Intelligence on the internet

[Hawks]

HAHAHA - the wrong answer being picked will make me chuckle for a couple of hours at work I suspect...

 

[anthonyUK]

Get you friends to discuss the Monty Hall problem - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monty_Hall_problem

Even after knowing the reasoning you find it hard to accept it. Some people will never accept it.
If they can then explain it to you you'll know they have thought it through.

 

[ScottM]

Get you friends to discuss the Monty Hall problem - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monty_Hall_problem

Even after knowing the reasoning you find it hard to accept it. Some people will never accept it.
If they can then explain it to you you'll know they have thought it through.

Always loved that one.

I know very few people that are into that level of thinking though so would be a bit pointless lol. I used to be an amateur magician, at that time the people I was hanging around with were more into this sort of discussion

Strangely, I actually understand the reasoning behind the Monty Hall problem. There was also an episode of Mythbusters that went through the motions with it, and although they confirmed it.... they didn't understand the reasoning. I was screaming at the TV with my mind

 

[falafael]

Apart from the fact that half those memes running round Facebook are address harvesters, all the "can you do this sum?" ones are marginally bogus as it's never explicitly specified that this is Maths rather than EnteringStuffOnACalculator. Normal people expect it to follow the rules of mathematics, of course, but it doesn't claim to.
Now, the Monty Hall problem...

Oh I agree, my point isn't that people can/can't do it. My point is about the people that seem to be like Chasers from the TV Gameshow and yet not able to identify such a simple problem. IMO any equation is a mathematical one, calculators were the beginning of the end of basic math IMO.

Google and the likes are fantastic tools but they promote the masses to leave their brain at the door. There are fears of us intellectually regressing and I believe at the going rate that we will begin to witness it in our lifetime.

Not sure if any of you guys are Stargate fans but there was one episode where all the inhabitants of a planet were inter connected via a device on their heads. It connected directly to their brain and allowed everyone to share everyone's thoughts, memories etc. Like an accessible collective conscience. One of these people was disconnected and, while fully functional, couldn't think for themselves or think laterally. We're next

I agree with you regressing, and have witnessed it first hand, at work, they seem to be more and more 'youths', who to put it bluntly, are nothing but real dumbo's.
They drag themselves around, like they are pulling a barrow with square wheels, looking at product codes with their mouths drooling, and being unable to spell Eastleigh, they call it Eastlee.

Needless to say, i have recommended we employ people 30yrs and upwards!

 

[cutnrun]

I agree completly!

there are times when google is a god send, as i use a lot of VB.net, vba and SQL some times i cant get something to work and the answer is always there, however, I always have a go first and use logic etc to try to get my own answer. that is just how i learn so if i dont i will never get any better.

There are people who come to me ans show me these amazing snipits of code and how great they are for getting them in and working, when i ask what the procedures do "don't know google said to use this answer" pointless!!

however i am sure there are a few Q's asked on here that could have been answered by google to save the more experianced some time repeating answers.

I would ban anyone looking like they are using a phone in a pub quiz!

 

[anthonyUK]

I had to tweet BBC breakfast news last week as they mentioned, during an article about spring in Japan, that people wear surgical masks due to pollution
They corrected themselves later mentioning they had been informed via twitter.

 

[ScottM]

I had to tweet BBC breakfast news last week as they mentioned, during an article about spring in Japan, that people wear surgical masks due to pollution
They corrected themselves later mentioning they had been informed via twitter.

That sort of thing is broadcast all the time.

The Japanese have a great culture of respect and consideration for others. I vaguely remember a discussion about this a few years back, on a different forum, and I came out of that discussion highly enlightened and suitably impressed.

 

[MadrikXIV]

Google is great, but killed pub quizes.

Used to do one every Tuesday, and was quite good, often guessing lyrics round, had more friends than normal one week and ermmm had a clean sweep with 2 teams

Bit of rivalry but 1st 2nd, nearest to, and a stein of genius in a spot round.

Was a running joke, win the quiz 3 weeks in a row and you get the keys, the former Psychadelic Rhubarb are still waiting for them!!!

But to see people googling, or hearing lots of 'beep beeps' ruined the fun

 

[Russ146]

The answer itself just shows the stupidity of those that believe everything they see on the internet

The correct answer to 3+3x3-3+3=? is 18

the question is wrong!

for the answer to be 12

the question should be: (3+3x3)-(3+3)=?

or (18) -(6)=12

Brackets Timothy Brackets

 

[MadrikXIV]

The answer itself just shows the stupidity of those that believe everything they see on the internet

The correct answer to 3+3x3-3+3=? is 18

the question is wrong!

for the answer to be 12

the question should be: (3+3x3)-(3+3)=12

or (18) -(6)=12

Brackets Timothy Brackets

I hate bodmas, but Brackets Order Division Multiplication Addition Subtraction
So in the absence of any brackets you would do
3x3=9
3+3+9=15
15-3=12

to get 18 it would need brackets to be
(3+3)x3-3+3

 

[Jeltz]

• Its 12,
  [list:3m7dxru0]no it is,
  [list:3m7dxru0]just trust me on this,
  [list:3m7dxru0]don't argue,
  [list:3m7dxru0]look it is,
  [list:3m7dxru0]OK!

