Archive for January, 2009

Cross Train your Brain #4

Friday, January 23rd, 2009
by Jim Finwick | No Comments »

By briefly shifting from your current thoughts and thought processes, you allow your brain to attack your problems in different, unconventional and creative ways. We call this “Cross Train your Brain”.

Let’s face it, taking your mind off of your normal thoughts (including your fears, stresses, anxieties, planning, worrying, regrets, etc.) is a great way to disengage mentally (in other words to take a break) and to flex your brain in a way that you normally may not. It may be a logic problem, a math problem, a science problem or a simple riddle. in any case, it will get your brain working in a different way than normal…and, who knows, you just may have a little fun in the process.

This puzzle may be very easy for you to solve, or very hard. If the answer does not come immediately, we would like to encourage you to not give up too quickly. Don’t rush to view the answer, but really ponder the question. Approach the problem from different angles. Try to think in an unconventional way (i.e. “outside the box”).

Now, flex that brain!

Art Theft After a local art theft, six suspects were being interviewed. Below is a summary of their statements. Police know that exactly four of them told one lie each and all of the other statements are true. From this information can you tell who committed the crime?

Alan said: It wasn’t Brian It wasn’t Dave It wasn’t Eddie

Brian said:
It wasn’t Alan
It wasn’t Charlie
It wasn’t Eddie

Charlie said:
It wasn’t Brian
It wasn’t Freddie
It wasn’t Eddie

Dave said:
It wasn’t Alan
It wasn’t Freddie
It wasn’t Charlie

Eddie said:
It wasn’t Charlie
It wasn’t Dave
It wasn’t Freddie

Freddie said:
It wasn’t Charlie
It wasn’t Dave
It wasn’t Alan

Click HERE for the answer.

Going Further:
(click image to look up)

You be the Judge…or not

Thursday, January 15th, 2009
by Jim Finwick | No Comments »

It’s Prttey fnuny how we can raed tihs einrte snetnece wtih all tehse ltters all out of palce, and we can cnotniue to keep raednig and sitll mekas snece of waht we are raeding. No mttar how mnay tmies you raed tihs oevr and oevr you can sitll mkae snece of it.

Re-read the above sentence and see how many misspelled words there are. in fact, we misspelled them on purpose to make a point about how our brains fill in missing information. Why are you able to read the sentence so easily even though nearly every word is misspelled? The answer is in how our brains work. You see your brain fills in the gaps and makes judgements based on past history. In the case of the above sentence, so long as the first and the last letters of the words are not changed, your brain makes assumptions about the most likely word in context.
(special thanks to Brain Teaser Central for the sentence)

We often make assumptions. In fact, a great deal of how your brain is able to make sense of the world around us is that it makes assumptions about things. Consider the famous Ponzo optical illusion.

Ponzo Illusion.jpg
When your eye sees the two vertical lines it transposes the effect into what this means in the “real world” and assumes that vertical lines that come together in the distance get closer to each other. Therefore, if there are two objects that look the same size (the horizontal lines) and one is “off in the distance” the object in the distance must be larger (or in this case longer) than the one that is close.

Here is a more dramatic illustration of the same effect (special thanks to Optical Illusions 4 Kids)


Ponzo_optical_illusion-2.jpg

The two lines are the same size.

Now, here is the catch. We do this sort of assuming (or judging) based on past experience or pre-conceived bias all of the time. The problem is that we don’t just limit it to things we see. We judge based on things we see, things we hear, what we assume someone’s motives are, and the list goes on. The only problem is that our perception may not be reality.

Knowing that your brain is going to “fill in the gaps” with your bias, use caution when jumping to conclusion or questioning the motives of others.

“Men of genius are not quick judges of
character. Deep thinking and high
imagining blunt that trivial instinct by
which you and I size people up.”
Max Beerbohm

Cross Train your Brain #3

Wednesday, January 14th, 2009
by Jim Finwick | No Comments »

By briefly shifting from your current thoughts and thought processes, you allow your brain to attack your problems in different, unconventional and creative ways. We call this “Cross Train your Brain”.

Let’s face it, taking your mind off of your normal thoughts (including your fears, stresses, anxieties, planning, worrying, regrets, etc.) is a great way to disengage mentally (in other words to take a break) and to flex your brain in a way that you normally may not. It may be a logic problem, a math problem, a science problem or a simple riddle. in any case, it will get your brain working in a different way than normal…and, who knows, you just may have a little fun in the process.

This puzzle may be very easy for you to solve, or very hard. If the answer does not come immediately, we would like to encourage you to not give up too quickly. Don’t rush to view the answer, but really ponder the question. Approach the problem from different angles. Try to think in an unconventional way (i.e. “outside the box”).

Now, flex that brain!

Spice Nest
Which word in Group B can be added to Group A? Why?

Group A: me, nest, spice, use
Group B: burst, forth, of, roof, turn, why

Click HERE for the answer.

Going Further:
(click image to look up)

      

Cross Train your Brain #2

Tuesday, January 6th, 2009
by Jim Finwick | No Comments »

By briefly shifting from your current thoughts and thought processes, you allow your brain to attack your problems in different, unconventional and creative ways. We call this “Cross Train your Brain”.

Let’s face it, taking your mind off of your normal thoughts (including your fears, stresses, anxieties, planning, worrying, regrets, etc.) is a great way to disengage mentally (in other words to take a break) and to flex your brain in a way that you normally may not. It may be a logic problem, a math problem, a science problem or a simple riddle. in any case, it will get your brain working in a different way than normal…and, who knows, you just may have a little fun in the process.

This puzzle may be very easy for you to solve, or very hard. If the answer does not come immediately, we would like to encourage you to not give up too quickly. Don’t rush to view the answer, but really ponder the question. Approach the problem from different angles. Try to think in an unconventional way (i.e. “outside the box”).

Now, flex that brain!

Odd Two Out Too
You have to find the odd ones out in the groups of words. BUT WAIT! There’s a catch. Each group of words has TWO words which do not belong. Can you find them both?

EXAMPLE:

Lily – Jane – Tulip – Rose

Jane does not belong as it’s the only one which is not a flower

Tulip also does not belong because it’s the only one which is not a girl’s name

You’re on you own for the rest!

1. Dodge – Ford – Lincoln – Hoover

2. King – Earl – Knight – Bishop

3. Yellow – Green – Dead – Black

Click HERE for the answer.

Going Further:
(click image to look up)

Ahhhh Nuts

Friday, January 2nd, 2009
by Jim Finwick | No Comments »

Nuts are a simple and easy snack. They go anywhere. They are easy to keep and a handful of nuts can give you energy for a couple of hours, easily bridging you to a healthy meal. But which nuts contain the highest level of antioxidants? Many people think that the Almond is King of the Nuts, but there are actually 4 others that have a higher level. The USDA does research on the antioxidant levels of all types of foods, and we have included a list of the top 10 nuts to choose from:

1. Pecans (5,095)

2. Walnuts (3,846)

3. Hazelnuts (2,739)

4. Pistachios (2,267)

5. Almonds (1, 265)

6. Peanuts (899)

7. Cashews (567)

8. Macadamias (481)

9. Brazil Nuts (403)

10. Pine Nuts (204)

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