I believe almost everyone once heard this proverbial statement, “trust your guts.” Sometimes, the people we trust the most advise us to do so. Its meaning, however, is simple but can be misunderstood . I will tell you why. First, let’s demystify it. Trusting your guts simply means following your intuitions, your feelings instead of using your rational mind which is normally fact-based and attentive. A simple example of trusting your guts is going to a typical African kitchen and assuming that the hearth filled with wood ash does not contain embers inside. You get it? Voila.
Recently, I have thought about this expression and made some analysis in my "laboratory of thoughts," the toilet, and arrived at a conclusion based on my personal experiences. I am not claiming that my conclusion can universally be applied. Make your own experiment in your own lab, then compare our results and ascertain if my conclusion holds water. If it doesn’t, it is what it is. I based my experiment on two scenarios. But remember, it doesn’t necessarily have to make sense to you. First scenario: I remember being told in high school that in an objective exam, whenever we don't know the right answer, we should trust our guts, that the first thing that comes to mind is most likely the correct answer. Scenario two is my experience on the earthquake that brought confusion everywhere in Morocco.
About the first case, I remember taking an exam on Monetary Economics here in Morocco. The exam papers were distributed, and it was all objective test questions. Everyone was happy until we saw the instructions that reads: “QCM, systeme Canadien, deux ou plusieurs reponses sont possibles.” This system of setting objective exam questions still leaves me astounded. We are in Morocco, why should we use this harsh Canadian system? You must be wondering how it works. Well, This is how: every correct answer is a plus one and the reverse is a minus one, and there is a possibility to have more than one correct option for a question.
Murmurs showing disapproval immediately occupied every corner of the hall. The invigilator pounded on the table next to him and yelled,” taisez-vous.” The Moroccans kept quiet. At this point, I had already looked at the first five questions. The options were so confusing that they left me undecided. In my fanafana voice, I said “Hai hamna deh.”
Everyone was focused on their question papers, but I could hear some random whispers around my desk. I turned the page and from question 6 to 15, I didn't doubt that some options were correct, but others confused me.
It was in 2020, classes were online, and I attended this course only twice, because it coincided with my best sleeping time, from 10am to 12pm. I would open my eyes halfway to click on the link to join, switch-off my mic and video, fix my earpieces and continue sleeping. Bad enough, I only studied this course a day before the exams. So, you see where I have messed-up, right?
I stared at the chunk of the questions, biting my pen in frustration. Fourth five minutes were already gone and I was still struggling. Ndoliyo ndoli could not work in a case where two to three options were correct, so I returned to question one and started following my guts. I would just look at a question and feel that options A and B were correct, I would tick them and move. It was just a matter of ticking based on what came to my mind. I convinced myself that my pluses were going to surpass my minuses. After the results were released, the prof told us that most of us had a minus number, meaning our wrongs surpassed our rights, so she gave us a zero out of kindness. I had to retake a make-up exam to clear that course.
Second case: the earthquake brouhaha. I don’t yet have the writing prowess to write about this story, so I will most likely write about it again. I just want to make a point from it. I was on my bed, fully engrossed in a discussion that I had postponed so many times. Foday, the Tiya Durang affairs minister, was watching a movie. He sat on a chair just beside the window. I suddenly saw my bed shaking in a loud and an disturbing way. I thought it was Foday who was playing games. The table, very near to the bed, was equally shaking and his laptop was on it. We gave eachother an accusatory look, but each of us understood that the shaking was not from either of us. None of us talked. He quickly observed the window and found out that it was the building that was shaking. As for me, I had already sprung from my bed. I wasted no time trying to confirm. I felt that something was wrong, and I did not take any risk of trying to know what exactly was happening. That was how I left the room and Foday followed suit, I thought about my shoes, but I could not afford to waste a second in leaving the apartment. I descended the staircase with the speed of light and even after going out, I proceeded to a vacant land. The speed at which I ran towards that vacant land was faster than that of a light. I put utilised every ounce of energy in it. Mr. Adrenaline didn’t disappoint me at all.
After analyzing these situations, I concluded that trusting your guts can be good or bad, depending on the situation you find yourself in. But just a piece of advice, if you find yourself in a scary and potentially dangerous situation, disappear skillfully if possible. Just like the way I did during the earthquake, don’t waste time trying to rationalize and find facts. In conclusion, don't rely too much on your intuitions, for they sometimes lie and can put you in a messy situation. On the flip side, don’t neglect them, for you can see yourself in dilemma if you do so. In case you don't agree, this is reminder once again that it doesn't necessarily have to make sense to you. Just don't conduct your experiment where I did mine.WE MOVE.
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