Don't look up the answer, do it. Can you solve it without looking up the answer?
Einstein's Riddle
The story behind Einstein's riddle is that Albert Einstein created it in the late 1800s, and claimed that 98% of the world population couldn't solve it. I am not sure of the true origin, but I have seen this one floating around the internet, and it is a good brain exercise. Here it is:
- In a street there are five houses, painted five different colors.
- In each house lives a person of different nationality
- These five homeowners each drink a different kind of beverage, smoke different brand of cigar and keep a different pet.
Einstein's riddle is: Who owns the fish?
Necessary clues:
1. The British man lives in a red house.
2. The Swedish man keeps dogs as pets.
3. The Danish man drinks tea.
4. The Green house is next to, and on the left of the White house.
5. The owner of the Green house drinks coffee.
6. The person who smokes Pall Mall rears birds.
7. The owner of the Yellow house smokes Dunhill.
8. The man living in the center house drinks milk.
9. The Norwegian lives in the first house.
10. The man who smokes Blends lives next to the one who keeps cats.
11. The man who keeps horses lives next to the man who smokes Dunhill.
12. The man who smokes Blue Master drinks beer.
13. The German smokes Prince.
14. The Norwegian lives next to the blue house.
15. The Blends smoker lives next to the one who drinks water.
Please don't post the answer until I figure it out. It may be a couple of days until I get to it. I'm sure I am in the 2%!
I got it. C'mon Spurly -- I think you're one of us.
I will work on this tomorrow, the Lord willing. I was on the road all day today.
I got it too. Then I looked up the answer on the internet to be sure I was correct.
Jim W.
I love stuff like this. I just printed it out so I can work on it.
I won't come back to this topic until I figure it out, so it doesn't matter to me if the answer gets posted. But, if you do post the answer, post a warning before it so people way later on can still enjoy this.
Spurly probably won't believe me, but I will get this, too. Though, I wonder if only 2% of the population is still a correct figure. Whatever % the top part is, I will be in there. My mind really does work, spurly. Is there a "tooting one's own horn" emoticon?? That would be me!!
Spurly, msbradley, have you figured it out yet?
I haven't tried yet. Bronchitis got the best of me. But don't give up on me.
It's really not that hard. I'd call it a logic problem rather than a riddle, though.
Spurly are you in the 2%?
I love logic puzzles! I'll have to work on this one for a while, though.
I've Got it!
Shall I give it away here or PM you (don't want to spoil it for the rest...)
I think the 2% thing is directly related to the willingness to take the time. I don't plan on submitting a Mensa application on the basis of solving it.
Kalen -- I think several have gotten it but are not wanting to spoil it for those still working on it. There are several websites that have the answer if you want to verify your solution.
Mandalee -- if you like logic problems, the light switches one is essntially a logic problem.
Oh fine, burst my bubble! I was gettin' ready to apply for Yale graduate studies in chemical engineering! *sniffsniff*
::crackup::
Why apply for the studies program? You have already solved the riddle, they should just go ahead and award you the degree.
: kalen Wed Jan 31, 2007 - 14:26:38
Oh fine, burst my bubble! I was gettin' ready to apply for Yale graduate studies in chemical engineering! *sniffsniff*
::crackup::
Study a little harder than that and you can try to apply to a school to get your Electrical Engineering degree.
I got it! I got it! ::clappingoverhead::
Spurly, you in the 2%?
I got it.
Not a good thing, though.
Yesterday morn, I got stumped on what Romans 1:17 is about. I've read it and heard it many, many times. Yesterday, for some reason, I ended up with so many questions. I'd rather be able to spend the time I did on the guy in the green house, in the Bible and walk away knowing I got it. Instead of questioning where my reasoning is coming from or isn't.
: Gary Wed Jan 24, 2007 - 22:21:35
Spurly, msbradley, have you figured it out yet?
: Gary Wed Jan 31, 2007 - 10:24:19
Spurly are you in the 2%?
Curious, Gary, why did you leave me out of the 2nd challenge?
I used post-it notes to help me. Does that mean I cheated?
How did you work on this?
When I was young and worked at the phone company, I used to love working logic problems. This brought back old times. No internet back then to look up the answers.
There was no reason to leave you out.
I used a five column table. No cheating involved there.
