We have been kiteboarding in the Outer Banks this week, but one day there wasn’t enough wind, so I took a wingfoil lesson.

Wing foiling, which is riding a hydrofoil board holding a handheld wing, is increasingly popular, so I thought I should at least find out what it’s all about.

My instructor was excellent, but it was surprising how unintuitive controlling the wing was. It would veer out of control at unexpected times, and my first instincts to regain control were almost always wrong.

This is a complete contrast to what I experience kiteboarding, where controlling the kite has become extremely intuitive to me. Sort of like driving a car, I feel like I can go anywhere and do anything. The kite is like my big buddy in the sky that’s helping me go where I want. If it misbehaves, I can usually get it back under control quickly.

In other words, I get to stop thinking and just enjoy my (temporary) superhuman powers to play in the waves, or have the kite lift me high into the air for a few seconds, then gently set me back down on the surface of the water.

This kind of physical experience isn’t just a diversion from my intellectual workday. I like to think it may enhance my cognitive abilities.

At the very least, it reminds me of how smart our brains are at a subconscious level. The calculations involved in adjusting to wind and waves and changing shoreline conditions are far more complicated than most business problems — yet our brains can solve them “without thinking.” That’s pretty cool.

Taking 90 minutes to be a beginner at a similar but different sport reminded me just how much I’ve learned to get to the “it’s just like driving” level with kiteboarding. Subconscious intelligence is remarkable.