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BS: the brain does funny things
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Subject: RE: BS: the brain does funny things From: GUEST,petr Date: 08 Feb 01 - 03:13 PM funny, when the elephant one was done on me, and I got to the Country I asked the questioner whether it has to be in English, because I thought of Deutschland, and Im not even German. petr |
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Subject: RE: BS: the brain does funny things From: bill\sables Date: 08 Feb 01 - 12:17 PM I tried the 7 thing on my neigbours and they both got 7 but nobody got the vegitable one, I did think that if you say six six six etc for 15 seconds it sounds like sick sick sick which as everyone knows always has carrots in it even if you haven't been eating carrots. Bill |
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Subject: RE: BS: the brain does funny things From: cowboypoet Date: 08 Feb 01 - 12:11 PM I beg your pardon! *My* brain doesn't do funny things. My mouth does funny things. My fingers do *very* funny things (especially when I'm playing a guitar). My brain is always perfectly serious, however, and I resent your implication. |
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Subject: RE: BS: the brain does funny things From: Jon Freeman Date: 08 Feb 01 - 11:49 AM Tell me Mudguard, what happens if this is done in German? - I guess the 4th letter is still D but would yeild Deutschland rather than Denmark but what about the mammal, and what is an elephant in German? Jon |
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Subject: RE: BS: the brain does funny things From: MudGuard Date: 08 Feb 01 - 11:22 AM Yes, any number that is dividable by 9 has 9 as the result of adding all digits till you have one. And multiplying a value x by 3 and then squaring it, is the same as squaring x and multiplying by 9... And Jon, I guess it was an elephant who had emigrated from Denmark to Belgium or vice versa! MudGuard |
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Subject: RE: BS: the brain does funny things From: Mary in Kentucky Date: 08 Feb 01 - 09:24 AM I love learning how the mind works, but like Tony, I've seen so many of these demonstrations, I purposely choose an obscure answer. numbers between 1 and 50, 49....vegetable, squash, etc. I would venture a guess that Mudcatters as a group would tend to be in the smaller categories of "not ordinary" thinkers. The first time I saw the Rorschach pictures I was pretty ordinary, but now I'm always trying to think too much about my answers. I think repeating the number six was just to induce a state of relaxation and any number or word could have been used. I don't commune with the "Garden Faeries", but have dabbled with meditation and find it fascinating. Also, I've experienced different states of consciousness during problem-solving and creativity exercises (synectics) which I think are quite interesting also. When I taught Algebra, I would stress to the kids to "talk to yourself" when going through a series of calculations in order to not make simple mistakes. (the opposite of what the reading teachers told them to do by not pronoucing every word in their head as they read silently) ie, say the words neg-a-tive 2, AND pos-i-tive 4, EQUALS pos-i-tive 2. This sure helped them slow down and make fewer mistakes, but I'm not sure it helped the quick, creative problem- solving of some kids. I think it hampered the real bright kids. These techniques are transferable to performing music....but that's a whole nuther story... |
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Subject: RE: BS: the brain does funny things From: Wolfgang Date: 08 Feb 01 - 03:32 AM On another note, if you know about mental preferences of people you can use that to perform seemingly paranormal feats in predicting human choices. You only have to know about less well known preferences and then you can amaze an audience by trying e.g. 'to project a number on your mental screen' (Kreskin). Well, not all of the audience will have your number (we are talking here about preferences, not about determination), but the majority will have and you get a big applause. Kreskin once did (perhaps still does) a well trained and impressive routine in which he 'predicted' which number between 1 and 50 his audience would choose 'spontaneously'. A good show with a lot of prompting and an impressive result to the uninformed. Kreskin is a great mentalist who is sometimes less than clear about the source of his abilities and doesn't always clearly contradict if there are rumours that his feats are paranormal. Wolfgang |
