Sargent's implausibility paradox is a phenomena that occurs time and time again, particularly in computer engineering, business process engineering, human factors/ergonomics, sociology and anthropology, and anyone who works in these fields is likely to be empirically familiar with it.

The paradox often arises as a discrepancy between perceived 'common sense' or wisdom and the actual irrational behaviour of individuals. Typical manifestations of the paradox include:

• there is no such thing as 'idiot proof' - someone will always find a way to misuse (accidentally or deliberately) a product/service - any statement starting "no-one will ever..."
• human creativity is unbounded - people will always find creative uses for products/services that the creators never thought of 

However, the paradox primarily typifies behaviours and assumptions within engineering disciplines. Computer engineers are often overheard, for example, saying "oh, no-one does that", or "it'll never be used for that", usually as a way to constrain requirements that would otherwise make the system more complex and/or more costly.

By all standards of reason and rationale these claims would normally be true; however, by merely stating it, the rationale is guaranteed to become null and void. 

This poses a problem for designers and service providers who may find their systems used in totally unexpected and unusual ways beyond what was ever intended. Unintended consequences can then also occur as a result of changes to products and service.

examples might also include:

• claiming, "it's so simple, even an idiot can use it"

Sargent's implausibility paradox is believed to have its foundations in quantum theory - where the act of observing something can change its properties. (see observer effect)

Manifestations of "Schroedinbugs" in computer software may also be related to the effect. 

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