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Old 04-19-2013, 08:10 AM   #61
w1k0
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The Matrix

Mensa International is the organization open to the people which score very high IQ (the two per cent of the population). To test the people’s intelligence quotient Mensa uses the Raven’s Matrices. In these tests one has to identify the lacking element which completes a pattern. Unlike some other tests such as Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale the Raven’s Matrices are independent of the reading and writing skills so they are independent of the cultural background and are suitable to test the people from different cultures.

The sample simplified Raven’s matrix looks like:

Code:
Here is a series of four figures 
(the last one is lacking):

   //––   ||\\   \\||   ????
   ||\\   //––   ––//   ????

Which one figure from the following six 
completes the above series?

   ||//   \\––   ––\\
   \\––   ||//   //||

   //––   ––//   ––//
   \\||   \\||   ||\\
The above example is simplified because the standard Raven’s matrix consists of nine elements (the last one is lacking).

Here is the matrix which I invented exclusively for you:

Code:
Here is the matrix consisting of nine figures 
(the last one is lacking):

   ■   ●   ▲
   ▲   ⎼   ●

   ▲   ■   ⎼
   ■   ■   ▲

   ⎼   ⎼   ?
   ●   ■   ?

Which one figure from the following six 
completes the above matrix?

   ■   ●   ▲
   ⎼   ■   ⎼

   ■   ▲   ⎼
   ●   ●   ▲
A hint: make sure that the rule which you found works at the same time in the rows and in the columns.

A disclaimer: it seems that the matrix which I invented is to some extent cultural dependent so if you are a Pygmy your chances to solve that puzzle are rather low. I am sorry!

A warning: some of you know that I am an extremely malicious human being so – as you can guess – I tried to invent the puzzle as hard as possible.

A request: according to our policy from the post #1 (“Our Rules”) I ask you once again to not publish your solution here.

The above puzzle is hard. Here is the simplified matrix for the Pygmies:

Code:
Here is the matrix consisting of nine figures 
(the last one is lacking):

   ■   ◇   ●

   △   +   □

   ◆   ○   ?

Which one figure from the following nine 
completes the above matrix?

   ■   □   ●   ○   ▲   △   ◆   ◇   +
(It seems that your browser should display the above puzzles properly. If this is not the case let me know and I will replace the text with the images.)
 
Old 04-22-2013, 12:10 PM   #62
w1k0
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I put here some hard puzzles because I respect your intelligence and I do not want to offend it with some light problem. It is easy to quote a stupid joke or a banal puzzle. But stupid jokes are not fun and banal puzzles are not thrilling. So I try to find or invent something fun or thrilling. Now I publish here the problem similar to the previous one. If you solved the above matrix the following one will be easy for you. I am sorry. Most of the people did not solve the above matrix so the following one is a challenge for them.

Code:
Here is the matrix consisting of nine figures 
(the last one is lacking):

   ⎼   ■   ⎼
   ●   ⎼   ⎼

   ●   ⎼   ●
   ⎼   ●   ■

   ■   ●   ?
   ●   ●   ?

Which one figure from the following six 
completes the above matrix?

   ■   ●   ●
   ⎼   ■   ⎼

   ■   ⎼   ⎼
   ●   ●   ■
***

If you are a member of Mensa or some similar organization and someone hired you to solve the above puzzles read the entire thread and then decide if you are willing to reveal the solutions which you found.
 
Old 04-23-2013, 05:43 PM   #63
Philip Lacroix
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Distribution: Slackware
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Quote:
Originally Posted by w1k0 View Post
It seems that the average Slackware Linux user is much smarter than the average computer user.
I don't see any evidence that could justify such a conclusion. Besides, I guess it can be potentially offensive to users of other distros.

It seems that Slackware appeals more to people involved with computers professionally, as well as folks who feel that Slackware is more fun and challenging than other distributions (this is my case).

However, I don't see anything that could justify something like this:

Quote:
A uses system S1
B uses system S2
Therefore, A is smarter than B
I hope no one is going to feel offended.

To return on-topic, sometimes it is difficult to know which operating systems people are actually using, despite any evidence one might have. In fact, one should decide first which are the necessary and sufficient conditions for being able to state that someone is knowing something.

For example, given a statement P, someone once said that A knows that P if and only if P is true, A believes that P is true, and A is justified in believing that P is true.

Let's say that Barzillai has a very strong evidence for believing that his friend Seamus is a true Macpup user. In fact, he remembers that in the past, when he saw Seamus with a computer, this was always running Macpup. Besides, Barzillai knows a girl named Geneviève, whom he didn't see for many years. He remembers that Geneviève was a Free Software fan, but he doesn't know which system she's using now.

According to the above definition and evidence, Barzillai has the right to say, «Seamus is a Macpupper or Geneviève uses Debian». He is also justified when he affirms, «Geneviève switched back to Windows or Seamus is a Macpupper». Moreover, he could declare as well that «Seamus is a Macpupper or Geneviève is a Slacker».

Now, we discover by chance that Seamus actually doesn't like Macpup at all: in fact, when Barzillai saw him, Seamus was always using Salvatore's laptop, because for some obscure reason his Windows box had crashed. Moreover, Geneviève actually switched from Ubuntu to Slackware five years ago and she is now a true Slacker - but Barzillai doesn't know that.

