undergraduate science education course with their teaching practice experience in local classrooms. But in social and personality psychology we study phenomena that regular people reflect on and speculate about too. Answer (1 of 2): Counterintuitive scientific theories? Re: What are the most surprising and counterintuitive findings in science? By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. 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. Trigger freezing by stirring, or seeding with a small ice fragment. How many (and whose) lives would you bet on yourtheory? Fire individual photons through a double slit at a screen and put a detector at each slit. But as an expert on memory, and, in particular, on the malleability of memory, he knows better than to fully trust his recollections As clear and detailed as these memories feel, psychologists find they are surprisingly inaccurate. A counterintuitive proposition is one that does not seem likely to be true when assessed using intuition or gut feelings. What if we talked about p-hacking the way we talk about experimentereffects? So the intuitive in counterintuitive could refer to the intuitions of experts. And the hot water freezing faster than cold water isn't a real effect. The second and third are a given. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Bad news that cult recovery group just might be a cult. In a final example of counterintuitive findings, Live Science now claims that brain size didn't . The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". It wouldn't be a popular sport. But big scientific discoveries are by nature counterintuitive and sometimes shocking. Once all the liquid has frozen, no more energy is released, so continued cooling with iced water causes the temperature to start falling again. 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. Heat the flask until the water boils and steam issues from the rubber tube. NTU Singapore scientists report that plastic bags could be eco-friendlier than paper and cotton bags in cities like Singapore (Nanyang Technological University). Removing energy from the surroundings causes cooling, so the temperature drops. This is correct for most substances, but due to the nature of the water molecule it is different and actually expands. Counterintuitive. Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/counterintuitive. The fascinating story behind many people's favori Can you handle the (barometric) pressure? Bobs never bought Christmas seals he told me he wouldnt know what to feed them. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Source: Clari Massimiliano / Shutterstock.com. I would say water expanding when it freezes. There are too many reasons you might observe good with good: because of methodological artifacts like self- and informant-report bias, because of shared broad-spectrum causes, or because of common mechanisms (which is usually what youre looking for). Counterintuitive claim: Prices are determined by supply and demand. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Google is famous for its "20 percent time," the rough percentage of time that employees can dedicate to ancillary endeavors, research interests, or new ideas. This re-boiling produces more steam, increasing the pressure, and thus raising the boiling point above the current water temperature, so boiling ceases. They are also found in reusable hand-warmers these use supercooling to store heat for later use. Science is amazing but it can also be frightening and mind-boggling at times. | READ MORE. 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. I hate it and will tell you why in 5 minutes. (But its true in other sciences too, probably more than we appreciate .) Are counterintuitive findings more valuable? Cookie Policy We should also revisit why we think counterintuitive is valuable. You have to act in the short amount of time after crossing the slit and before impacting the screen. Laura Helmuth Please report trolls and incorrect/misleading comments. A quick test shows that is false. We are often fooled by the appearance and we miss the essence. Ritual sacrifice is described in the Bible, Greek mythology and the Norse sagas, and the Romans accused many of the people they conquered of engaging in ritual sacrifice, but the evidence was thin. 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. There are millions of examples that pop into my mind about this theory. Honestly, take a moment to consider what the natural environment and current technologies are capable of. Most students will correctly say that to freeze a liquid, you need to cool it. Welcome to Forum 2.1 the upgrade to Version 2.1.2 of SMF, Started by Turbonegro, September 28, 2011, 07:45:31 AM. He used a telescope to provide evidence for the heliocentric theory, and some of his contemporaries were so disturbed by what the new invention revealedcraters on a supposedly perfectly spherical moon, other moons circling Jupiterthat they refused to look through the device. Counterintuitive means contrary to what seems intuitively right or correct. And the water and land use required for beef contributes significantly to global warming, we are told. But if, after the experiment, you go back and erase the information about which slit each photon went through, then the interference pattern magically appears on the screen. 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. 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. 3. darkmighty 7 yr. ago. