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Science Section => Science General Discussion => Topic started by: TomFoolery on July 02, 2015, 06:35:56 PM

Title: Problem Solving Demonstration
Post by: TomFoolery on July 02, 2015, 06:35:56 PM
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/07/03/upshot/a-quick-puzzle-to-test-your-problem-solving.html?_r=1&abt=0002&abg=1

QuoteA short game sheds light on government policy, corporate America and why no one likes to be wrong.

Here’s how it works:

We’ve chosen a rule that some sequences of three numbers obey â€" and some do not. Your job is to guess what the rule is.

Yes, there's elementary school level math involved, and it's one problem, but I was quite surprised by my answer.
Title: Re: Problem Solving Demonstration
Post by: Sal1981 on July 02, 2015, 06:50:31 PM
Well, I failed. And I failed so spectacularly that I fell into to the trap described. Although I only did 2 checks :/

Should've tried deviations to check for exponent, logarithm and so on which would eliminate easier function calls.
Title: Re: Problem Solving Demonstration
Post by: kilodelta on July 02, 2015, 06:57:21 PM
Ha! Good find. I felt that my two guesses were enough to identify the rule. Though I was correct, it nailed me on confirmation bias... that's what she said...
Title: Re: Problem Solving Demonstration
Post by: TomFoolery on July 02, 2015, 07:06:55 PM
I failed too. I try to console myself by saying I checked three sets of numbers to verify my point, but failing is failing.
Title: Re: Problem Solving Demonstration
Post by: dtq123 on July 03, 2015, 02:42:44 PM
"Any Numbers In Order"  :super:
Title: Re: Problem Solving Demonstration
Post by: Termin on July 04, 2015, 10:09:31 PM
 I got the number sequences right, but not the reason, I thought is was exponents
Title: Re: Problem Solving Demonstration
Post by: trdsf on July 04, 2015, 10:50:42 PM
I am happy to say I got it -- I fell into their 9%  :)
Title: Re: Problem Solving Demonstration
Post by: drunkenshoe on July 05, 2015, 05:36:29 AM
Said yes to 2 sequence checks, but didn't tell anything to me as 'no' or 'yes' after I typed "Sequence goes on with multiplying by two".
Title: Re: Problem Solving Demonstration
Post by: doorknob on July 10, 2015, 10:28:16 PM
LOL I like it!

I heard one no. But I did guess the answer correctly.
Title: Re: Problem Solving Demonstration
Post by: Atheon on July 10, 2015, 10:38:30 PM
But in math, the word "sequence" implies that subsequent numbers are specific (even if not calculable by known methods).
Title: Re: Problem Solving Demonstration
Post by: SGOS on July 10, 2015, 11:16:19 PM
I blew it.
Title: Re: Problem Solving Demonstration
Post by: doorknob on July 14, 2015, 06:19:53 PM
what we really should compare is how many sequences you checked before answering.


I bet a lot of people got one yes and then answered.

I typed in 13 different sequences before I answered.
Title: Re: Problem Solving Demonstration
Post by: dtq123 on July 14, 2015, 06:51:16 PM
Quote from: doorknob on July 14, 2015, 06:19:53 PM
What we really should compare is how many sequences you checked before answering.
I got about 20 sequences before making my conclusion. I had about 5 no's.
Title: Re: Problem Solving Demonstration
Post by: trdsf on July 15, 2015, 03:11:18 AM
Quote from: doorknob on July 14, 2015, 06:19:53 PM
what we really should compare is how many sequences you checked before answering.


I bet a lot of people got one yes and then answered.

I typed in 13 different sequences before I answered.
I didn't keep count, but it was in the range of 15-20.  I was far more interested in the Nos than in the Yeses; they tell you more, sometimes.
Title: Re: Problem Solving Demonstration
Post by: drunkenshoe on July 15, 2015, 05:03:06 AM
Quote from: Atheon on July 10, 2015, 10:38:30 PM
But in math, the word "sequence" implies that subsequent numbers are specific (even if not calculable by known methods).

Yeah, that's a good point.

May be I didn't blow it, just because I used the specific word?