Do we have an inborn ability to locate the center of an object?

Like many things, it’s an aptitude that some people naturally have and some people don’t. It is something that can be learned though; many who do things related to engineering develop the talent if they didn’t have it already. However, those people aren’t as good at it as those who have the talent to do so instinctively; conscious effort is always slower even if learned skills are developed enough to be as accurate.

Yes and no. It’s not really a center we look for, but humans are hard wired to look for symmetry. In a circle, the center is where perfect symmetry is achieved, that is, where the imaginary line that divides the two halves occurs. That’s why it’s much harder to find the center of an oddly shaped object than a symmetrical one.

Also the people you think are beautiful are symmetrical

No! I barely have the ability to locate the entire object!

Example; I bought a second power cord for my auto GPS recently, stuck it somewhere, haven’t been able to find the @#&%!# since.

I have problems like that too. Being able to locate the object and being able to locate its center once you have found it are two different skills.

Sadly, @LostinParadise, I have neither skill. But I can still boil water.

I think you underestimate yourself. The trick is not to think about it and go with your gut instinct.

Here is something curious that I discovered. I can focus on the center of various parts of my body – the center of the crown of my head (useful for trying to have good posture) and the center of my back (that spot that is annoyingly just out of reach). I can imagine the center of my hand and the center of my palm (what you have after excluding fingers). I can get the center of my arm not including my hand, but I don’t get a reading on the center of my arm with the hand included.

As stated, if it is a symmetrical object then generally yes.
Just as most people can pretty closely perceive a right angle.

Sorry this is so off-topic, @LostInParadise, but wanted to announce that I FOUND the lost item. It was in exactly the place it was supposed to be and the ONLY place I never bothered to look.
Whew!

More or less, for many objects, because of physics. That is, when you push a solid object, including just holding it up, the equal and opposite force effectively comes from its center of mass. It rotates around that point, etc. As infants learning about physical objects, we’ll experience that and come to expect it. It’s one of the first things we experience as newborns, and perhaps even to some extent before we’re born, in feeling and moving our own developing body parts in the womb.

A simple test. Which of the three points inside this triangle would you say is the center? I will give the answer later today.

I see I have no takers. On the off chance that someone will be curious about the triangle, the red dot is the centroid or center of gravity, the blue dot is the incenter or center of the circle inscribed in the triangle, and the green dot is my guess, which still looks right to me. So much for an intuitive sense of center.

The reason I did not include the center of the circle containing the triangle is that the center falls outside of the triangle, not making it a good candidate for center.

^ Red looks right to me – however, while I didn’t consciously read your second post before checking it out, I did glance at it. I might’ve “cheated”.

Neither red nor green look right to me. I would have guessed somewhere between the two of them. Ha.