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. The time between two objects colliding due to gravity is inversely proportional to the sum of the two masses. Since it is necessary to keep heating in order to turn the solid into liquid or liquid into vapour, they assume the temperature must keep rising during the change of state. Things can get worse before getting better, or vice versa. Find 23 ways to say COUNTERINTUITIVE, along with antonyms, related words, and example sentences at Thesaurus.com, the world's most trusted free thesaurus. When treating someone badly makes him like you more instead of less, this is an example of something that is counterintuitive. The definition of counterintuitive is something that goes against what you believe would be logical, or something that goes against common sense. Its hard to do it justice in a small paragraph here, but the PBS space-time episode on it gives a good explanation. How could something so obvious be wrong? Check out these facts that are just plain counterintuitive you'll be surprised at some of the things people do every day! Something that came up in another thread, the Mpemba effect i.e. 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. Coke was originally supposed to make you smarter or something. This is easy to work out with Bernoulli's principle, but you also need to make use of the continuity equation to work it out, which states: A_1v_1= A_2v_2 A1v1 = A2v2. It is now salt water, which has a lower freezing point than fresh water. -Mark Crislip. 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. Honestly, take a moment to consider what the natural environment and current technologies are capable of. Ever since the late 19th century, physicists have known about a counterintuitive property of some electric circuits called negative resistance. Bad news that cult recovery group just might be a cult, Theres a little bit of The Dude in a lot of Jeff Bridges performances, The English actor found the good side of being bad. In my opinion, quantum mechanics by far. I agree that exceptions to good goes with good are often interesting, but not necessarily because they are counterintuitive. If I walk into it's solid, and I can't see through it. Freud might have been wrong in the details, but one of his main ideasthat a lot of our behaviors and beliefs and emotions are driven by factors we are unaware ofturns out to be correct. All the good ones! I am writing a report with some counterintuitive and surprising findings, and need some examples to show that our intuitive understanding can be totally wrong (So that they don't feel stupid for having pursued a goal without checking if their assumptions were correct). Typically, increasing the voltage in a circuit . But being counterintuitive for counterintuitives sake? Continue boiling for at least 30 seconds while a student confirms that the thermometer reads about 100oC as expected. However, the subjective nature of intuition limits the . Students are familiar with everyday examples of freezing, melting and boiling, but are likely to think temperature always falls during freezing and rises during melting or boiling. They can also reinforce enthalpy changes, and bond breaking or making, for ages 1618. For example, with 1,000 variables, there are almost half a million (1,000x999/2) potential pairs of variables that might appear correlated by pure chance alone. And besides, researchers are continuously learning new things. Our universe's spacetime is flat, not the universe itself. For example, let's say a company invested in IoT systems to gain an edge in data-driven insights. If you were to drop another earth on itself it would appear to accelerate towards earth at 19.6 m/s2. It took a world famous experiment to bring this into common knowledge. Accountable replications at Royal Society Open Science: A model for scientificpublishing, The replication price-drop in socialpsychology, Reflections on SIPS (guest post by Neil Lewis,Jr.), Statistical Modeling, Causal Inference, and Social Science. Maybe; maybe not. Coke was originally supposed to make you smarter or something. What are Halloween costume masks made from? ~45 kJ/mol vs ~.08 kJ/molK (~8 kJ/mol to get from boiling point to freezing point at STP). Edit: for more information check out Schwarz's Quantum Field Theory and Topology. I like that point and I plan on borrowing it to use at some point in the future. For the general public that have not had the opportunity to be exposed to the process of science, one of the most counterintuitive things is this: Logic and Common Sense are not the same thing. After all, we are the field that specializes in measuring and explaining peoples intuitions. 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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. Beyond the reach of formal theory, scientists develop educated guesses, hunches, and speculations based on their knowledge and experience. But astronomers do know that, thanks to these dark parts, the universe is expanding. This points out the need to test the statements of scientists. (But its true in other sciences too, probably more than we appreciate.) Definition of Counterintuitive. 