DennisWisconsin is offline DennisWisconsin Post #1  November 8,2009, 10:34am
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Consider this question:

Last edited by DennisWisconsin; November 9,2009 at 3:59pm.
 
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chawks64 is offline chawks64 Post #2  November 8,2009, 11:20am
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Questions like that can send an ADD brain into a frenzy! Here's a sample of how my train of thought works. It's a little scary, so fasten your seatbelts:

"Well, of course, there's 7. That's my favorite single digit number, but I wonder why. As far as any number, I'm a big fan of 17, so I guess that's why I like 7. Still, it's strange. Wait, you're supposed to be figuring out the answer, assuming there really is one... you know, I'll bet this is a trick question, like Dennis thinks we'll all assume there's only one correct answer when there are really 7 correct answers. There's my favorite number again, well, the single digit one. And it's only 7 if you're just counting the whole numbers. Throw in decimals or fractions and the number of answers is infinite. I wonder if he meant just whole numbers. Probably, but you never know. I'll just say "Lots" and hope that's right. Man, I hate looking like a dumb blonde."

Then that mental road trip led to an old memory...

I took an IQ test when I was in 3rd grade. To this day, my mom refuses to tell me how I scored (but I've taken them later in life, so there)! But some of the questions were kind of like that segment on Sesame Street, "One of these things is not like the others, one of these things just doesn't belong..." and I tend to totally overthink those.

It showed a picture of 4 sports balls - and I could see a reason for EACH of them to not belong! The football wasn't round, the tennis ball was fuzzy and not smooth, the golf ball wasn't filled with air... and I'm only 8 or 9 years old! I still can't remember what the 4th ball was or I'd probably know the "expected" answer.

One other test picture that still has me laughing was one of a cow. "What's wrong with this picture?" the woman asked. Heck, I don't know. Proper number of horns, for the most part anotomically correct because it has eyelashes (so it's female) and an udder - I just couldn't see it. I was almost to the point of tears when the woman finally pointed it out. "Rain boots. Cows don't wear rain boots." Oh. So there's one I know I got wrong.

Though I beg to differ...

Last edited by chawks64; November 8,2009 at 11:25am.
 
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chawks64 is offline chawks64 Post #3  November 8,2009, 11:21am
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Sorry for the threadjack, Dennis!

Just kind of an illustation of how differently everyone's mind works...
 
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Sassafras54 is online now Sassafras54 — Advice Official Moderator Post #4  November 8,2009, 11:38am
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That was a fun little trip through your mind, Chawks! You must have a great time in there!

And I don't see why there's anything "wrong" with cows wearing rainboots. One doesn't want one's hooves to rot.

Yeah Dennis, the variety of thought processes and opinions on these boards is boggling, and so fun! I bet we gravitate IRL towards people whose neural paths are like our own, because conversations just ... go better. Here we get to be exposed to all kinds.
 
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DennisWisconsin is offline DennisWisconsin Post #5  November 8,2009, 11:52am
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chawks64 wrote :
Questions like that can send an ADD brain into a frenzy!
That's what I was going for! lol

How did you manage to read the whole post if the first question sparks that much activity? Or did you stopped at the first question?

I probably should have qualifed the questions by asking what number is in the exact middle...
 
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Comedian is offline Comedian Post #6  November 8,2009, 11:59am
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I immediately thought of a progression of odd numbers: 1, 3, 5, 7, 9. I was not willing to accept that this was a right/wrong question. What does that say about my mind, dennis?
 
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DennisWisconsin is offline DennisWisconsin Post #7  November 8,2009, 12:05pm
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Comedian wrote :
I immediately thought of a progression of odd numbers: 1, 3, 5, 7, 9. I was not willing to accept that this was a right/wrong question. What does that say about my mind, dennis?
I phrased that question poorly to say the least and I have now corrected my mistake... You will have to retake the test!
 
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DennisWisconsin is offline DennisWisconsin Post #8  November 8,2009, 2:32pm
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For more information on numbers and the inspiration for my post vist Radio Lab:
WNYC - Radiolab: Numbers (October 09, 2009)
 
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awol71 is offline awol71 Post #9  November 8,2009, 5:24pm
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DennisWisconsin wrote :
Considering all of this it is quite amazing when people do agree… but it leaves me wondering… what did we each really think we agreed upon? We can both agree that a certain color is red but how did our respective brains actually process that information? Did we really see the same thing?
Things are always more complicated than they seem, aren't they!

The beauty about science is that it is built off of what we can mostly agree on. And, conversely, the beauty of the god debate (and others like it) is that it stems from what we mostly can't agree on. Although it's generally more productive to discuss what we can agree on, sometimes it's a lot more fun to try to figure out why we can't (what our brains are doing when they are in their little corner). This is also pretty productive at the therapeutic level.

I have faith that communication and understanding are not completely impossible.

How about 1, 4, 9 ?
 
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chawks64 is offline chawks64 Post #10  November 8,2009, 5:43pm
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DennisWisconsin wrote :
That's what I was going for! lol

How did you manage to read the whole post if the first question sparks that much activity? Or did you stopped at the first question?
After reading the first line, my mind was so preoccupied with finding the "right" answer that I skimmed the rest.

I can read blazing fast.
My retention? Not so great.
 
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