Cheating would be looking up the answer.
Gary, you used 1 five column table???
I started that way, but had tooooo many mark outs.
I used stickys so I could move them, in my imaginary 5 column table.
When friends would come over, I'd have to explain my dining room table AND the fact that they could not touch it!! It was embarrassing and I did move it when I had 2 men over to give me an estimate on my gameroom roof.
I did mine with on set of columns, with a sharp pencil with a big eraser.
I was tempted to use stickies, but I found that if I started moving things too easily, then I wouldn't be able to maintain what little order I had already established.
Does anyone else find that solving Sudokus helps one solve these kind of puzzles?
Norm, I don't know if Sudoku helps with solving those kind of puzzles, but I do know Sudoku is addictive!! I do at least one Sudoku a day during the week. I won't touch them on the weekends since I am supposed to do housework, laundry, go to church, buy groceries, run errands...
If I would wake up Saturday morning to Sudoku, I'd probably have nothing clean to wear or food to eat or gasoline to get me to work on Monday mornings.
When my kids were young, my stress breaker was the newspaper's daily crossword puzzles. I grew up to my dad working all the crosswords in all the newspapers he read every morning. And my mom thinking that was just a waste of time.
The only game my mom really liked to play was Scrabble. Since spelling and a vocabulary came naturally to me, it wasn't that stimulating, but since it's all my mom enjoyed, we played it a lot together. When I was young and my dad was always stationed somewhere else in other countries, I grew up with my mom and I doing jigsaw puzzles. That's what she and I did every New Year's eve while I was young and my dad was away in the Air Force.
I'm not a competitive person, except with myself. I love to solve puzzles when alone (hmmmmm, which is 99.9% of the time). But, I love to play games with friends!! For the friendship and togetherness, though, not the competition.
To chose between a puzzle by myself or a game with someone, I'd chose the "with someone" every time!!
I used a five column spreadsheet on Excel. Cutting and pasting replaces the post it notes. Of course there's not much need for cutting and pasting when you get it right the first time. [Well, maybe not the FIRST time].
Excel...I've used it a few too may times in my job.
Pretty neat thing, if I could just learn to understand it.
Since I don't get along with computers, and Einstein's Riddle was to be a fun challenge, there is no way I could have survived the riddle AND EXCEL at the same time.
: msbradley Mon Feb 12, 2007 - 09:57:53
Excel...I've used it a few too may times in my job.
Pretty neat thing, if I could just learn to understand it.
Since I don't get along with computers, and Einstein's Riddle was to be a fun challenge, there is no way I could have survived the riddle AND EXCEL at the same time.
C'mon ms, computers are our friends -- they won't really kill us all when they take over.
I really am quite embarrassed with myself about how I refuse to learn things-like how to use a digital camera, VCR, DVD player, computer, how to program my thermostat in my house... my list goes on and on. People just assume I am not smart.
The Mensa people want my oldest son, but he refuses to chose to let a label dictate his social life. He is quite smart, but tries to be normal and hides most of his bragging rights about his IQ. He has always griped at me because I am smart but never used it or applied myself to anything that would let me or my family benefit from it.
When he was young, every year, I bought him the World and Sports Almanacs. He read them as though they were novels. He has so much information on every topic. His ability to remember and memorize things is quite amazing.
My youngest son has always seemed even more intense than my oldest, but kept most of his knowledge and interests too limited to automobiles. Though, he does read about other things, and has quite a bit of knowledge of other things, his focus, in my opinion, was too narrow. When he was in grade school, Duke University was all over him because of his test scores. In 7th grade, he made a 23 on his ACT.
All of this rambling came about just because I started thinking of what logic puzzles I could find on the internet today. I'm taking the day off from work. But, instead of doing a puzzle, I'm heading to my daughter's to spend the day with her and my precious 14 month old granddaughter!!
Yes, I ramble, I talk too much. But, I just don't have that much faith that my dogs and cat really listen to me when I discuss things with them.
Don't be too self deprecating ms. Einstein himself says you are in the top 2% and who can argue with that?
My son also did the Duke thing. I don't recall exactly what he got, but it was higher than his mom got as a HS senior, a fact he is rather smug about.