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. Students who participated in the project reported that the access-on-demand online resource materials on counterintuitive demonstrations resulted in prolonged enquiry exploring science concepts, and were welcomed by participating classroom teachers. A number of experimental psychology studies have found support for Boyer's hypothesis. Sunny days make people happier and more helpful. A heavier object does fall faster. Get the best of Cracked sent directly to your inbox! Sure, some tasty things are healthyblueberries, snow peas, nuts and maybe even (oh, please) red wine. Sometime what we think is beneficial to us, actually harm us and what we think is harmful actually become useful. The details require careful consideration, but basically, were surprising. That seems pretty simple and counterintuitive. University of Chicago cosmologist Michael S. Turner ranks dark energy as the most profound mystery in all of science.. Place a thermometer in a test tube of cyclohexane so that its scale remains visible from 0oC upwards. It's not so unintuitive with topological arguments. 2, the fused probability assignment for any proposition is obtained by multiplying the BPAs supporting that proposition by their weights and . I think it's one of those funny little things about the universe that one of the most ubiquitous substancesso much so that you sort of ignore it and take it for granted.is actually in some way one of the most complicated and oddly-behaving substances we know of. But big scientific discoveries are by nature counterintuitive and sometimes shocking. Even tuberculosis, the disease that killed Frederic Chopin and Henry David Thoreau, is making a comeback, in part because some strains of the bacterium have developed multi-drug resistance. The waters temperature is now above its new, lower boiling point, so it boils again. Common sense does not always follow . The drug is the first of its kind and replicates the signaling of two . Plastic waste is a global shame. 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. For example, it would sound odd to say some event in the Andromeda Galaxy caused a car to crash. ( kantrntjutv) adj. Counter Intuitive Thinking Examples . That is a good one. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. The Big Bang was a quantum event and the universe at one time was as tiny as a quantum particle. Part of the problem is the mismatch between scientific terms and their common use. A graphical representation of the unified trust distribution mechanism is shown in Fig. Likewise, a series of short arti-cles on counter intuitive problems can be found As the liquid freezes, the temperature will rise. Galileo demonstrated that balls of different weights land at the same time when dropped from a height, neglecting air resistance. "If we want to know how the brain makes memory and uses memory, we need to make people do things like learn stuff and then remember it. Some flowers, maybe, or mementos of your loved ones? Adding crystals or stirring seeds the crystallisation process. Although if you didn't enjoy science classes at school, it's difficult not to be astonished by scientific facts as an adult. It's Time for 20 Percent Talent. I know what I'd choose. In any science, though, you have areas of inquiry where there is not an existing theory that makes precise predictions. 1. Another good example of a counterintuitive fact is the Banach-Tarski paradox stating that a ball can be decomposed in a finite number of pieces which can be glued together to build up two balls identical to the first one (I say that this is a paradox because the axiom of choice is clearly true:D). What are examples of counterintuitive? The world will end in a whimper. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, citizens are understandably confused about the benefit of face masks. In any science, though, you have areas of inquiry where there is not an existing theory that makes precise predictions. A red light for go and a green light for stop would be highly counterintuitive, for example. Of course, it does not have to be thatway. In this, they agree with a Prager U video (YouTube). Ultimately, everything in the universe will drift farther and farther apart until the universe is uniformly cold and desolate. It's genuinely remarkable, and chances are you're only aware of a small portion of the fascinating and bizarre facts discovered by scientists thus far. Test everything, and cling to what is good. But our love affair comes at a cost. A Counter-Intuitive Approach to Making Complex Decisions. Clamp the tube in a beaker of ice and water. In the stock market, if you buy and stock for $50 and it goes up to $75 you make 50%. Science can be glorious; it can bring clarity to a chaotic world. If intuitions vary widely and so do results, across contexts and populations then we run the riskthat placing too much valueon counterintuitive findings will do more to incentiverhetorical flash than substantive discoveries. (Counterintuitive framing is also a great way to sell a lot of books .) What is another word for counterintuitive? 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. Does the replication debate have a diversityproblem? But you set it up in such a way that you can throw away the information about which slit the photon went through. [Dark energy] has inspired us to ask, as if for the first time: What is this cosmos we call home? The basic premise is this. Stop heating and immediately close the clip. 