Are you a Moron App - Am I a Moron?

[-aggie-]

Oh well, OP, I see that the debate continues.

 

[Unspoken Demise]

Oh well, OP, I see that the debate continues.

C. Himself.

 

[ajbrehm]

See
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8350742

Mem Cognit. 1993 Jul;21(4):506-18
"That man's father is my father's son": the roles of structure, strategy, and working memory in solving convoluted verbal problems.

896 people surveyed
From the abstract:
"The normative data revealed that the modal, but incorrect response to the brothers and sisters problem was "himself," whereas the correct response of "son" was given by only 17% of subjects for the traditional version..."

Interesting - though I wouldn't claim the authors understand the riddle any better than posters within this thread.

I think that is a very interesting study.

Although I cannot understand how anybody could misunderstand the sentence.

"My father's son" is "me" (if I have no siblings).

"That man's father" is "my father's son", according to the statement.

From this I get:

"That man's father" is "me" (since "me" is "my father's son").

That would make me "that man's father", but NOT "that man".

1. son(father(me)) == me

2. father(that man) == son(father(me))

-> 3. father(that man) == me

-> 4. that man == son(me)

Hence "that man" is my son.

How on earth could it be read differently?

 

[ajbrehm]

There is the possibility to read "this man" as "I" (as opposed to "the man in the picture"), but that would make "me" my own dad, since "this man's father" is "my father's son".

Plus it wouldn't say anything about the man in the picture.

(This reader's MacBook just returned from a harddisksectomy.)

 

[Mal]

OP, you're not a moron, but I think perhaps the author of the app is (ok, so maybe too strong, he just forgot to actually apply logic to the puzzle, but the point remains)...

If the man in the picture's father is the son of the viewer's father, then the man in the picture is the son of the viewer. Trying to understand the logic of those who argue otherwise makes my head hurt, because I can't leap the same gaps in logic they can.

jW

 

[Banbeerd]

It's the viewer's son. App is garbage.

 

[jontucker]

I'm gonna try one more time aswell...

Since we all agree that 'my fathers son' is me, then this;

this mans father is me

is true. If I am 'this mans' father then that man must be my son... NOT ME!!

 

[Etnies419]

For anyone who still thinks it's himself:

Lets remove the picture from the question, and replace "this man" with "me/I/my," as you say the picture is of himself.
Since the viewer has no brothers/sisters, "my father's son" has to be the viewer, or "me."

So, by plugging in the new words, we get "My father is me." It doesn't work, unless you're John Connor.

 

[digitalprty]

When I did that question, I'm pretty sure I put 'father' as the answer and I got '0% moron.'

 

[RedTomato]

See
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8350742

Mem Cognit. 1993 Jul;21(4):506-18
"That man's father is my father's son": the roles of structure, strategy, and working memory in solving convoluted verbal problems.

896 people surveyed
From the abstract:
"The normative data revealed that the modal, but incorrect response to the brothers and sisters problem was "himself," whereas the correct response of "son" was given by only 17% of subjects for the traditional version..."

Interesting - though I wouldn't claim the authors understand the riddle any better than posters within this thread.

Interesting reading - thanks! It seems this is a test of navigating a complex data structure - with pointer referencing and implict linking and all that.

I wonder if the 17% who got this right are more technically orientated than the rest. (I work in a tech job BTW).

I'm more textually orientated - reading this riddle, I got the answer instantly, but if someone told it to me, most probably I'd give the wrong answer.

Other people who are more verbally orientated would understand it if given the problem verbally, but might get it wrong if given it as a written question.