On the "surprising" part of this - Murray Davis had some related research and writing about being interesting: https://proseminarcrossnationalstudies.files.word

On the "surprising" part of this - Murray Davis had some related research and writing about being interesting: https://proseminarcrossnationalstudies.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/thatsinteresting_1971.pdf https://proseminarcrossnationalstudies.files.wordpress.com/2... "An audience finds a proposition ‘interesting’ not because it tells them some truth they thought they already knew, but instead because it tells them some truth they thought they already knew was wrong."