My daughter did the "Duke thing" on the SAT. She seemed to do pretty good on the Verbal, but rather mediocre on the math, though still pretty good considering that she did not take any tutoring for it.
What has really surprised me is that some colleges that I have known and respected, such as Case Western Reserve and U of GA, has been sending her some recruiting literature, apparently not realizing that she is still in middle school. ???
2%
Few there be that find it?
I don't think that statistic holds true for the members of GCM.
Us folks in Michigan don't even do the SAT's most of the time. Usually just the ACT.
Wasn't that bad of an exam. Should have taken it twice, instead of going in with about 4 hours of sleep.
That Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam I took on the way out of college was brutal.
: Gary Wed Feb 21, 2007 - 20:33:49
Us folks in Michigan don't even do the SAT's most of the time. Usually just the ACT.
I skipped the SAT for the ACT, too...
Just found this- and it was easy to me.
SPOILER----------------------- THE ANSWER IS
The German.
Did Spurly Every Figure This one out?
I got it! Is it bad to use a pen and paper? I'm pretty sure I couldn't have done that in my head.
I got it. Over a year later, but I got it. It took me about 30 minutes once I set my mind to it. Is that longer than usual?
: Gary Thu Jan 18, 2007 - 20:36:57
Don't look up the answer, do it. Can you solve it without looking up the answer?
Einstein's Riddle
The story behind Einstein's riddle is that Albert Einstein created it in the late 1800s, and claimed that 98% of the world population couldn't solve it. I am not sure of the true origin, but I have seen this one floating around the internet, and it is a good brain exercise. Here it is:
- In a street there are five houses, painted five different colors.
- In each house lives a person of different nationality
- These five homeowners each drink a different kind of beverage, smoke different brand of cigar and keep a different pet.
Einstein's riddle is: Who owns the fish?
Necessary clues:
1. The British man lives in a red house.
2. The Swedish man keeps dogs as pets.
3. The Danish man drinks tea.
4. The Green house is next to, and on the left of the White house.
5. The owner of the Green house drinks coffee.
6. The person who smokes Pall Mall rears birds.
7. The owner of the Yellow house smokes Dunhill.
8. The man living in the center house drinks milk.
9. The Norwegian lives in the first house.
10. The man who smokes Blends lives next to the one who keeps cats.
11. The man who keeps horses lives next to the man who smokes Dunhill.
12. The man who smokes Blue Master drinks beer.
13. The German smokes Prince.
14. The Norwegian lives next to the blue house.
15. The Blends smoker lives next to the one who drinks water.
I like tearing apart these tests, just to show the flaw's.
8. The man living in the center house drinks milk. There are 5 houses, there is no exact middle house.
9. The Norwegian lives in the first house. Is this first to the right, or to the left, or is this just the first house mentioned in the riddle?
2. The Swedish man keeps dogs as pets.
6. The person who smokes Pall Mall rears birds.
10. The man who smokes Blends lives next to the one who keeps cats.
Typically, pet owners keep more then one type of pet, it's mainly about a hobby element they choose to keep in their lives.
He mentioned cigars in the original statement, he goes on to mention cigarettes, why is that?
I used to drive my math teachers nuts, I'd ask them to explain to me the nature of these formula's, why we must assume so much within them without having all of the variables and facts, as we would in the real world. This is another one of them. We need more data to form an exact, logical answer, otherwise, it's speculation.
: John 1:1 Fri Feb 22, 2008 - 19:12:17
: Gary Thu Jan 18, 2007 - 20:36:57
Don't look up the answer, do it. Can you solve it without looking up the answer?
Einstein's Riddle
The story behind Einstein's riddle is that Albert Einstein created it in the late 1800s, and claimed that 98% of the world population couldn't solve it. I am not sure of the true origin, but I have seen this one floating around the internet, and it is a good brain exercise. Here it is:
- In a street there are five houses, painted five different colors.
- In each house lives a person of different nationality
- These five homeowners each drink a different kind of beverage, smoke different brand of cigar and keep a different pet.
Einstein's riddle is: Who owns the fish?
