The Marginalian · People & society

Javier Marías on Intuition and the Courage to See Truths

Novelist Javier Marías explored the human tendency to ignore intuitive insights, suggesting we often perceive future events or character traits early on but suppress this knowledge.

Marías posits intuition, distinct from the supernatural, manifests as physical sensations. We repress these feelings, preferring an unruffled life, only recognizing their validity in hindsight.

He writes that in life, "everything is there on view, in fact, everything is visible very early on." A single moment can encapsulate future developments, and signs are readable if one is prepared to see them.

These signs include gestures, reactions, and tones of voice revealing hidden intentions or foreshadowing actions. We sense betrayal, scorn, or intense hopes before they are consciously expressed.

Marías notes we perceive who is untrustworthy or unscrupulous, and even who will eventually abandon whom.

We detect when things go wrong, love fades, or a friend succumbs to envy. We understand what irritates others about us.

Despite these perceptions, "no one wants to see anything." The mystery is not in the intuition, but in our refusal to heed it.

He attributes this to: "we know, but hate knowing; we cannot bear to see."

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