Re: [*Very* Off Topic] Rational Thinking | Powers of Observation

[Leslie Bialler lb136@xxxxxxxx]

"J. R. Fox" wrote:

> Leslie Bialler wrote:
>
> > Ho! The puzzle has a certain vulpine slyness to it, does it not, my dear
> > Watson? Still, there is of course a rational solution. Have I not told
> > you before that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever
> > remains, however improbable, must be the truth? And so it is in this
> > case. If you examine the cards closely, you will not fail to notice that
> > _none_ of the cards in the final group are the same as those in the
> > first.
>
> Bravo ! But you might be amazed to learn that we are apparently in the
> small minority of people who were not baffled by this, and in fact hit the
> bullseye rather quickly. (I'm assuming you did not resort to printing the
> whole thing out, which would amount to cheating . . . . )

Hah and hah! No, I assure you I didn't print it out. I hope that there weren't
those who thought somehow the computer could read their minds! I think the
instructions to "wait 20 seconds" are the cyber equivalent of a magician's
smoke and mirrors, no? One becomes so engrossed in counting down the 20
seconds that one totally forgets what the other cards in the set were, and so
when one finally sees a similar array, but without "the" card, one is
astonished. At least briefly.

>
>
> ;-)
>
> Jordan

--
Leslie Bialler, Columbia University Press
lb136@xxxxxxxx
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