High-wire artist Philippe Petit explains that intuition and improvisation are not opposites. They are cousins. One must take an intellectual approach to an adventurous exploration of the unknown.

Philippe Petit: Intuition to me is almost an illegal notion. Certainly it carries rebellion because we are being taught in life – when you’re a little kid your parents and later the teachers will tell you how to do things and how to think. They will very rarely say well, you know, try it your way and if it doesn’t work I’ve got a secret in my sleeve.

For me when I review my life intuition and improvisation are really almost the same thing so that they are distant cousins because intuition is more of an intellectual calling, right. If I need to do a certain little task by intuition I know I would need three tools. I would improvise those tools if they don’t exist. So you see right there in the same sentence I use intuition and improvisation. Now improvisation is much more. We use it a lot in the acting world, you know. It’s much more jumping, diving from the diving board into a – I don’t know – into a volume that you’re not even sure is filled with water. Improvising is welcoming the unknown. And that’s another thing we’re not being taught in school, right. We’re saying be afraid of the unknown, you know. Follow the sheep. Follow the rules. So I would say welcome the unknown. Follow your intuition and improvise and it’s a different concept. Improvise means act upon your intuition, you know, live through it and of course you have to adjust through improvising sometimes. Like an actor will do.