In a magnetized, perfectly conducting fluid, the magnetic forces behave in some very important respects as though the elements of fluid were connected with elastic bands: trying to displace such an element perpendicular to a magnetic line of force causes an attractive force proportional to the displacement, like a spring under tension. Normally, such a force is restoring, a strongly stabilizing influence that would allow a type of magnetic wave to propagate.  If the fluid medium is not stationary but rotating, however, attractive forces can actually be destabilizing. The MRI is a consequence of this surprising behavior.
Consider, for example, two masses, m ("inner") and m ("outer") connected by a spring under tension, both masses in orbit around a central body, M. In such a system, the angular velocity of circular orbits near the center is greater than the angular velocity of orbits farther from the center, but the angular momentum of the inner orbits is smaller than that of the outer orbits. If m is allowed to orbit a little bit closer to the center than m, it will have a slightly higher angular velocity. The connecting spring will pull back on m, and drag m forward. This means that m experiences a retarding torque, loses angular momentum, and must fall inward to an orbit of smaller radius, corresponding to a smaller angular momentum. m, on the other hand, experiences a positive torque, acquires more angular momentum, and moves outward to a higher orbit. The spring stretches yet more, the torques become yet larger, and the motion is unstable! Because magnetic forces act like a spring under tension connecting fluid elements, the behavior of a magnetized fluid is almost exactly analogous to this simple mechanical system. This is the essence of the MRI .