Without parachutes the sport of skydiving would consist entirely of people sitting around on the ground and deciding that jumping out a perfectly good aeroplane would kill them all and therefore changing the subject. Why, then, did scientists in Singapore come to the conclusion that plastic bags are better than paper and cloth bags? A counterintuitive proposition is one that does not seem likely to be true when assessed using intuition or gut feelings. Counterintuitive means contrary to what seems intuitively right or correct. Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features. So when we started reading about these "facts" that are supposedly counterintuitive, we just couldn't believe them. This might occur in instances where intuition changes with knowledge. A look at a few examples of counter-intuitive conclusions will illustrate these problems. Knowing these can help us make the right choices to get the results we want. For example, you probably wouldntsay that the double-slit experiment was counterintuitive; youdsay it falsified classical mechanics. Here are ten of the biggest threats to our . This is why it irritates me that we lie to undergrads about these things so much. When we were in school, we always thought that we were pretty smart kids. There's a whole lot about water we are still just learning now, and a lot of (fairly important) properties it has that are shared by only a few other substances in special circumstances. Most students will correctly say that to freeze a liquid, you need to cool it. we of course used these results to show how counterintuitive our actual results were. Students know that melting and boiling involve heating. It wouldn't be a popular sport. Reference-frame invariance of the speed of light. And besides, researchers are continuously learning new things. See more. Supercooled water can be found in clouds. Better to ask for forgiveness than permission. Mastodons may have been some of the earliest victims. The experiments below illustrate counter-intuitive temperature changes in interesting ways for 1416 year olds. A graphical representation of the unified trust distribution mechanism is shown in Fig. Even as an adult, I am constantly confronted with new scientific advancements and discoveries that don't always line up with my preconceived notions. As Simine points out, many people in psychology say that counterintuitive findings are more valuable so clearly there is an incentive to frame things that way. This is a "necessary evil" that is not considered controversial in the . For example, a delay between the time a discrepancy is observed and a corrective action is taken will result in an oscillation in room temperature (see Figure 6.6). When treating someone badly makes him like you more instead of less, this is an example of something that is counterintuitive. If something is counterintuitive it means it's the opposite of "intuitive" in other words, it's not easily understood in an instinctive, unconscious way. Heat the flask until the water boils and steam issues from the rubber tube. I agree that exceptions to good goes with good are often interesting, but not necessarily because they are counterintuitive. Here are four of the more surprising habits that, according to contemporary researchers, the most effective leaders typically share. counter-intuitive meaning: 1. Bell's theorem and general quantum weirdness. What importance does counterintuitive play in our real life? This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Advanced students should also realise that solvation of the ions releases energy, but less than the input needed to break down the ice and salt lattices. It is because that 2-Points and 3-Points have different weights in the two players' stats, so a direct comparison cannot be made. Find 23 ways to say COUNTERINTUITIVE, along with antonyms, related words, and example sentences at Thesaurus.com, the world's most trusted free thesaurus. The Earth is not the center of the universe. 'Hiemal,' 'brumation,' & other rare wintry words. By: Shea September 09, 2020. . | MiigPT 7 yr. ago. Science seems to always challenge our intuitive understanding of the world. It leaves little room in the public consciousness for social scientific work that is incremental, for work that shores up and teases apart, for work that complicates, for work on the boundary conditionsthose fragile social and mental habitats upon which decisions turn. The world is round but the universe is flat. Some people assume that if you release a ball while spinning your arm in a circle, the ball will continue to go in a circle. Patients who received tirzepatide in a recent clinical study lost more than 20% of their body weight (52 pounds, or 23.6 kg). Our finding highlights the mathematical inexactness of ZT . No matter how your results turned out, you can convince your audiencethat they once thought the opposite. The reality is not so simple. Are counterintuitive findings more valuable? 