Agreed. For me it seemed like IRV would be fairly stable, and I was surprised by how strange it was. My updated intuition now says that IRV means that as long

Agreed. For me it seemed like IRV would be fairly stable, and I was surprised by how strange it was. My updated intuition now says that IRV means that as long as your top candidate is in first place, your other preferences are disregarded by the system. "My #2 was eliminated too early -- if I had known that my #1 would be eliminated in the end I would have ranked #2 higher".