So it seems that Barzillai still has the right to say, «I know that Seamus is a Macpupper or Geneviève is a Slacker», even though he doesn't know at all what is actually going on. Is that true?

Note This one was inspired by this problem. Before someone feels referred to for whatever reason, all names were chosen "randomly", and there's no connection between them and real persons. Moreover, the situation described was only intended to be a pretext to have some fun, showing a classical problem of knowledge theory.

Last edited by Philip Lacroix; 04-23-2013 at 08:39 PM. Reason: A few integrations
 
2 members found this post helpful.
Old 04-23-2013, 06:32 PM   #64
w1k0
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It seems to me that the following puzzle suits the current discussion here (I mean the posts by brianL and Philip Lacroix):

On the island inhabited by the pathological liars (they always lie) and the pathological truth-tellers (they always tell the truth) you meet two guys. The first of them wears a T-shirt with Slackware logo and the other wears a T-shirt with MS Windows logo. The guy with Slackware logo says: “Either I am a liar, or the guy with MS Windows logo is a truth-teller”. Who is the guy with MS Windows logo?
 
Old 04-26-2013, 05:39 PM   #65
w1k0
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On the island inhabited by the pathological liars and the pathological truth-tellers you meet three people.

You ask the first guy:

– How many truth-tellers are among you guys?

The volcano makes a loud noise when he answers and you can’t hear the answer.

So you ask the second guy:

– What did he say?

The second guy answers:

– He said that one of us is a truth-teller and two of us are liars.

Then the third guy adds:

– Don’t believe what the second guy said, he’s lying.

What class of people are the second and the third guys?

(The above puzzle is based on the puzzle by Antonio Montalbán and Yannet Interian.)
 
Old 04-30-2013, 12:35 PM   #66
w1k0
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Three people are being judged for a crime. Each of these people could or could not come from the island inhabited by the pathological liars and the pathological truth-tellers. Recall that everyone who comes from the island is either a liar or a truth-teller. People which do not come from the island are called normal and might or might not tell the truth.

It is known that the crime was committed by one of these three suspects. It is also known that the person who committed the crime is a truth-teller, and he is the only truth-teller among the three suspects.

The suspects said:

First: “I am innocent.”

Second: “That is correct.”

Third: “The second comes from the island.”

Who is the guilty one?

(The above puzzle is based on the puzzle by Antonio Montalbán and Yannet Interian.)
 
Old 05-03-2013, 05:18 PM   #67
w1k0
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The following link leads to the “Moral Sense Test” carried out by the Cognitive Evolution Laboratory at Harvard University. If you passed the test from the post #55 (it concerns the out-of-control trains) and you read the diagnoses do not perform the “Moral Sense Test”. After solving the challenges from the post #55 and after reading the diagnoses you are biased so your results would be erroneous for the scientists.

Moreover the participation in the “Moral Sense Test” does not give you the immediate diagnosis because the scientists will publish the diagnoses after collecting enough results of the test and after analyzing them. So you take a part in that test to provide the valuable data for the scientists. If you are interested in the immediate diagnosis go rather to the post #55 than to the “Moral Sense Test”.

Summary: it is good to pass the “Moral Sense Test” and after that to pass the challenges from the post #55 but it is not good to do that in the reverse order.

Go there only if you skipped the post #55: Moral Sense Test.

***

Below is my comment to the “Moral Sense Test”. If you would like to perform the above test do not read the following comment before passing the test because after reading the comment you will be biased.

To read the comment select the text below.

In fact all the situations described in the “Moral Sense Test” are exactly the same as the second challenge from the post #55. So if your thinking is coherent all your answers should be the same. Because the people are not coherent the actual answers may be different. You do not have to worry in such a case. You simply are not coherent.

These scenarios are cluttered with the information about the weather, the mood of the main characters, etc. From the neutral point of view the weather or the mood should not affect our decisions concerning the other people’s lives. On the other hand some people may be affected by the weather or the mood when they take that or the other action.

After performing the test you are asked which point of view you took when you pondered these situations. There are three possibilities: 1) the person being harmed; 2) the person observing the incident; 3) the person harming someone. What is interesting nothing in those stories forces you to take the point of view of the person being harmed or the person harming someone. So the most natural point of view is that of the person observing the incident. If you chose the other point of view that reveals something interesting about you. Of course choosing the neutral point of view reveals something interesting about you as well.

After you read those scenarios you still do not know too much about the main characters: Steve, Gary, James, etc. But the question is in all cases the same: “For Steve, Gary, James, etc. to do something would be...”. From the rational point of view it is not possible to answer such a question because you do not know Steve, Gary, James, etc. enough. So there are two possibilities: either you choose some level of the abstraction and you are able to reply those questions or you refuse to answer them because you do not know these people. Unfortunately in that last case the scientists do not know about you because you passed over the test.

The last difficulty concerns the scale from “not at all morally wrong” to “very morally wrong” which you are supposed to ascribe to these people’s actions. The test does not tell you which moral theory you should use. You do not know also the moral fibre of these people: Steve, Gary, James, etc. So you can guess their moral fibre, use your own moral fibre, or choose some arbitrary moral fibre in all those cases.

As you see there are at least five mentioned above variables which can affect your replies. It will be very interesting to read the diagnoses prepared by the scientists after they close the testing phase and finish to analyze the results. So follow the Harvard University Cognitive Evolution Laboratory website in the nearest future.
 
  


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