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Subject: RE: BS: the brain does funny things From: Steve Latimer Date: 07 Feb 01 - 04:19 PM 4100, 6 F's and the rest I was way too predictable for my liking. |
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Subject: RE: BS: the brain does funny things From: sophocleese Date: 07 Feb 01 - 04:06 PM I am not stereotyped! How dare you suggest that I or any of the other fine people in this thread are! (am? bugger I'm confused now) |
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Subject: RE: BS: the brain does funny things From: Bill D Date: 07 Feb 01 - 01:17 PM well, I got an Aardvark..because I was a stamp collector, and knew the name Dahomey as a country....Denmark is simply the country that 95% of people will think of....games that steer you to pre-programmed answers are interesting, in so far as they point out how stereotyped many of us are. |
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Subject: RE: BS: the brain does funny things From: sophocleese Date: 07 Feb 01 - 12:36 PM Jon, if you add up all the digits of a number and it comes to a multiple of nine you know that bloody great number is also divisible by nine. I used that in school on tests. I think it also works with the number three, as long as you allow multiples of three, 6 or 9. I'm damned if I can remember why I just know I knew it. |
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Subject: RE: BS: the brain does funny things From: GUEST,Matt_R Date: 07 Feb 01 - 12:34 PM Spaw..."The F thing"? I think you've got it wrong, Jon had "The P problem". |
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Subject: RE: BS: the brain does funny things From: GUEST,petr Date: 07 Feb 01 - 12:31 PM thanks for the link spaw, my own theory is that people choose carrot as a default vegetable, its the first one that people comes to mind (mainly north am/euro background) regarding the elephant trick the trick is any single digit number multiplied by 9 and adding the resulting digits in the sum gives 9. I do think that version has more steps than necessary. this is simpler. think of a number from 1-10. multiply by 9 (some people have a hard time with this I usually say - pick an easier number) add the resulting digits (you always get 9) subtract 5 (you should get 4) pick the corresponding letter in the alphabet (a=1 b=2 etc) at this point you lose some people. (4 is a good number because not many countries start with D (remember this is a Eurocentric test) most people think of Denmark, although there is Dominican Republic and Dubai Take the second letter in that country's name and think of an animal, Elephant is the most common answer followed by Emu, Elk, Eel (depending on your definition of animal) and now tell them Remember there are no grey elephants in Denmark. the test is funny, but its more interesting to see how many people get it wrong, and just the average math ability of some people. |
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Subject: RE: BS: the brain does funny things From: Kim C Date: 07 Feb 01 - 12:07 PM Jon, on the one I did, it didn't specify mammal, it just said name an animal that starts with E. :) |
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Subject: RE: BS: the brain does funny things From: catspaw49 Date: 07 Feb 01 - 12:06 PM Jon, remember now that kat has "Garden Faeries" she communes with, so anything is possible. BTW, I think the F thing may be better with the average American who tends to say "uv" and hence misses the F in reading the word. Spaw |
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Subject: RE: BS: the brain does funny things From: Jon Freeman Date: 07 Feb 01 - 11:52 AM kat and kim, I've just re-read the questions: since when has an emu been a mammal? Jon |
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Subject: RE: BS: the brain does funny things From: Jon Freeman Date: 07 Feb 01 - 11:20 AM I have just been trying to work the maths out from Mudguards table. The key seems to be multiplying by 9 (the multiply number by 3 and then squaring the answer could be represented at 3n X 3n which if my poor maths is right is the equivilant of 9n^2). I have tried several numbers and it seems that if you multiply any number except 0 by 9 and keep adding the digits to make 1 digit (ignoring the sign if the result is negative), the answer is always 9 e.g - lets pick on a negative one.
