It has nothing to do with intuition, just with over-simplification. It is true that high points tend to attract lightning and that this can make you safe. The effect just isn't as strong as most people think.
Basically, the "leader" that establishes the path through which the main discharge will happen moves randomly downwards, but will be strongly attracted towards grounded objects that it comes close enough to - and "close enough" is only about 50 meters. So if there is a high point within a sphere of 50m radius centered 50m above your head, you're indeed almost completely safe (or at least you won't be hit directly - what hit Marlin was apparently a part of the charge that was moving through his house.
I grew up in an area that frequently had thunderstorms. I witnessed many strikes in my yard, including my house while I was in it, and investigated many in my neighborhood. Much of what the OP said was bullshit. If it were true, the lightning rods that attracted and diverted many strikes wouldn't need to be place high.
The strikes always hit taller object like houses and trees and I never ever saw a strike or evidence of one in the middle of a field.
2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keVm06H26ik - In Boulder, with the mountains right next door, lightning strikes twice in the city proper, around 1,000 feet lower in elevation.
My point was that assuming lightning will strike the highest point is patently false; it doesn't meant that a valley isn't any safer than a mountain - just don't assume that being in a valley protects you.
Another note is that the stepped leader that comes down meets another coming up from the ground. The one which reaches the one from the cloud creates the main channel, no matter where it is coming up from.
Basically, the "leader" that establishes the path through which the main discharge will happen moves randomly downwards, but will be strongly attracted towards grounded objects that it comes close enough to - and "close enough" is only about 50 meters. So if there is a high point within a sphere of 50m radius centered 50m above your head, you're indeed almost completely safe (or at least you won't be hit directly - what hit Marlin was apparently a part of the charge that was moving through his house.