The logic puzzle almost everyone gets wrong

This is a very famous logic problem:

“Jack is looking at Anne, but Anne is looking at George. Jack is married, but George is not. Is a married person looking at an unmarried person?

• A: Yes
  
• B: No
  
• C: Cannot be determined”

According to the Keith E. Stanovich in Scientific American more than 80 percent of people choose C, which is not the correct answer. The correct answer is A. Why?

This is another example of a similar problem:

There are only two handshakes in a meeting: John shakes hands with a person, this person shakes hands with Anna. Does a man shake hands with a woman in the meeting?

Answer

Dream Math

Everybody dreams.

The boy dreams of being an astronaut.

How long does he need to study and work until his dream can become reality?

Answer

 

Which job does not require math?

 

The photograph courtesy of Roland Sauter

 

Extraordinary Math Teaching by Dan Finkel

Dan Finkel suggested principles of extraordinary math teaching:

Math can the best of time or the worst of time.

 

 

1) Start with a question.

2) Thinking happens only when you have time to struggle.

3) (Teacher), you are not the answer key.

4) Say yes to your students’ ideas.

5) Play!

A marvelous quotation is attributed to the most brilliant scientist of the modern age, Albert Einstein: “Play is the highest form of research.”

 

 

 

Project Starters

Challenging puzzlers to create a positive attitude to real projects.

Project Starters – Curious Questions about Project Management Practice from Igor Kokcharov, Ph.D, PMP