attached to it which I lived on the opposite side of. When I turned around to look back at the road, I could see the red car driving down it.
We both got home safe.
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91points
#18
I got an absolutely gut twisting nauseating feeling and waited a few seconds before driving through the green light..... Two pick up trucks slammed into each other and would have crushed me on my motorcycle.
85points
#19
Decided to take a day off work. I never miss time well that day there was an explosion in my work area and if I had been there it would have definitely caused significant damage or death.
83points
#20
I don't know about scary, but there was the guy at work that from Day 1 I really didn't like, but for the life of me, I couldn't tell you why. He never did or said anything to elicit this response. I brought up not liking him with coworkers, and they all told me to give him a second chance, etc, and I straight up said no. I was told I was being an a*****e. A couple of weeks later, a coworker came up and showed me a news article with mugshots. There's the guy I hate for no reason. He had been arrested for producing CP.
83points