answer:During rehearsals for a play, a girl was supposed to take a glass of water off of a table and pitch it at my face (the liquid contents – not the glass.) It was my job to duck, and come into as minimal contact with the substance as possible, and then jump out of the way as she brandished a cane to smack me. This become one giant mess when our director realized that I have the worst reflexes ever. Without fail, I would wind up doused with water and hit in the leg. Someone, I cannot recall who, quipped, “Dude, she’s going to hit you. Why aren’t you moving out of the way?” I think the only way one can hone their instincts is constant repetition. They also have to resign themselves to the process of learning that given instinct. When an athlete trains, they have to go through the motions over and over again. I think the best demonstration of this is martial arts training. Focus, focus, focus. But there are some instinctual reactions I think you just cannot teach someone (I have the Star Wars line, “I have a bad feeling about this…” surfacing to mind.) I’m not sure what influences our gut reactions.