The best way I figured out how to explain this was to my mate. I'll paste in the exact final dialogue after out discussion.
(10 doors, I secretly choose 5 as the car)
Me: Choose a number between 1 and 10
Him: 3
Me: Ok, it's not 1,2,4,6,7,8,9 or 10. That leaves 3 or 5. Stick or switch?
Him: Ahhhh ... I get you now.
When you have it laid out in front of you like that, it becomes more obvious. They know they have a 1 in 10 chance of getting it right. It's like:
-Lay face down all 52 cards in a pack of cards (know where the ace of spades is)
-Ask them to pick the ace of spades.
-They choose one.
-Then remove all cards except the one they picked first and one other (if its the ace of space (which it has a 51/52 chance of being, seeing they only have a 1/52 chance of picking it right the first time).
-Now stick or swap?
Simple fact is, there is a 1/52 chance of you getting it right the first time. That cannot change. Odds like that can't change. If there is a 1/52 chance of the card being right, it will stay like that, no matter what you do with the other cards because the card they've chosen will still be the same. That means that by the laws of probability, the remaining cards (no matter how many there are) have a 51/52 chance of containing the ace of spades. By removing all the remaining cards except one, you are making that one card a 51/52 chance. It's not as simple as saying that has a 1/52 chance aswell, because remember, you're not taking cards away at random based on probabily. That card is left by the person who knows which card is which. There is no probabilty in their methology.
It's the fact that 3 boxes are used that make it even tougher to get your head round.
Blowing the shite out of people sinse 1981.