9. The mechanics of climate change arent that complex: we burn fossil fuels; a byproduct of that burning is carbon dioxide; it enters the atmosphere and traps heat, warming the surface of the planet. I suppose this might still be categorized as trying to be counterintuitive, though I think it is more about striving for nuance. A Counter-Intuitive Approach to Making Complex Decisions. In social and personality psychology that isthe majority of what we are studying. How to use counterintuitive in a sentence. Sure, some tasty things are healthyblueberries, snow peas, nuts and maybe even (oh, please) red wine. This doesn't really belong in this thread with the hard science examples, but I think it's a nice little verbal/logic trick to drop on people at a dinner party. Science seems to always challenge our intuitive understanding of the world. to ask them what their predictions would be about our main study in our 2008 paper (Vazire & Mehl, JPSP). It's a macroscopic effect of quantum mechanics. undergraduate science education course with their teaching practice experience in local classrooms. "3 out of 2 Americans do not understand statistics." In everyday language 'freezing' or 'melting' involves cooling or heating, but in science the term refers only to the changing physical . Stir gently, recording the temperature at known intervals until the temperature drops to near zero. Whatever the cause of this early wave of extinctions, humans are driving modern extinctions by hunting, destroying habitat, introducing invasive species and inadvertently spreading diseases. The more often you see a person or an object, the more youll like it. University of Chicago cosmologist Michael S. Turner ranks dark energy as the most profound mystery in all of science.. The definition of counterintuitive is something that goes against what you believe would be logical, or something that goes against common sense. Read the temperature; a little below 100oC, so the water has stopped boiling. These ideas, be it physics or biology . In fact, there are a lot of things that people do every day that defy all logic. To offset the emission equivalent to equal that of the creation of one single-use plastic bag, a reusable plastic bag would need to be reused four times. It is now salt water, which has a lower freezing point than fresh water. Then you should sit for an hour - Zen proverb. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. Cool to well below 0oC, being careful to avoid disturbing it. If something is counterintuitive it means its the opposite of intuitive in other words its not easily understood in an instinctive, unconscious way. Every once in a while, a dolt drops a gem. (Counterintuitive framing is also a great way to sell a lot of books .) adjective. Thats what makes this discovery such an exciting breakthrough, as it strongly supports the notion that atmospheric and solid earth processes are intimately connected.. What is the most surprising and counterintuitive finding in science that you can think of? You don't say who you're target audience is, so it's hard to tell. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGXqFOO8utA. Adding crystals or stirring seeds the crystallisation process. Use an ice/salt bath to supercool purified water in a clean test tube containing a clean thermometer. Gender Identity Is More Nature Than Nurture. -Mark Crislip. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. I guess I never really thought about the first one, but it is really weird. Say youre about to die and are packing some supplies for the afterlife. Bobs never bought Christmas seals he told me he wouldnt know what to feed them, When the Coen Brothers needed someone to show The Dude how to really roll, they could turn to only one man: Hall of Fame professional bowler Barry Asher. Im not at all surprised you thought of this before I did. Beyond the reach of formal theory, scientists develop educated guesses, hunches, and speculations based on their knowledge and experience. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. IE throughout learning undergraduate quantum mechanics you hear "spin is a completely quantum mechanical phenomenon that doesn't exist outside of quantum mechanics." As the liquid freezes, the temperature will rise. In order to enjoy things you always need to think about the negative side of them. We are often fooled by the appearance and we miss the essence. Plastic waste is a global shame. 1. Fit a 250 ml round-bottom flask with a 2-hole bung carrying a 110oC thermometer, a short glass tube, and a short length of rubber tubing with a sealing clip. Why do you get my tax dollars to be stupid?". Advertising Notice What is another word for counterintuitive? This counterintuitive approach applies also to minimalism. 