-312745 * 9 = -2814705 Can anyone tell me if this always holds true and if so why? Jon |
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Subject: RE: BS: the brain does funny things From: Tony in Sweden Date: 07 Feb 01 - 11:11 AM My Dad used to do these when I was young, so I kind of learned to select anything but carrot and seven. Had 4100 but got snared on the "f"s. My Albatross came from DANMARK, it's the spelling that is most common to those of us living in Scandinavia. There is another for anyone who knows a smart ass, ask them to answer 99 divided by 2 as quickly as they can. Some get it right, but not very many. mvh TC |
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Subject: RE: BS: the brain does funny things From: Matt wiv the hat Date: 07 Feb 01 - 11:05 AM Sorry, meant to say I got 5000. I wouldn't be quite as distressed if I had got 4100. matt |
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Subject: RE: BS: the brain does funny things From: Matt wiv the hat Date: 07 Feb 01 - 10:59 AM I got 4100, 3 f's and made such a mess of the arithmetic that I ended up with K instead of D. This wouldn't be so bad but I am in the final year of a maths degree! What hope do I have? matt |
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Subject: RE: BS: the brain does funny things From: Metchosin Date: 07 Feb 01 - 10:38 AM Don't worry English John, my math is so bad that I ended up with a negative number and couldn't figure out an alphabetical equivalent. |
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Subject: RE: BS: the brain does funny things From: Metchosin Date: 07 Feb 01 - 10:36 AM oh gee, I thought they were asking you to say six six six six over and over again so that the word would transpose to sex in your brain somehow. Its the only way I could somehow figure out why you might somehow end up with a carrot, but I realized that even that was a bit of a stretch. |
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Subject: RE: BS: the brain does funny things From: English Jon Date: 07 Feb 01 - 10:33 AM Guess you're right Mudguard. But I swear that elephant was flemmish! Cheers Jon |
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Subject: RE: BS: the brain does funny things From: GUEST,winterbright Date: 07 Feb 01 - 09:59 AM I got all six F's; 7; am in the 2% (summer squash); but the elephant thing has me stumped. How'd they KNOW that?! Guess it's kinda like the thermos... |
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Subject: RE: BS: the brain does funny things From: Kim C Date: 07 Feb 01 - 09:56 AM I did the carrot thing awhile back and I think I chose potato. Whatever it was, was not a carrot. I did the elephant thing a long while ago too. I took it home to Mister and I told a coworker, he is not going to pick Elephant, you just watch. Sure enough, he said Emu. I got 5000 but then I was an English major and don't cotton too much to numbers. :) |
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Subject: RE: BS: the brain does funny things From: KingBrilliant Date: 07 Feb 01 - 09:47 AM I got cabbage too - but is the carrot bit because saying sixsixsixsixsix etc makes the sound of munching down a raw carrot?(may not look like it, but that's a serious question). I picked 17 as my number between 12 and 5 - does that count as extra-stupid??? Kris
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Subject: RE: BS: the brain does funny things From: sophocleese Date: 07 Feb 01 - 08:05 AM Oh dear I chose a pea not a carrot. And then I got a brown elk from Denmark. Yep I got 5000, oops. |
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Subject: RE: BS: the brain does funny things From: Jon Freeman Date: 07 Feb 01 - 07:55 AM Interesing tests spaw!. I did OK on the F's though but I was VERY careful. Also, I am apparently among the warped 2% of the population (no surprise). I got cabbage. Jon |
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Subject: RE: BS: the brain does funny things From: Ella who is Sooze Date: 07 Feb 01 - 07:50 AM What a nightmare... I'm a little dyslexic so that's aproblem to start off with... Have a particular problem with Maths (numerically dyslexic) anyway... just can't get on with it... and no matter how much people explain fractions.. nope just can't do em... This is why I excelled at the arts at school and NOT science... ooooooooo not thick... just can't think MATHS! LOL ELLA |
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Subject: RE: BS: the brain does funny things From: mkebenn Date: 07 Feb 01 - 07:44 AM SHIT, I did this five times and still had to have it explained, and I'm OLD school. Good thing I use a calc as I'm responsible for Thousands of another man's money..LOL Mike |
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Subject: RE: BS: the brain does funny things From: GUEST,bagpuss Date: 07 Feb 01 - 07:08 AM I got 4100 - but then i did have an inkling about how i was going to be tricked. I picked 8 not 7, potato not carrot, and a brown osstrich from the Dominican Republic. Guess I'm weird. Bagpuss |
