I can't give you the intuition

Definition* Intuition:
in·tu·i·tion (nt-shn, -ty-)
n.

1. 1. The act or faculty of knowing or sensing without the use of rational processes; immediate cognition. See Synonyms at reason.
   2. Knowledge gained by the use of this faculty; a perceptive insight.
2. A sense of something not evident or deducible; an impression.

Proposition: If understanding a certain economic outcome requires intuition, this intuition cannot be "given" to a student or formally stated by an instructor with the expectation that it will be absorbed and understood by the student.  To think otherwise, is to misuse the word.

Proof:  Assume Not.  Then for any outcome X of a process Y, one can state the following (say, by writing on the blackboard):

Intuition: Due to some underlying characteristics of the state space Y, X is the natural occurring result.

This implies the understanding required to know result X can be written down as a the result of some rational, logical process of argumentation (mathematical or otherwise).  But this contradicts the definition of intuition.  Therefore, X is not actually an intuitive idea.  Q.E.D
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My hope is that this formal "proof" of what intuition is and is not will help instructors, including me for the sake of the poor students in my Micro discussion, stop trying to "give" students intuition.  I firmly believe you can't do this.  You have to develop intuition on your own.  You have to get economics to click in your brain in such a way that you see the answer to a problem and then proceed to formulate the economic arguments to prove it.  So far, Ariel Rubinstein is only one person I have seen that uses the word intuition correctly when writing economics** (surely thee are others, but they are few). 

Alternatively, I suggest using the terms interpretation, fundamentals, or economic rationale as appropriate.  The word intuition is very tired and it can't continue to shoulder all this responsibility.

Corrections and comments on my proof are welcome.

References:
*intuition. (n.d.). The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition.  Retrieved October 15, 2006,  from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/intuition

**Rubinstein, A.  2005. Lectures in Microeconomics.  http://arielrubinstein.tau.ac.il/Rubinstein2005.pdf  (Note: This is also a really good book)

Comments

[alex]

"You have to develop intuition on your own."

I agree!