Necessary clues:
1. The British man lives in a red house.
2. The Swedish man keeps dogs as pets.
3. The Danish man drinks tea.
4. The Green house is next to, and on the left of the White house.
5. The owner of the Green house drinks coffee.
6. The person who smokes Pall Mall rears birds.
7. The owner of the Yellow house smokes Dunhill.
8. The man living in the center house drinks milk.
9. The Norwegian lives in the first house.
10. The man who smokes Blends lives next to the one who keeps cats.
11. The man who keeps horses lives next to the man who smokes Dunhill.
12. The man who smokes Blue Master drinks beer.
13. The German smokes Prince.
14. The Norwegian lives next to the blue house.
15. The Blends smoker lives next to the one who drinks water.
I like tearing apart these tests, just to show the flaw's.
8. The man living in the center house drinks milk. There are 5 houses, there is no exact middle house.
9. The Norwegian lives in the first house. Is this first to the right, or to the left, or is this just the first house mentioned in the riddle?
2. The Swedish man keeps dogs as pets.
6. The person who smokes Pall Mall rears birds.
10. The man who smokes Blends lives next to the one who keeps cats.
Typically, pet owners keep more then one type of pet, it's mainly about a hobby element they choose to keep in their lives.
He mentioned cigars in the original statement, he goes on to mention cigarettes, why is that?
I used to drive my math teachers nuts, I'd ask them to explain to me the nature of these formula's, why we must assume so much within them without having all of the variables and facts, as we would in the real world. This is another one of them. We need more data to form an exact, logical answer, otherwise, it's speculation.
I was going to say that you could ask Einstein when you get to heaven, but unfortunately, that probably won't be possible.
: Wycliffes_Shillelagh Sat Feb 23, 2008 - 00:59:47
: John 1:1 Fri Feb 22, 2008 - 19:12:17
: Gary Thu Jan 18, 2007 - 20:36:57
Don't look up the answer, do it. Can you solve it without looking up the answer?
Einstein's Riddle
The story behind Einstein's riddle is that Albert Einstein created it in the late 1800s, and claimed that 98% of the world population couldn't solve it. I am not sure of the true origin, but I have seen this one floating around the internet, and it is a good brain exercise. Here it is:
- In a street there are five houses, painted five different colors.
- In each house lives a person of different nationality
- These five homeowners each drink a different kind of beverage, smoke different brand of cigar and keep a different pet.
Einstein's riddle is: Who owns the fish?
Necessary clues:
1. The British man lives in a red house.
2. The Swedish man keeps dogs as pets.
3. The Danish man drinks tea.
4. The Green house is next to, and on the left of the White house.
5. The owner of the Green house drinks coffee.
6. The person who smokes Pall Mall rears birds.
7. The owner of the Yellow house smokes Dunhill.
8. The man living in the center house drinks milk.
9. The Norwegian lives in the first house.
10. The man who smokes Blends lives next to the one who keeps cats.
11. The man who keeps horses lives next to the man who smokes Dunhill.
12. The man who smokes Blue Master drinks beer.
13. The German smokes Prince.
14. The Norwegian lives next to the blue house.
15. The Blends smoker lives next to the one who drinks water.
I like tearing apart these tests, just to show the flaw's.
8. The man living in the center house drinks milk. There are 5 houses, there is no exact middle house.
9. The Norwegian lives in the first house. Is this first to the right, or to the left, or is this just the first house mentioned in the riddle?
2. The Swedish man keeps dogs as pets.
6. The person who smokes Pall Mall rears birds.
10. The man who smokes Blends lives next to the one who keeps cats.
Typically, pet owners keep more then one type of pet, it's mainly about a hobby element they choose to keep in their lives.
He mentioned cigars in the original statement, he goes on to mention cigarettes, why is that?
I used to drive my math teachers nuts, I'd ask them to explain to me the nature of these formula's, why we must assume so much within them without having all of the variables and facts, as we would in the real world. This is another one of them. We need more data to form an exact, logical answer, otherwise, it's speculation.
I was going to say that you could ask Einstein when you get to heaven, but unfortunately, that probably won't be possible.
Interesting you word it as "probably" this indicates that you think there is a possibility he may some how get into heaven. Sorry, can of worms here I probably should not open up. Did he show any indication of being saved, or chosen? I don't know about the rest of you, but I look to him with a warm heart, even though he called himself a Jew, I only wished the best for him due to his gentle nature and demeaner. Stuff like this is hard to contend with, I feel like I have to become cold of heart in order to stay PC as a Christian with what I've been taught, yet my heart has an issue with being that way.
