Oil Finding Instinct

The greatest instrument for finding oil or gas is not a scientific gadget.

It is the human brain.

There are those who are immersed in the scientific world. They are not the oil finders. The reason has to do with the workings of the human brain. Sometimes the most effective part of it is not the cortex where scientific calculations are made, but the more subconscious parts of it. There is something about conscious thinking that diminishes its effectiveness.

This is illustrated in a number of ways.

The world of sports is flush with examples. I have talked with many of the great golfers, and although it was one of my worst sports, in achievement, nevertheless I understood a lot about it and these outstanding players agreed with my analysis.

Unless they reduced their mental controls from the more conscious part of the brain to that part which controls motion without realization, they were ineffective. If, on the other hand, they could induce a built in rhythm, that worked without mental concentration, then their scores responded.

This is true in all sports. Skiing is a perfect example. If you have to think about where you are going to move the ski, you crash in the snow.

If one is a good poker or other card player, myself included, one does not have to consciously count cards. This is done instinctively and one knows, without putting numbers on them, what is the likelihood of a certain suit or a certain card appearing. The limbic system has already registered patterns.

Jazz musicianship is another example. Having heard many excellent jazz musicians play and talked with many of them, it is clear that their subconscious part of their brain has been trained to take over the controls. They cannot explain to you where this result comes from. It is in fact, inexplicable to themselves. All they know is that they can produce music, which, of course involves harmonic patterns, without thinking about it.

I am interested in pursuing the study of this miraculous ability. It is obvious that it is inherited, even though it may have skipped a generation.

I know one family that has at least a dozen excellent musicians. Of course, historically, the Bach family is the prime example.

Strangely enough this also applies to the discovery of oil and gas caches.

It has been described as an instinctual “feel” entailed in evaluating a prospect.

It may involve pattern recognition, a faculty which seems to be lodged in the less conscious parts of the brain.

In the book “Blink” the author describes how a few art experts glanced at the statute for which the Getty Museum had paid millions of dollars and instantly declared it to be a fake. Their instantaneous assessment turned out to be correct. The experts who had advised the purchase had spent much more time in analyzing the statue from every aspect.

A person, who has that aptitude, if he has spent enough time in the oil business, can readily and almost instinctively, analyze an oil prospect.

That is why a number of independents, without college or other formal training, have discovered oil or gas blockbusters.