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lectures > lectures autumn 2003

Counter intuition

Speaker: Dr Kevin Byron
18th October 2003

The phrase 'counter-intuitive' has often been used to describe the un-common sense underlying many scientific ideas. Recently it has found more popular general use in areas as diverse as philosophy, psychology, politics, economics and sport, in order to describe ideas, propositions and even physical actions that appear in opposition to what an educated guess would suggest are the correct ones.

This lecture will examine some examples of the counter-intuitive in this broader context, and discuss some of the habits of thinking that can lead to an over-reliance on the more familiar common-sense positions we take, perhaps more often than we realise.

Kevin Byron received his doctorate in applied physics from the University of Hull in 1974, and then continued to pursue his research interests in photonics in a commercial research laboratory. During the last few years of this period he became increasingly involved in science education.

This culminated in the award of a Fellowship with The National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA) for the development of educational resources to nurture creativity and thinking skills.

He is an Honorary Visiting Lecturer to the Department of Electrical Engineering at the University of Glasgow and a Fellow of the Institute of Physics.

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