Answer this quickly (and hopefully correctly)

[Gangster Octopus]

Originally Posted by tdn

Fine, more square root beer for me.

RDRR, so derivative.

[Snickers]

Originally Posted by Musicat

I was in Sydney long ago, and the bank teller didn't understand me when I asked for nickels in change so I could make a phone call. Apparently "nickel" isn't globally universal for "5-cent piece," and it wasn't obvious to this Yank. Stupid foreigners.

Originally Posted by GuanoLad

You would've been totally out of luck if you'd wanted it in quarters.

When I was in Australia, I joked around wondering whether they called their 20 cent pieces "fifths."

Nobody appreciated my humor.

[MyFootsZZZ]

I wouldn't have got this if it wasn't explained. Though I knew it couldn't be .10 because that seems like the answer.

[Taomist]

Two things.

1. I suspect people are overthinking the question. It's so simple, really. I think people are looking for a trick or something. I suck at math, didn't take any more math classes than I had to, had MAJOR issues in algebra because I had to prove my work...which is the whole point and lesson, and I couldn't do it. Could get the answer, sure, but couldn't tell you HOW. So I practically failed. But this question is so simple, no algebra or anything else required. Well, knowing what a 'nickel' is helps.

2. Everyone's going to the cafeteria, and nobody's getting hot dogs? WTF.

[Boyo Jim]

Originally Posted by Gangster Octopus

If it makes folks feel any better, half of students at Harvard, Princeton and MIT got this question wrong when asked. Whether you get it right or not is not really correlated with your intelligence.

Originally Posted by Sicks Ate

I knew MIT wasn't worth my time.

I knew math wasn't worth my time.

[Giles]

Originally Posted by Snickers

When I was in Australia, I joked around wondering whether they called their 20 cent pieces "fifths."

Nobody appreciated my humor.

When they were two-shilling coins, they were tenths, and were called "florins".

Do you call dimes "tenths", and nickels "twentieths"?

[Musicat]

Originally Posted by Giles

When they were two-shilling coins, they were tenths, and were called "florins".

What happened to the guilders?

[billfish678]

Originally Posted by Boyo Jim

I knew math wasn't worth my time.

Yeah, but then you go to Mars, crash land and math saves your life. And then pirannha locusts attack you and a Russian engineer that now runs a deli in New York gets you off that fucking planet.

[GuanoLad]

Originally Posted by Musicat

What happened to the guilders?

Framed for kidnapping a Princess.

[Lukeinva]

Originally Posted by Leaffan

I must be dumb too, because I instantly said "ten cents."

If the soda was 10c the hot dog would be 90c more than the soda.

[Leaffan]

Originally Posted by Lukeinva

If the soda was 10c the hot dog would be 90c more than the soda.

You don't say?

I'm pretty sure I figured out where my math went wrong after thinking about the question for a few seconds. The whole idea was NOT to think though, but to answer quickly. Which I did. And was obviously trapped like a lot of other people who answered quickly.

[Irishman]

This isn't a math problem, it's an ambiguity of English problem.

If I pay 10 cents for a soda (and where can you get a deal like that?), then I pay a dollar more for a hot dog, I pay $1.10 for a hot dog and a soda, and the hot dog cost $1.

It's all in the phrase "a dollar more than".

[Alan3354]

Originally Posted by leaffan

i must be dumb too, because i instantly said "ten cents."

$0.05 + $1.05 = $1.10

[Alan3354]

what?

[SpyOne]

Originally Posted by Gangster Octopus

If it makes folks feel any better, half of students at Harvard, Princeton and MIT got this question wrong when asked. Whether you get it right or not is not really correlated with your intelligence.

OR attending Harvard, Princeton, and MIT is not really correlated with intelligence.

Just sayin', not enough data here to support your conclusion.

Oh, and possibly both: maybe getting the question right is unrelated to intelligence, AND counter to stereotype those schools have as many idiots as geniuses in attendance.

[Ethilrist]

Originally Posted by tdn

A hapenny?

Tuppence a bag.