[/list:u:3m7dxru0][/list:u:3m7dxru0] [/list:u:3m7dxru0][/list:u:3m7dxru0][/list:u:3m7dxru0]

 

[Swazi]

Hmmm, you learn something new everyday. This internet thingy is wonderful. I'd never heard of the monty hall problem, he he he.
What amazes me more then people using google to impress upon others how smart they are are people who can't find simple things on google. They do tend to belong to the older generation too...

 

[ScottM]

The answer itself just shows the stupidity of those that believe everything they see on the internet

The correct answer to 3+3x3-3+3=? is 18

the question is wrong!

for the answer to be 12

the question should be: (3+3x3)-(3+3)=12

or (18) -(6)=12

Brackets Timothy Brackets

I rest my case

 

[Teenage Kicks]

the question is wrong!

...

 

[ScottM]

Ok, even though this wasn't actually my point... I'll explain the equation so that people can take that information forward with an understanding... rather than just an answer.

No matter the order of an equation the answer will remain the same. There are rules and principles put in place to make sure this is the case. One of these principles is BODMAS.

Eg..

2+3+4 = 9
4+3+2 = 9
2+4+3 = 9

etc

If we take the aforementioned equation and use the wrong technique for solving it we get the following...

3x3+3-3+3=12
3+3x3-3+3=18
3+3+3x3-3=24

etc

As you can see from the above, the same equation gets 3 different answers. Now, lets solve the problem as we were taught in school... BODMAS (Brackets, Orders, Division/Multiplication, Addition/Subtraction)

3x3+3-3+3 = 9+3-3+3 = 12 (Multiplication before addition or subtraction)
3+3x3-3+3 = 3+9-3+3 = 12 (Multiplication before addition or subtraction)
3+3+3x3-3 = 3+3+9-3 = 12 (Multiplication before addition or subtraction)


Hopefully this has explained the background of this "puzzle" a little. It's not really a puzzle, it's just a simple equation that most people don't know how to solve in a mathematical fashion due to forgetting very basic principles... as we all do.

 

[MadrikXIV]

That's pretty much what I said.

But then on the flip side, I always forget Bodmas exists, mainly as I don't encounter having to do such a 'complicated sum' very often

 

[ScottM]

That's pretty much what I said.

But then on the flip side, I always forget Bodmas exists, mainly as I don't encounter having to do such a 'complicated sum' very often

It's pretty much what I, and others, said earlier too... but clearly clarification was required and showing reasoning is always better than telling rules

I doubt I've ever used it effectively. From what I can remember most of the std grade stuff had brackets laid into problems so that there was no confusion (3*5)+(4*3) etc. The principle was covered, but not in depth. In the higher level you were left to your own devices with 3*5+4*3... which is the only real reason I know of BODMAS properly (even if my memory on it was a little sketchy).

 

[TheMumbler]

Ah ah, I believe we are crossing a line there though.... with regards to stored information and using the brain to do, rather than store. There is an over-dependence on the "answers" being at your fingertips. People are choosing not to figure something out (do) and instead choosing to simply look the answer up.(snip)

I don't agree with you here. I think that what you are observing is the very old phenomena of people lying to look clever. I would guess that roughly 2% or whatever still have the tools plus the education and inclination to develop the reasoning skills that you need to solve that problem.

 

[ScottM]

Ah ah, I believe we are crossing a line there though.... with regards to stored information and using the brain to do, rather than store. There is an over-dependence on the "answers" being at your fingertips. People are choosing not to figure something out (do) and instead choosing to simply look the answer up.(snip)

I don't agree with you here. I think that what you are observing is the very old phenomena of people lying to look clever. I would guess that roughly 2% or whatever still have the tools plus the education and inclination to develop the reasoning skills that you need to solve that problem.

That's definitely what I'm noticing with people that I know (ie that are of similar age). What I'm noticing with the younger generation is that google is the answer to everything, why bother to learn anything when you can just google any question that comes along

That wasn't my initial point of course, my initial point was the lying/cheating to look clever

 

[TheMumbler]

That wasn't my initial point of course, my initial point was the lying/cheating to look clever

I have solved that Einstein problem in the past without using teh interwebs btw.... or have I??