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Re: [Phys-L] intuitive versus counter-intuitive



One more thing about this topic: It is a moving target.

There is a proverb that says
"Education is the process of cultivating your intuition."

So, some things that are intuitive to you and me are wildly
counter-intuitive to students.

It is well established that if you present somebody evidence
that is counter-intuitive, if you are not careful it is
unlikely that they will be persuaded by it. They are more
likely to reject the evidence and learn to distrust the
presenter.

There are many techniques to help deal with this problem.

One technique (which can be used in combination with others)
involves the correspondence principle. If you have a heretical
theory, start by showing that it produces the conventional
result in familiar situations. Get the audience nodding
a) OK.
b) OK.
c) OK.
d) OK.
e) That's new and surprising, but I guess it's OK.

For example, in special relativity, one should not mention
manhole covers and poles in barns should in the early
going, if at all. Instead one should emphasize that SR
predicts the kinetic energy will be 1/2 m v^2 in the
correspondence limit. This has a simple, elegant, and
powerful explanation in terms of spacetime geometry and
trigonometry.
https://www.av8n.com/physics/spacetime-welcome.htm#sec-ke
https://www.av8n.com/physics/spacetime-welcome.htm#sec-ke-rot

Similarly, in elementary astronomy, start by acknowledging
that the sun rises in the east /provided/ you live at a
temperate latitude /and/ you don't look too closely. Don't
start by saying that one day I saw the sun rise in the
south, and the next day it didn't rise at all.

There are a gazillion other examples of this kind.

This point is discussed at:
https://www.av8n.com/physics/authority.htm#sec-correspondence



Bottom line: Be sure the students see lots of evidence.
This includes evidence that is intuitive to you ... and
even evidence that is intuitive to them.

-----------------
*) Note: I learned that proverb from Kip Thorne. I
don't think he claimed it as original ... but OTOH
I haven't seen it elsewhere. Maybe it's his. If
anybody knows of a better attribution, please let
me know.