[BigT]

Thing is, "answer quickly" isn't the same thing as "give your first answer." If that's what you wanted, then, sure, I would have went with $0.10. But it only took me 5 seconds to get to the real answer. Does that count as "quickly"?

(My thought process: $0.10; wait, that's too high; let's see if half is more or less; oh, wait, that's the correct answer. Sweet.)

[PandaBear77]

My brain immediately thought 10 cents but I knew that couldn't possibly be right since 1. we're on the Dope and 2. I'm not THAT bright.

[Cub Mistress]

I was told there would be no math.

[Princhester]

This is all assuming a simple additive pricing model.

Actually, the hotdog can cost anywhere from $1.05 to $1.10 and the soda anywhere from 5 to 10 cents. The problem doesn't say that there is no discount for buying a hot dog and soda together, which is very common practice.

[denquixote]

Originally Posted by Alka Seltzer

I got it wrong as well. I take it you got it from here Gangster Octopus?

The conclusion of that article is a bit depressing. "People who were aware of their own biases were not better able to overcome them.”

Thanks for the cite. I got this one wrong too about 50 years ago, but have never forgotten it. I'm glad to find out why.

[BigT]

Originally Posted by Princhester

This is all assuming a simple additive pricing model.

Actually, the hotdog can cost anywhere from $1.05 to $1.10 and the soda anywhere from 5 to 10 cents. The problem doesn't say that there is no discount for buying a hot dog and soda together, which is very common practice.

Not in my experience.

[BigT]

Originally Posted by Alka Seltzer

I got it wrong as well. I take it you got it from here Gangster Octopus?

The conclusion of that article is a bit depressing. "People who were aware of their own biases were not better able to overcome them.”

I'm not entirely sure they can actually conclude this. How are they asking people about their biases? Knowing that a textbook says I will do X doesn't make me less likely to do X, as the information hasn't been thoroughly integrated into my normal thought processes. It's just a bit of trivia.

I'm also curious how they present this test in such a way that smart people wouldn't also be looking for a trick, and thus be on their guard. The real problem is this showing up in real life, when most people are not inherently aware of their own biases. It takes a lot of training to not trust even your own thinking, and, even then, are the rewards worth it? Those shortcuts exist for a reason--they help us make quick decisions when time matters.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Originally Posted by Autolycus

Yeah, everything did cost a nickel back then. Even to take the ferry cost a nickel, and in those days, nickels had pictures of bumblebees on 'em. Give me five bees for a quarter, you'd say.

If a belt and an onion cost $1.10, and the belt costs a dollar more than the onion, how much does the onion cost?

[Scarlett67]

What's a Grecian urn?

About 500 drachmas a week.

[InternetLegend]

Originally Posted by Gangster Octopus

If it makes folks feel any better, half of students at Harvard, Princeton and MIT got this question wrong when asked. Whether you get it right or not is not really correlated with your intelligence.

Apparently not. My Brilliant Daughter got it wrong and I got it right the first time.

[Polycarp]

Originally Posted by Inigo Montoya

* sigh *

The clearest sine of a trainwreck thread is unbounded tangents.

You're just trying to con me into cosining your loan, aren't you?

[TokyoBayer]

5 cents. I've heard it before.

[Hippy Hollow]

This Harvard grad got five cents. It took me a second to figure it out, and I checked my work before responding. My guard was up.

Not sure what the takeaway is from this. I doubt that the answers would vary across the population very much, assuming a knowledge of basic math.

[drewtwo99]

Originally Posted by Gangster Octopus

A hot dog and a soda cost $1.10. The hot dog is a dollar more than the soda, how much is the soda?

Your question is imprecise and ambiguous.

"How much is the soda?" What does this even mean? How much volume, how much mass, how much cost?

If you are referring to the price, phrase it as "what is the price of the soda given the prior stipulations and assuming no discount for buying the two together."



/pedantry

[doorhinge]

Originally Posted by Dallas Jones

What if I ordered water with my hot dog and the water was free? But the cup was .05 and then I spilled the water on my girfriend and asked for another cup, which they gave to me free?

How much is this girl going to cost me, eventually?

If you marry her, pssst her off, and she divorces you then the answer would be "exactly half your stuff".