A sanity check of a counterintuitive claim can be that the argument to the claim implies things that seem unjustifiable or false. It cannot be that the conclusion of the claim itself is unjustifiable or false, except inasmuch as you are willing to deny the possibility to be convinced of that claim by argument at all.
(To avoid confusion, this is not in response to the latter portion of your comment about general cognition.)
A sanity check of a counterintuitive claim can be that the argument to the claim implies things that seem unjustifiable or false. It cannot be that the conclusion of the claim itself is unjustifiable or false, except inasmuch as you are willing to deny the possibility to be convinced of that claim by argument at all.
(To avoid confusion, this is not in response to the latter portion of your comment about general cognition.)