How To Be Genius?

1. What is an assumption? An inference?

What? Who cares?

An assumption is something I take for granted; an inference is a conclusion I draw from my inferences.

An assumption is something I know; an inference is a judgement I make.

An assumption is something I think I know; an inference is something I know for sure.

2. How likely would you be to attend a free, one-day seminar to improve your thinking skills?

Not very likely

Somewhat likely

Fairly likely

Very likely

3. What is your opinion of statistics?

Isn't that a useless class I slept through in high school?

Statistics help me think.

Statistics may be helpful, but they're too difficult.

I don't trust numbers. They can lie.

4. Ellen loves art, including painting, poetry, music, and pottery. She like to express herself by dressing hippy style. She describes hersef as "different" and "sensitive" and says she would like to travel a lot someday. She attends Wellky College, where two percent of the student body majors in art history and seventy percent in law. Is it more likely that Ellen majors in art history, law, or sociology?

Art history

Law

Sociology

There is not enough information to tell.

5. Which of the following statements seem more likely? 1) An actress wins an Ocsar after becoming addicted to heroin. 2) An actress wins an Oscar after becoming addicted to heroin, going to rehab for three months, and successfully overcoming her addiction.

Statement 1

Statement 2

They are equally improbable.

Most actresses are on heroin anyway.

6. If 80% of heroin users also smoke marijuana, what is the probability that a marijuana smoker uses heroin?

Quite high

There's not enough information to tell.

Even if they don't smoke it now, marijuana is a gateway drug.

Since more people smoke marijuana than use heroin, it's quite low.

7. 1% of women have breast cancer. A test has a 90% chance of testing positive if a woman has breast cancer. If a woman tests positive, what are the chances she has breas cancer?

90%

10%

50%

All women should get tested anyway.

8. An advertisement for a new drug, Xandil, states that reduces the risk of heart disease by 25%. Should you take it?

Sure, why not?

Only if you are already at high risk.

There is not enough information to decide.

You can't trust ads.

9. Which is better, a human judge or a computer model?

A human judge, because people are intuitive.

You only get what you put into a computer. Humans have inspiration.

Given the same information, computer models are more accurate because they are not biased and have larger memories.

I don't trust computers.

10. You just spent $50 on a ticket to a game later this month. The following week, you are offered a ticket to a game that you actually prefer, also later this month, for $50. On the morning of the game, you wake to cold, rainy weather and the onset of flu symptoms. What makes the most financial sense to you?

I budget my money, so I won't buy another ticket. Also, since I already spent the money, it would be a waste not to attend the game.

I budget my money, so I won't buy another ticket. Since I already spent the money, however, only my current feelings will influence my decision to attend or not.

Since I prefer the game, I'll buy the ticket and sacrifice something else. Also, since I already spent the money, it would be a waste not to attend the game.

Since I prefer the game, I'll buy the ticket and sacrifice something else. Also, since I already spent the money, however, only my current feelings will influence my decision to attend or not.

11. There are four doors, three with goats behind them and one with a car behind it. If you choose correctly, you get to keep the car. You make your choice, and then the gameshow host opens a door. Assuming that the host never opens the door with the car behind it, is it in your best interest to switch doors or not?

I feel like I should stick to my guns.

I think I should switch.

I now have a 1 in 3 chance if I stay with my choice.

If I switch, I have a 2 in 3 chance.

12. If I flip a coin and it lands heads up 5 times, what are the chances that it will land heads up on the 6th toss? Would you bet heads or tails?

50%

1.5%

Heads, but I'm not sure what the probability is.

Tails, but I'm not sure what the probability is.

13. What is the color of snow?

Milk

Water

I've seen this before; it's priming.

I don't know.

14. The unexamined life is not worth living.

I'm happy with my life the way it is.

Sounds interesting. What does it mean?

That makes no sense.

That's a double negative, and examined lives are not always worth living, so I don't think that's true.

15. Can memories be altered after the fact?

No; your memories are stored in your brain like movies on your computer's hard drive.

Yes, because memories are reconstructed each time from associations that are stored in your brain.

Maybe if the person is easily suggestible.

It depends on the type of person and the significance of the event.

16. A study of college students walking and talking on cell phones showed that 80% did not later recall a clown on a unicycle passing close to them. Why is that?

That's why technology isn't always good.

Maybe they didn't care about clowns.

Some people aren't good at multitasking. I do just fine.

Your brain actively supresses perceptual input and related neuron activity in those areas you aren't paying attention to.

17. What is the Socratic Method?

That's a strange Greek religion, right?

It's a way to arrive at the truth.

It's a type of dialogue in which each person challenges the others' beliefs in order to discover new ways of looking at things.

It's a type of logic.

18. Is emotion the opposite of logic?

Yes; emotion equals poor logic.

Yes; emotion is equal to but different from logic, since women are more emotional and men are more logical.

No, emotion plays an important role in decision making.

No, emotion is better than cold logic and numbers.

19. Are geniuses born or made?

They're born.

Most geniuses are insane.

Genius is a combination of innate talent and great dedication.

Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.

20. Do dreams have significance?

Sure, lots of people have predicted stuff based on their dreams.

I've often nearly invented things in my dreams.

Dreams are significant because they let us tap into our subconscious.

Dreams only seem significant because when we're dreaming, we're not thinking, but they're just meaningless associations.

21. Is what we see what's really there?

Of course, unless you're crazy.

A full color, three dimensional, unbroken panoramic view of the world in HD is an illusion put together in our minds from a few perceptual cues.

It's all an illusion because objects that look real are actually 99% space.

Since everyone sees the same things, they must be real.

22. How accurate is gut feeling or instinct?

I trust my gut. It's usually right.

Gut feelings are a myth.

Gut feelings play an important role in directing our attention to important things, but are not always right.

Logic is better.

23. Nature vs nurture?

What are you even talking about?

I believe we are all born with a knowledge of right and wrong.

Both are necessary to achieve human intelligence.

Environment is most important.

24. How much do you trust your memory? For example, if you recall a green car speeding through a red light and your friend recalls a blue one, who is right?

Probably me, I'm usually right.

I trust my memory.

It's probably about 50/50.

We may both be wrong.

25. Would you consider it a miracle if you were in a head on car crash at 80mph but survived because you were ejected and landed on a mattress? If a statue of the Virgin Mary waved at you?

Both are miracles.

A statue of the Virgin Mary has waved at me.

Although the first scenario is somewhat improbable, the second is more improbable than the existence of the universe, so pretty much a miracle.

If it was at 80mph, you'd probably die regardless.