Do you care to elaborate with what I'm saying here?
: John 1:1 Fri Feb 22, 2008 - 19:12:17
: Gary Thu Jan 18, 2007 - 20:36:57
Don't look up the answer, do it. Can you solve it without looking up the answer?
Einstein's Riddle
The story behind Einstein's riddle is that Albert Einstein created it in the late 1800s, and claimed that 98% of the world population couldn't solve it. I am not sure of the true origin, but I have seen this one floating around the internet, and it is a good brain exercise. Here it is:
- In a street there are five houses, painted five different colors.
- In each house lives a person of different nationality
- These five homeowners each drink a different kind of beverage, smoke different brand of cigar and keep a different pet.
Einstein's riddle is: Who owns the fish?
Necessary clues:
1. The British man lives in a red house.
2. The Swedish man keeps dogs as pets.
3. The Danish man drinks tea.
4. The Green house is next to, and on the left of the White house.
5. The owner of the Green house drinks coffee.
6. The person who smokes Pall Mall rears birds.
7. The owner of the Yellow house smokes Dunhill.
8. The man living in the center house drinks milk.
9. The Norwegian lives in the first house.
10. The man who smokes Blends lives next to the one who keeps cats.
11. The man who keeps horses lives next to the man who smokes Dunhill.
12. The man who smokes Blue Master drinks beer.
13. The German smokes Prince.
14. The Norwegian lives next to the blue house.
15. The Blends smoker lives next to the one who drinks water.
I like tearing apart these tests, just to show the flaw's.
8. The man living in the center house drinks milk. There are 5 houses, there is no exact middle house.
9. The Norwegian lives in the first house. Is this first to the right, or to the left, or is this just the first house mentioned in the riddle?
2. The Swedish man keeps dogs as pets.
6. The person who smokes Pall Mall rears birds.
10. The man who smokes Blends lives next to the one who keeps cats.
Typically, pet owners keep more then one type of pet, it's mainly about a hobby element they choose to keep in their lives.
He mentioned cigars in the original statement, he goes on to mention cigarettes, why is that?
I used to drive my math teachers nuts, I'd ask them to explain to me the nature of these formula's, why we must assume so much within them without having all of the variables and facts, as we would in the real world. This is another one of them. We need more data to form an exact, logical answer, otherwise, it's speculation.
When there are five houses, there is a middle house. No flaw there. Further, we are not assume anything, we are told the rules of the riddle from the get go. In the case of this riddle, we do not need more facts to solve it, since of course, it is a riddle and not real life.
Mathematical Formulas are based upon ideal situations (which in most cases will never happen) in order to find a model or approximation of real life.
We may not have every minute variable, but within scattered decimal places formulas like:
V=IR and P=I
2R, accurately describe electricity.
Gary, Thank you, I was demonstrating another principal here as well, the power of suggestion. You proved it here.
I am in good company, all of you, this is fascinating stuff we are all dealing with, we are learning and in some cases teaching as well. I like keeping company with smart individuals!!!
: John 1:1 Sat Feb 23, 2008 - 01:23:02
: meI was going to say that you could ask Einstein when you get to heaven, but unfortunately, that probably won't be possible.
Interesting you word it as "probably" this indicates that you think there is a possibility he may some how get into heaven. Sorry, can of worms here I probably should not open up. Did he show any indication of being saved, or chosen? I don't know about the rest of you, but I look to him with a warm heart, even though he called himself a Jew, I only wished the best for him due to his gentle nature and demeaner. Stuff like this is hard to contend with, I feel like I have to become cold of heart in order to stay PC as a Christian with what I've been taught, yet my heart has an issue with being that way.
Do you care to elaborate with what I'm saying here?
I say probably because I prefer not to try putting God in a box. He can do whatever He wants, ya know?
Given that Einstein was one of the most effective proponents of deism in the history of ever, I'd say it's a pretty long shot.
I used to wrestle with the concept long ago, I had a good teacher that explained to me that our memories of those that we have personal concern for, yet they didn't make it to heaven will be blotted out. That to retain them through eternity, knowing that person is never to be with you again would be counterproductive in the heavenly state.