1, The weight of a BPA is given by the BPAs of the other evidence.In Fig. Logic is generally used to reach a conclusion using the most accurate and testable route. Milgram famously did that with his obedience experiments. Some temperature changes are counter-intuitive, as can be shown by simple investigations. It would take several generations to sink in. Answer (1 of 13): The world is hardly what it appears to be. Its kind of deflating, isnt it? This is correct for most substances, but due to the nature of the water molecule it is different and actually expands. So, the temperature stays constant. 2023 Smithsonian Magazine Definition of Counterintuitive. Plot temperature against time. Now I wonder what my intuitions are about the meaning of the word counterintuitive, and what sort of information about the way the word is used might contradict those intuitions. I tend to think of intuitions as thoughts that pop into our heads as the result of conditioned reflexes, even if that conditioning is part of scientific training. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. It's just something that's easy to observe in a real experiment because the enthalpy of fusion is much greater than the enthalpy of heating (for a lack of a better term). Once recorded on the screen it is no longer in superposition. Quote from: thelatinist on September 28, 2011, 10:31:22 AM, Quote from: Chew on September 28, 2011, 09:49:10 AM, Quote from: Turbonegro on September 28, 2011, 07:45:31 AM, Quote from: Will Nitschke on September 28, 2011, 06:34:28 PM, Member: League of Extraordinarily Evil Gentlemen, Sci Fi Geek, fencer, free thinker, dog friendly. Charles Darwinstarted life as a creationistand only gradually came to realize the significance of the variation he observed in his travels aboard theBeagle. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. the opposite of what makes sense. Im reminded of the description of Steven Levitt as a rogue economist, a characterization that seems inappropriate to me, given that he received his Ph.D. from MIT, holds the title of Alvin H. Baum Professor at the University of Chicago, and has served as editor of the completely mainstream Journal of Political Economy. Here are 13 counterintuitive business truths I've come to know, even if I can't exactly explain why they make sense. Ask children about this and they will never believe it. It seems intuitive to me that causal relationships rapidly weaken as the distance (both spatial and temporal) between two events increases. No one can explain why anything happens down there, and there might not be an answer. The results of the study suggest that the removal of dairy cattle from US agriculture would only reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 0.7 percent and lower the available supply of essential nutrients for the human population. This can push students into a seeking explanation mode, setting the stage for discovery. Answer (1 of 2): Counterintuitive scientific theories? Of course, it does not have to be that way. Theyre also likely to suggest a liquids temperature drops while it solidifies. The mass-independent pendulum's period of oscillation is a consequence of the same pull from the force of gravity to every object regardless of its mass. Other low melting point compounds, such as ice, octadecanoic (stearic) acid or ethanamide (acetamide), can replace cyclohexane to show that constant temperature during melting and freezing is a general principle, not unique to cyclohexane. These ideas, be it physics or biology, can be considered counterintuitive in that they often present themselves in ways that are counter to ones intuitive notions1). Things that taste good are bad for you. Cultures as diverse as the Babylonians, Han Dynasty China, and the Maya each developed sophisticated belief systems and mathematics to divine the purported influence of the planets and stars on people's personalities and events on Earth ( Boxer, 2020 ). There is general agreement that it refers to a violation of previously held knowledge, but the precise definition seems to vary with every author and study. Trigger freezing by stirring, or seeding with a small ice fragment. Pouring over further portions of cold water causes repeated re-boiling while the temperature gradually drops to around 30oC, or even lower. So true! But other human foiblesthe desire to be accepted, time pressure, conflicts of interest (e.g., expectations of funding sources), interfere and can compromise that ideal. Viscosity of gases increases with increasing temperature. Was the double-slit experiment counterintuitive? Technically it's small things act according to an equation that is very wavelike in this instance and very particle like in this other instance, but the first sentence is close enough. The relationship between pressure and boiling point is also relevant in pressure cookers and when freeze-drying food. Frequency: The definition of counterintuitive is