Intutive vs Analytical

[Jenny A]

Just for fun, answer the following question without looking up the answers. And please hide your answers.

1. A bat and a ball cost $1.10 in total. The bat costs $1.00 more than the ball. How much does the ball cost? ____cents

2. If it takes 5 machines 5 minutes to make 5 widgets, how long would it take 100 machines to make 100 widgets? _____minutes

3. In a lake, there is a patch of lily pads. Every day, the patch doubles in size. If it takes 48 days for the patch to cover the entire lake, how long would it take for the patch to cover half of the lake? _____days

According to social psychologists Will M. Gervais and Ara Norenzayan, your answers depend show how likely you are to believe in God or the supernatural. I'm curious if our answers will support the psychologist hypothesis.

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1. The ball costs 5 cents.

2. Five minutes.

3. 47 days.

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Just peeked at all the other answers. I guess we are pretty analytical bunch, though being warned it was a test of analytical versus intuitive sharpened my thinking a little.

[Sejanus]

Surg, the only fatal flaw I can see with what you're doing is that you have no way to ensure people don't cheat.

[Alex K]

If I'm presented with such questions, thinking about it means calculating it, I guess that's the training. However, I must absolutely admit that there was an impulse to...

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think that the ball costs 10 cents, because one is tempted to subtract 1 dollar from the total price simply because it says "one dollar less".

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[GrandizerII]

My answer pretty much the same as most who posted here.

I used pen and paper, though, for Question 1.

[Surgenator]

Surg, the only fatal flaw I can see with what you're doing is that you have no way to ensure people don't cheat.

I'm betting on honesty would win out over being correct.

[Jenny A]

I used pen and paper, though, for Question 1.

Yep

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a + a + 100 = 110
2a = 10 [subtract 100 from both sides of the equation and simplify the a's)
a = 5 [divide both sides by 2]

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[Whateverist]

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1. A bat and a ball cost $1.10 in total. The bat costs $1.00 more than the ball. How much does the ball cost? __105__cents

2. If it takes 5 machines 5 minutes to make 5 widgets, how long would it take 100 machines to make 100 widgets? __5___minutes

3. In a lake, there is a patch of lily pads. Every day, the patch doubles in size. If it takes 48 days for the patch to cover the entire lake, how long would it take for the patch to cover half of the lake? __47___days

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I believe!

[Alex K]

@Whatevs, I think you got a typo

[Angrboda]

I'm a theist, and intuitive, but I studied math in college, so that may make a difference.

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1. 5 cents
2. 5 minutes
3. 47 days

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