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. After the previous experiment, students may predict that it rises. An example that comes to mind is deviancy training, as it seems like we would want to encourage youth becoming closer to each other and maintaining close relationships, but if these relationships are with youths engaged in delinquency, maintaining connectedness may entail the youth engaging in more of these behaviors. Seeing your assumptions of physical reactions are wrong by watching a golf ball hit a wall at 1000 frames per second and watching it compress and ripple is powerful. Attributing any disaster to a century-long trend is very hard to prove. Get the best of Cracked sent directly to your inbox! Both processes require energy, which comes from the immediate surroundings. Some temperature changes are counter-intuitive, as can be shown by simple investigations. If you are willing to push through a bit of added stress in the short term . As humans moved from continent to continent, large animals that had thrived for millions of years began to disappearmastodons in North America, giant kangaroos in Australia, dwarf elephants in Europe. i was somewhat surprised to realize that matthias mehl and i actually did survey lay people (only 61 of them though, we were young and naive. Wtf is going on down there!? Logic is generally used to reach a conclusion using the most accurate and testable route. The more familiar I get with special relativity the less strange it seems; I'm not sure if quantum intuition is attainable, but grasping why relativity is true is, I think, possible. Every once in a while, a dolt drops a gem. 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. Cognitive science. Explanations may be beyond most at age 1114, but the experiments can still be fun. Thinning and prescribed fire treatments reduce tree mortality (Phys.org). Single-use plastic and reusable cotton bags (reused 50 times) were calculated to have over ten times the global warming potential of reusable plastic bags (reused 50 times). Milgram famously did that with his obedience experiments. There have been mass extinctions in the past, and were probably in one now. Our cognitive failings are legion: we take a few anecdotes and make incorrect generalizations, we misinterpret information to support our preconceptions, and were easily distracted or swayed by irrelevant details. So it seems like things should become more closely packed and thus contract. In order to enjoy things you always need to think about the negative side of them. Beyond a certain threshold of intelligence and skill, the efficacy bottlenecks quickly become your ability to communicate, get along with others, prioritize, focus, structure your thinking in advance, manage your time well, etc. Even as an adult, I am constantly confronted with new scientific advancements and discoveries that don't always line up with my preconceived notions. And not only expanding, but expanding faster and faster. Describe the procedure fully and neutrally to a group of people (experts or nonexperts, depending whose intuitions you want to claim to be counter to) and askwhat they think will happen. Even though the photos are already detected by the screen. ARTICLES SCIENCE 16 FACTS THAT ARE JUST PLAIN COUNTERINTUITIVE 16 Facts That Are Just Plain Counterintuitive. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. These questions make students aware of the inadequacies of their own thinking by exposing them to situations whose outcomes are inconsistent with what they would expect. NTU Singapore scientists report that plastic bags could be eco-friendlier than paper and cotton bags in cities like Singapore, Removal of dairy cows may reduce essential nutrient supply with little effect on greenhouse gas emissions, Thinning and prescribed fire treatments reduce tree mortality, Protective effect of mandatory face masks in the publicrelevant variables with likely impact on outcome were not considered, Ground-breaking discovery finally proves rain really can move mountains, The Bible gives a good general principle: Test all things; hold fast what is good (. Press J to jump to the feed. 1. Here are just a few of those craziest facts out there! Why does salt cause the ice to melt? Some temperature changes are counter-intuitive, as can be shown by simple investigations. What does it mean when your boyfriend takes long to reply? When thats your multiplier, you dont need much massa smidgen of plutonium is plentyto create enough energy to destroy a city. 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. It has been said that the path to hell is paved with good intentions. If the good cost trillions of dollars, producers would want to make a lot, but consumers wouldn't want to buy any. 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. If you detect which slit the photons go through, you dont get any interference pattern. Using a temperature probe in place of a thermometer in these experiments allows continuous temperature monitoring, but may limit the experiments to demonstrations. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. Example: "What do you eggheads mean this wall is mostly empty space at a molecular level. Intuitive version: If the good were free, consumers would want a lot, but producers wouldn't feel like making much. But some microbes are evolving faster than we can find ways to fight them. The Machiavellian adage that it's better . We dont always know what we think we know. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. (first sentence from the conclusion: the results from these studies show that contrary to the strong intuitions of most, people are not always their own best expert.). Ask a student to pour a little cold water over the flask and read the resulting temperature. This can push students into a seeking explanation mode, setting the stage for discovery. Introducing a delay function to our simple negative feedback loop will produce an unexpected oscillation (a counterintuitive behavior).