something that goes against what you believe would be logical, or something that goes against common sense. Today, according to many biologists, were in the midst of a sixth great extinction. In the age of Hostess pies and sedentary lifestyles, those cravings arent so adaptive. Adding more salt will cause more melting, and the temperature will drop further. Professor White added, Production of some essential nutrients, such as calcium and many vitamins, decreased under all reallocation scenarios that decreased greenhouse gas emissions, making the dairy removal scenarios suboptimal for feeding the US population.. If youre in a happy, optimistic, ambitious mood, check the weather. Contrary to most students expectations, the temperature will drop. It takes honesty and courage to report findings that dont make sense or go against common knowledge.. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. And not only expanding, but expanding faster and faster. Something that came up in another thread, the Mpemba effect i.e. Why dont we ask our colleaguesto back up their claims of being counterintuitive with data? Delivered to your inbox! 'Skydiving' is a pastime and while the main event is 'jumping out of a perfectly good aeroplane' it also includes the bit where you and some friends sit around on the ground and decide to charter that very plane. A counterintuitive proposition is one that does not seem likely to be true when assessed using intuition 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. The counterintuitive has its place. How many (and whose) lives would you bet on yourtheory? 1. ~45 kJ/mol vs ~.08 kJ/molK (~8 kJ/mol to get from boiling point to freezing point at STP). Beyond the reach of formal theory, scientistsdevelop educated guesses, hunches, and speculations based on their knowledge and experience. An aircraft can trigger freezing, causing potentially hazardous icing-up of aircraft surfaces. But when the stock goes back down to $50, you only lose 33%. The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". 10. What I suspect that means is that counterintuitive is often justa rhetorical strategyfor writing introduction sections and marketing our work. Early empirical studies including those . You need some fancy equipment, like a thing that makes a cohesive beam of photons and a thing that splits a cohesive beam of photons, but other than that its not impossible to do in your home lab. One way to fascinate, engage, arouse curiosity, motivate, and stimulate intellectual development in learning scientific concepts is to use counterintuitive questions. Our feeble minds can barely scratch the surface of existence, the cosmos, and everything. (But its true in other sciences too, probably more than we appreciate .) As Simine points out, many people in psychology say that counterintuitive findings are more valuable so clearly there is an incentive to frame things that way. Ever since the late 19th century, physicists have known about a counterintuitive property of some electric circuits called negative resistance. Common sense does not always follow . Re: What are the most surprising and counterintuitive findings in science? Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. When Copernicus proposed that the Earth and other planets instead orbit the Sun, his contemporaries found his massive logical leap patently absurd, says Owen Gingerich of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. When a liquid solidifies, bonds form between the particles (in this case, cyclohexane molecules). It has been said that the path to hell is paved with good intentions. Bond formation releases energy, counteracting the energy removed by the iced water. We have just begun to see the effects of human-induced climate change, and the predictions for whats to come range from dire to catastrophic. Cookie Settings, Kids Start Forgetting Early Childhood Around Age 7, Archaeologists Discover Wooden Spikes Described by Julius Caesar, Artificial Sweetener Tied to Risk of Heart Attack and Stroke, Study Finds, 5,000-Year-Old Tavern With Food Still Inside Discovered in Iraq, The Surprisingly Scientific Roots of Monkey Bars. Dont trust your intuitions. An oldie but a goodie: the fact that a pendulum's period of oscillation is independent of the mass hanging from it. Press J to jump to the feed. What possible sources of error can you identify? To call someone an asshole is really bragging him up.". 4. The Big Bang was a quantum event and the universe at one time was as tiny as a quantum particle. Something we don't currently know could be unearthed tomorrow so that we can always broaden our horizons and our stock of random tidbits to amuse our friends. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. A red light for go and a green light for stop would be highly counterintuitive, for example. Which includes ourselves, since social and personality psychologists are all human beings too. Darwins theory of evolution by natural selection can be inspiring: perhaps youre awed by the vastness of geologic time or marvel at the variety of Earths creatures. That is a good one. Beyond the reach of formal theory, scientists develop educated guesses, hunches, and speculations based on their knowledge and experience. Perhaps the best example is quantum physics where many scientists believe that some quantum processes do not have any cause whatsoever. The interaction of salt and ice involves breaking the bonds that hold water molecules together in ice crystals, and separating the Na+ and Cl- ions in salt crystals. Nature: The anus is a sophisticated organ. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. King Solomon, who could be considered an early scientist because of his powers of observation and analysis of natural phenomena like plants, beasts, birds, reptiles and fish (I Kings 4:33) and of geophysical cycles (Ecclesiastes 1:5-7), urged youth to gain knowledge, but to build it on the foundation of wisdom. Protective effect of mandatory face masks in the publicrelevant variables with likely impact on outcome were not considered (PNAS). Counterintuitive means contrary to what seems intuitively right or correct. Off the top of my head I'm going to guess that some of the energy the conducting electrons "receive" from the source will be dissipated to "heat up" the material. Likewise, a series of short arti-cles on counter intuitive problems can be found But they have not been informed of a long path of logical inference that tells us much more about the wall then our macroscopic senses do on a daily basis. What are examples of counterintuitive? Einsteins famous equation is certainly one of the most brilliant and beautiful scientific discoveriesbut its also one of the most disturbing. What are the most surprising and counterintuitive findings in science? One can win or lose for the wrong reason. The reduced pressure below the piston allows the atmospheric pressure above it to push it back down. Antibiotics and vaccines have saved millions of lives; without these wonders of modern medicine, many of us would have died in childhood of polio, mumps or smallpox. Identify whether they are grounded in hearsay, assumption, intuition or groupthink. Can you take vitamins while fasting for autophagy? Accessed 4 Mar. 5. Know that a sense of humor can be just as essential as understanding; you should also check out all these pretty funny science jokes--we we were not expecting these punchlines. Similarly, we understand boil the kettle to mean heat the water to boiling point, not turn it into steam. They can then test their ideas. 2. Press J to jump to the feed. Haven't checked it out but it makes perfect intuitive sense. In any case, Sowey's characterization of striking examples groups together "counterintuitive" examples (such as example 3 in his Section 4.2) and "intuitive" examples/analogies (such as example 6a in Section 4.6 or example 1 in Section 4.5). Previously, she was a senior science editor at Smithsonian magazine. counterintuitive counterintuitive Add to list Share. For example, you probably wouldnt say that the double-slit experiment was counterintuitive; youd say it falsified classical mechanics. Special relativity, then, is a perfectly reasonable and elegent way to formalize this notion. 5 Are counterintuitive findings more valuable? The English actor found the good side of being bad, Theres a little bit of The Dude in a lot of Jeff Bridges performances. Simple, yet counterintuitive mathematics | Why numbers don't always mean what you think youtu.be/xHjQhliXUB0. A couple of coins for the ferryman? These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. Student cognition in response to intuitive and counterintuitive stimuli in the school science curriculum is not well understood. 1.A schematic representation of the weighted fusion of evidence is shown in Fig. Calling it a "remarkable orifice," author Mary Roach said, "No engineer could design something as multifunctional and fine-tuned as an anus. Even though the temperature has dropped well below 0oC, the melted ice does not re-freeze. Paleontologists have identified five points in Earths history when, for whatever reason (asteroid impact, volcanic eruptions and atmospheric changes are the main suspects), mass extinctions eliminated many or most species. How could something so obvious be wrong? But our love affair comes at a cost. Every once in a while, a dolt drops a gem. Here's a 1974 example from the American Philosophical Quarterly in which "counterintuitive" describes a dubious situation: "The formulas offered by Day lead to results so counter-intuitive that they had best be called simply false.". Scripture said that the Sun revolved around the Earth, and the Holy Office of the Inquisition found Galileo guilty of heresy for saying otherwise.