[extropy-chat] Petals around the rose

[Jef Allbright]

David Lubkin wrote:

> Harvey wrote:
>
>> I frequently have problems with puzzles that give three numbers and 
>> want the next in the sequence, because I can often see multiple 
>> different sequences that would start with the same four numbers.  I 
>> also have problems with a set of four words and choosing which one 
>> doesn't belong.  Often there are different groups of the three that 
>> exclude a different fourth.  The devisors of these puzzles usually 
>> have one obvious answer in mind, but there are often others they 
>> didn't consider.
>
>
> Hence my father's conjecture that an IQ test cannot accurately measure 
> the intelligence of someone smarter than the author of the test.
>
> A better way to handle such situations -- sequences, analogies (a is 
> to b as c is to ?) -- is to accept any answer but require the testee 
> to provide the basis for the answer.
>
> The sequence problems are the most idiotic. Given any finite sequence 
> S(1:n) and any number m, one can devise a formula that results in 
> S(1:n+1), where S(n+1) = m. The problem becomes guessing which, out of 
> an infinity of formulas, would be thought most obvious or elegant.
>
> (Actually, it's worse than that -- there are an infinite number of 
> possible m's and, for each m, there are an infinite number of 
> formulas, since one can always add pairs of operations that cancel 
> each other.)
>
This poses an interesting question:  What is it about the nature of 
human intelligence that certain people can come up with large sets of 
possibilities but have difficulty filtering these possibilities and 
applying them to fit the bigger picture?  Likewise, bigger picture 
people seem to be at some disadvantage when it comes to generating large 
sets of possibilities.  These personality differences are quite 
noticeable within teams of scientists and engineers.  Could it be 
related to Myers-Briggs S vs N type?

Back to the Petals Aound The Rose puzzle,  I observed  that I may have 
had a slight conceptual advantage due to my Japanese language 
background, where the language does not differentiate between singular 
and plural.

- Jef