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Subject: RE: BS: the brain does funny things From: Jon Freeman Date: 07 Feb 01 - 07:04 AM I just tried it on my parents. My dad made the same carrying the 10s to the 1000s column as me to get 5000 but my mother made a completely different error - she correctly carried the 10s to the 100s but then added a 0 after the 4 to yeild 40100. Jon |
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Subject: RE: BS: the brain does funny things From: MudGuard Date: 07 Feb 01 - 06:54 AM Jon, you must have made a mistake during calculation. See table, whatever number you pick, you will end up with letter D
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Subject: RE: BS: the brain does funny things From: Wolfgang Date: 07 Feb 01 - 05:06 AM Amos, you're plainly too old to be fooled. You have been trained in a time in which many more hours than today were spent on teaching addition (I mean the method that makes use of the brain instead of a calculator). Wolfgang |
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Subject: RE: BS: the brain does funny things From: English Jon Date: 07 Feb 01 - 04:49 AM My elephant came from Belgium. Jon |
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Subject: RE: BS: the brain does funny things From: Metchosin Date: 07 Feb 01 - 12:53 AM I guess if I was really going to let sex influence my judgement, I would have chosen a cucumber or better yet a zucchini. |
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Subject: RE: BS: the brain does funny things From: Metchosin Date: 07 Feb 01 - 12:45 AM I chose Swiss Chard but I won't say anything more about others that didn't compute for me lest I screw it for others. |
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Subject: RE: BS: the brain does funny things From: bob jr Date: 07 Feb 01 - 12:45 AM my brain didnt thank me for wasting my time reading this thread so now i have to make it up to my brain by doing advanced calculus and i suck at that thanks |
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Subject: RE: BS: the brain does funny things From: katlaughing Date: 07 Feb 01 - 12:41 AM like Mets, I am decidedly warped and I did not have an elephant, but an emu, thank yew very much! C'mon, Spaw, more, more!! |
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Subject: RE: BS: the brain does funny things From: Amos Date: 07 Feb 01 - 12:13 AM I don't understand the trick. I got 4100 in about the time it took me to read the puzzle. Where's the trick? Or don't they teach powers of ten in school to you younkers? A. |
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Subject: RE: BS: the brain does funny things From: Amergin Date: 07 Feb 01 - 12:10 AM That site didn't mesh with my head until I got to the elephant one.... |
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Subject: RE: BS: the brain does funny things From: Metchosin Date: 06 Feb 01 - 11:34 PM uh Spaw speaking as a sales trainer, what does it mean when the site tells you you have a warped mind or do I want to know? For some reason or other I didn't get any of the answers that I was supposed to......... |
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Subject: RE: BS: the brain does funny things From: Gypsy Date: 06 Feb 01 - 11:18 PM arrrrr....... |
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Subject: RE: BS: the brain does funny things From: catspaw49 Date: 06 Feb 01 - 09:37 PM A lot of these are used in various sales training programs to keep the idea in mind that things are not always what you may think you see and the importance of ASKING QUESTIONS is paramount. If you liked this and would like to play the "F" game I mentioned and a few others................. Spaw - ex-corporate sales trainer |
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Subject: RE: BS: the brain does funny things From: Jon Freeman Date: 06 Feb 01 - 09:20 PM It caught me too. Jon |
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Subject: RE: BS: the brain does funny things From: John Routledge Date: 06 Feb 01 - 09:17 PM I thought I was numerate. Very humbling. GBROON |
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Subject: RE: BS: the brain does funny things From: catspaw49 Date: 06 Feb 01 - 09:11 PM Are we going to play the "F" game next? Spaw |
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Subject: the brain does funny things From: GUEST,petr Date: 06 Feb 01 - 09:05 PM This riddle must be done IN YOUR HEAD and NOT using paper and a pen. Try it - Take 1000 and add 40 to it. Now add another 1000. Now add 30. Another 1000. Now add 20. Now add another 1000. Now add 10. What is the total? (scroll down for answer)
Did you get 5000? The correct answer is actually 4100. Don't believe it? Check it with a calculator or on paper!! The brain sure knows how to play little tricks on us, doesn't it?
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