Consider the Counterintuitive

Counterintuitive means contrary to what seems intuitively right or correct. A counterintuitive proposition is one that does not seem likely to be true when assessed using intuition common sense, or gut feelings.

Scientifically discovered, objective truths are often called counterintuitive when intuition, emotions, and other cognitive processes outside of deductive rationality interpret them to be wrong. However, the subjective nature of intuition limits the objectivity of what to call counterintuitive because what is counter-intuitive for one may be intuitive for another. This might occur in instances where intuition changes with knowledge. For instance, many aspects of quantum mechanics or general relativity may sound counterintuitive to a layman, while they may be intuitive to a particle physicist. Nevertheless counter-intuitive concepts are psychologically more preferred than intuitive concepts like in Von Restorff effect [which posits a memory bias in favor of the unusual].

Flawed understanding of a problem may lead to counter-productive behavior with undesirable outcomes. In some such cases, counterintuitive policies may then produce a more desirable outcome.

Some further counterintuitive examples are:

• Godel’s incompleteness theorems -- for thousands of years, it was confidently assumed that arithmetic, and therefore similar systems of logic, were completely solid in terms of being reliable for deductions. Gödel proved that such systems could not be both complete and consistent.
• Wave-particle duality / photoelectric effect - As demonstrated by the double slit experiment light and quantum particles behave as both waves and particles.
• Proof that        0.999… [repeating] equals 1. - Some people find this difficult to accept.
• The violation of the monotonicity criterion in voting systems
• The Monty Hall problem poses a simple yes-or-no question from probability that even professionals can find difficult to reconcile with their intuition.
• Horseshoe orbits in orbital mechanics
• That light may pass through two perpendicularly oriented polarizing filters if a third filter, not oriented perpendicular to either of the other two, is placed between them.
• The Mpemba effect, in which, under certain circumstances, a warmer body of water will freeze faster than a cooler body in the same environment.
• That water vapor is lighter than air and is the reason clouds float and barometers work.
• David Ricardo's theory of comparative advantage

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counterintuitive

Comments by the Blog Author

In contract bridge, there are bidding and play of the hand situations that intuitively appear to be 50/50 situations, although they are actually as skewed as 84/16 in one direction.

The blog author recommends that young adults find board, card and mathematical games to play which contain counter-intuitive elements.  Avoiding over-dependence on one’s own unimproved intuition is a skill well worth developing.  Games where decisions must be made on incomplete information appear particularly valuable in overcoming the reluctance to consider a counter-intuitive move.