Creative thinking question

Spazmo · Post by **Spazmo** » Tue May 03, 2005 2:40 pm

I think jiu has made up this nonsense riddle with no answer just so he can look smug.

jiujitsu · Post by **jiujitsu** » Tue May 03, 2005 3:39 pm

No, a friend who used to be in the Navy SEALs had this question on one of the Navy creative thinking exams. They had one hour to complete 50 of these questions. He was the only one out of 50 guys to get it correct. He got 38/50 correct for the test. They had to explain why they gave the answer they did afterwards.

Just so you don't think I'm 'smug', I couldn't figure it out. It's tough, but once you see the answer it will make sense.

Kashluk · Post by **Kashluk** » Tue May 03, 2005 3:41 pm

Uh, anyone answer correctly so far?

jiujitsu · Post by **jiujitsu** » Tue May 03, 2005 4:19 pm

No correct answers.

Nicolai · Post by **Nicolai** » Tue May 03, 2005 4:22 pm

Yeah, I did.

Mr. Teatime · Post by **Mr. Teatime** » Tue May 03, 2005 4:38 pm

The answer is five.

jiujitsu · Post by **jiujitsu** » Tue May 03, 2005 5:12 pm

Mr. Teatime wrote:The answer is five.

Nuh uh.

jiujitsu · Post by **jiujitsu** » Tue May 03, 2005 5:35 pm

Montez from NMA got it correct. The first reply.

http://www.nma-fallout.com/forum/viewto ... 843#204843

St. Toxic · Post by **St. Toxic** » Tue May 03, 2005 5:59 pm

I was just about to say that. I guess I'm either Navy SEAL material, or just lacking the humour necessary to enjoy this thread, in the way I'm meant to.

Post by **King of Creation** » Tue May 03, 2005 5:59 pm

Well you actually explained it over there!

Here, we were just led to believe it was a fake riddle that had no answer. Hence the smart ass replies.

the guardian · Post by **the guardian** » Tue May 03, 2005 6:12 pm

I said it was composed of triangles too.

But the logic here is faulty : First off, it only works in English. Second, why would it be composed of one square and two triangles? Why not just 3 triangles? I can see how it could work with the word-number logic, but the alternative is also plausible. If not, please explain why.

S4ur0n27 · Post by **S4ur0n27** » Tue May 03, 2005 6:36 pm

Someone copy paste the solution for the NMA exiles

jiujitsu · Post by **jiujitsu** » Tue May 03, 2005 6:42 pm

Yes, I know two triangles make a trapezoid, but the circle should steer you away from that line of thinking. My friend said the first thing that popped into his head is that a trapezoid is like combining a square and a triangle. From there he realized that square, triangle and circle were primary shapes. Then he noticed the colors were too. After the primary shape/primary color thing was figured out it is pretty straight forward from there.

If triangle plus square is trapezoid then the color of the trapezoid would be the colors of the triangle and the square combined. So the trapezoid is purple.

When I posted on NMA it was my third forum try, so I made sure I said everything I could possibly say in the first post to save posting over and over again like I did here and at the Codex.

jiujitsu · Post by **jiujitsu** » Tue May 03, 2005 6:43 pm

For Sauron:

Montez wrote:Edit: Unless you're meant to assume that squares are blue, since you say that all the information is relevant, in which case a trapezoid would be purple or part red/part blue. Three primary colors, three primary shapes.

Blargh · Post by **Blargh** » Tue May 03, 2005 8:23 pm

To your question, a question, jiu - do you feel especially supercilious, through making use of material not your own, simplistic material at that, with a frankly feeble pretense of haughtiness ?

Does it work for you ?

Yes, of course you do. Of course it does. Simple things work for simple souls, as they say.

But is it real ?

Is it ?

What shade of blue is the chicken ?

Real ?

Pastry.

Do you dream of velvet toasters ?

Fantastic.

Coffee.

Do not look behind the curtain.

I am so glad I was away, otherwise I would have ruined all the fun. That would not be especially sporting, really. No.

Kashluk · Post by **Kashluk** » Tue May 03, 2005 8:29 pm

>>AHEM<<

Trapezoid's composed of either *three* triangles or *two* triangles *and* a square...

jiujitsu · Post by **jiujitsu** » Tue May 03, 2005 8:54 pm

It was just a thing for the amusement of everyone. Though, I have to say, I got the most amusement from reading all the whining and debating. Especially on the Codex.

It's over now. The answer has been revealed and it's time to move on. Probably to the Wasteland to start a spam thread or two..

jiujitsu · Post by **jiujitsu** » Tue May 03, 2005 9:00 pm

Here's an explanation from the winner:

Montez wrote:
Elric wrote:Edit: Montez, I thought that too, but it didn't seem to make any sense to me... but now that you say it... mmh... by the way, circles can be inscribed (don't know if this is correct) in trapezoids? Does that make them both yellow and red? Am I saying something extremely dumb?
I suck at this, but I'll try to explain the logic anyway.

1) Triangle - Red
2) Circle - Yellow
3) Trapezoid - ???

So the most obvious thing is to find a relationship between the three givens. A circle has no obvious relation to a trapezoid. If you were to slice up a trapezoid though, you could make it into triangles. So you could say that a trapezoid is made of triangles, and since triangles are red a trapezoid must be red.

1) Triangle - Red
2) Circle - Yellow
3) Trapezoid - Red

But that doesn't seem to make sense. Where does the circle fit in? So you look at the relationships again.
Triangle, Circle, Trapezoid. The first thing that comes to mind is that two are basic shapes and one is a complex shape. So what basic shapes is a trapezoid made of? It can't be just triangles, because then the color would be red and we've already decided that thar doesn't make sense. How about a square and one or more triangles then? A square is considered a basic shape. You could argue that a square is just two or more triangles, but then it's commonly known that people refer to circle, square, triangle as the basic shapes. Can't hurt to try.

1) Triangle - Red
2) Circle - Yellow
3) Square - ???
4) Trapezoid - ???

So now to the colors: Red, Yellow, ???, ???.... The most obvious thing to do would be to assume that since the shapes went basic, basic, complex, that the colors do the same thing. Therefore the color of the square would be a basic color, and the trapezoid would be a complex color. If you have any experience with art, you know that the answer is blue right away, because Red, Yellow and Blue are the primary colors. Otherwise you might just have to guess until you came up with a color that couldn't be made by combining other simple colors. Either way, the answer is blue. So the trapezoid must be blue+red=purple.

1) Triangle - Red
2) Circle - Yellow
3) Square - Blue
4) Trapezoid - Purple

It all fits logically, it's simple, and everything is taken into account, so that must be the answer.

It's the same thing as a math series, where you are given a sequence of numbers and asked to deduce the next in the series. There are all sorts of complex or ridiculous theories you could come up with to provide a potential answer, but the answer that is wanted, or is the most desirable, is the one that solves the problem simply and clearly. Anyone can argue as much as they want about there being an infinite amount of solutions or whatever else, but there is almost always just one answer that is both simple and clear.

Spazmo · Post by **Spazmo** » Tue May 03, 2005 9:43 pm

I hope your friend gets shot by terrorists.

Fez · Post by **Fez** » Tue May 03, 2005 10:01 pm

That puzzle alone is enough to declare a fatwa requiring the killing of all involved in it's creation.