Magnus Carlsen Quotes

I make all my decisions on intuition. But then, I must know why I made that decision. I throw a spear into the darkness. That is intuition. Then I must send an army into the darkness to find the spear. That is intellect.

I'm supposed to be a scientific person but I use intuition more than logic in making basic decisions.

We seem to have trouble with [critical thinking]. And our political system doesn't help.

I'm a bit of a freak for evidence-based analysis. I strongly believe in data.

Truly successful decision-making relies on a balance between deliberate and instinctive thinking.

Talk about rationality can get very confusing unless the things with which rationality deals are also included.

How many situations can be resolved with less thinking?

The key to good decision making is not knowledge. It is understanding. We are swimming in the former. We are desperately lacking in the latter.

The best place to solve a problem is on paper.

A woman uses her intelligence to find reasons to support her intuition.

No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical.

Never ignore a gut feeling, but never believe that it's enough.

But I don't think I have any particular talent for prediction, because when you have three or four elements in hand, you don't have to be a genius to reach certain conclusions.

Statistics are no substitute for judgment.

People mistakenly assume that their thinking is done by their head; it is actually done by the heart which first dictates the conclusion, then commands the head to provide the reasoning that will defend it.

Logic obviously is important. You need to be able to figure things out, to go to the end of a particular problem. But intuition is very important because it references things that logic alone cannot.

But there is only one surefire method of proper pattern recognition, and that is science.

My intuition comes up with better stuff than my head, I think.

We’re not used to calculating large amounts of data. Our brains think anecdotally.

Do not speculate; get data and calculate.

Logic is a wonderful thing but doesn't always beat actual thought.

I don't guess. I think. I ponder. I deduce. Then I decide. But I never guess.

We have an expression in New York City government - "In God we trust, but for everyone else, bring data." It's so easy to pick up a sound byte and say, "Oh, yeah, yeah, I believe that," without really thinking.

We must rely less on spreadsheets and funding formulas and more on common sense.

There comes a point where emotions must give way to objective facts.