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Giraffe Test
#11292 08/03/10 03:58 PM
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grelber Offline OP
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Another oldie but goodie ...

1. How do you put a giraffe into a refrigerator?

Stop and think about it and decide on your answer before you scroll down.

Correct answer: Open the refrigerator, put in the giraffe, and close the door.
This question tests whether you tend to do simple things in an overly complicated way.

2. How do you put an elephant into a refrigerator?

Did you respond, "Open the refrigerator, put in the elephant, and close the refrigerator"? Wrong answer.

Correct Answer: Open the refrigerator, take out the giraffe, put in the elephant and close the door.
This tests your ability to think through the repercussions of your previous actions.

3. The Lion King is hosting an animal conference. All the animals attend ... except one. Which animal does not attend?

Correct Answer: The Elephant. The elephant is in the refrigerator. You just put him in there.
This tests your memory.

Okay, even if you did not answer the first three questions correctly, you still have one more chance to show your true abilities.

4. There is a river you must cross, but it is used by crocodiles and you do not have a boat. How do you manage it?

Correct Answer: You jump into the river and swim across. Have you not been listening? All the crocodiles are attending the Animal Meeting. This tests whether you learn quickly from your mistakes.

According to Anderson Consulting Worldwide, around 90% of the professionals they tested got all questions wrong, but many preschoolers got several correct answers. Anderson Consulting says this conclusively proves the theory that most professionals do not have the brains of a 4-year-old.

Re: Giraffe Test
grelber #11294 08/03/10 04:10 PM
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heh

but putting a giraffe in a refrigerator is a simple thing?


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Re: Giraffe Test
grelber #11295 08/03/10 05:14 PM
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Originally Posted By: grelber
According to Anderson Consulting Worldwide, around 90% of the professionals they tested got all questions wrong, but many preschoolers got several correct answers. Anderson Consulting says this conclusively disproves the theory that most professionals do not have the brains of a 4-year-old.

What with the double negative in the final sentence, isn't there a contradiction in this paragraph that might affect whether someone would even want to consult Anderson Worldwide? shocked smirk


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Re: Giraffe Test
alternaut #11299 08/03/10 07:35 PM
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grelber Offline OP
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Now that's embarrassing! Sheesh! My usual proofreading skills should've caught that immediately.
Clearly, 'disprove' should read 'prove'. I'm making the change.
By the bye, technically that doesn't count as a so-called double negative, since the negative elements occur in two separate phrases. In English a double negative would look, for example, like "I don't know nothing."
A double negative, normally a no-no in English (but sometimes called for and therefore grammatical), is standard in other languages (eg, French and Russian) when the proposition must be negated.

Re: Giraffe Test
grelber #11301 08/03/10 09:07 PM
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Question 2's "a refrigerator" is non-specific as respects question 1, so your wrong answer is actually the correct one.


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Re: Giraffe Test
artie505 #11302 08/03/10 09:26 PM
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Ya gots ta go wit da flo.
The universe (of discourse = of dis course, of course) consists of only one (= a) refrigerator.

Re: Giraffe Test
grelber #11303 08/03/10 10:15 PM
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If you insist... But then the correct answer becomes "You open the door, take the giraffe out if you need the room, put the elephant in, then close the door."


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In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: Giraffe Test
artie505 #11305 08/03/10 11:11 PM
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This thread reminds me of a military problem:

You are a lieutenant at a military base. The parking lot is covered in concrete and the colonel orders you to have a flagpole erected in the middle of the concrete. How do you do it?

The militarily correct answer: Go the the nearest sergeant and say, "Sergeant, erect that flagpole."


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Re: Giraffe Test
grelber #11329 08/05/10 07:02 AM
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By the way... "You open the door, take the giraffe out if you need the room, put the elephant in, then close the door" responds to question 1's "This question tests whether you tend to do simple things in an overly complicated way."

Can you explain why the answer to question 1 should demand simplicity but not the answer to question 2?

I think the whole exercise is flawed to enough of a degree to make it unsuitable for judging either professionals or kids.


The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: Giraffe Test
artie505 #11330 08/05/10 10:41 AM
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Quote:
...the whole exercise is flawed...

Oh, I don't know...it certainly seems suitable for determining who's got a sense of humor... laugh



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Re: Giraffe Test
dkmarsh #11333 08/05/10 01:51 PM
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Indeed.
But there's also food for thought and humor in the overthinking of it.

Re: Giraffe Test
grelber #11341 08/05/10 08:38 PM
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> ...there's also food for thought and humor in the overthinking of it.

Not to mention the taking it seriously.


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In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: Giraffe Test
artie505 #11342 08/05/10 09:32 PM
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Indubitably.

Re: Giraffe Test
grelber #11344 08/05/10 10:09 PM
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Laconic.



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Re: Giraffe Test
dkmarsh #11345 08/05/10 10:17 PM
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grelber Offline OP
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I used to love driving the Laconic State Parkway along the Hudson Valley. Beautiful scenery. smirk wink

Re: Giraffe Test
grelber #11347 08/05/10 10:24 PM
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Originally Posted By: grelber
I used to love driving the Laconic State Parkway along the Hudson Valley. Beautiful scenery. smirk wink


that road always makes me feel I'm a kid again, in the 1960's. love it.


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Re: Giraffe Test
roger #11353 08/06/10 12:31 AM
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I'm fond of the Merritt Parkway myself, partly for the absence of commercial distraction and partly for the smorgasbord of bridge designs.



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Re: Giraffe Test
roger #11355 08/06/10 12:34 AM
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It seems to me that the 't' and 'l' keys are closer together on your keyboard than on Grelber's... laugh


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Re: Giraffe Test
roger #11359 08/06/10 04:12 AM
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Did you love the Hawthorne Traffic Circle as much as you love the rest of the road?

I, too, loved driving the Taconic through the Hudson Valley back when my wheels were Goodyears rather than Reeboks...breathtaking views! smile

What say you, Jon? It's practically your driveway.


The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: Giraffe Test
artie505 #11361 08/06/10 09:08 AM
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I, also, have fond memories of the Taconic Parkway. When I was a kid, my parents and I spent summers in the Adirondacks and part of the (then) 8 hour journey was along the Taconic. The Thruway didn't exist yet and the Taconic was the only place that you didn't get slowed by truck traffic or having to go through small towns. I still appreciate its beauty but sections of it can be treacherous during winter because of the lack of shoulders.


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Re: Giraffe Test
alternaut #11365 08/06/10 01:27 PM
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Originally Posted By: alternaut
It seems to me that the 't' and 'l' keys are closer together on your keyboard than on Grelber's... laugh


heh

I just appreciated the joke, and took it from there!

I haven't traveled the Taconic much, but as a child in the late 1960's, we took a big family trip to NYC/WashDC (from South Dakota!), and sadly, our cameras were stolen from in front of the Met Museum of Art, so we have no pictorial history of the first part of our trip, which included the Taconic. but I had such strong body-memories of that place, without knowing where it was, and actually longed to know it again. a few years ago, some friends and I had occasion to go to NYC, and much to my delight I found myself on the Taconic, and immediately remembered the feeling of that road. a dream realized!

good times.


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Re: Giraffe Test
roger #11367 08/06/10 04:56 PM
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Ain't those sorts of memories great?! They make one all warm and fuzzy.*

Mine are mainly of Lake George throughout childhood summers and coming of age in the late '50s and early '60s. Aah, for the thrills and chills of yesteryear.

(* Saskatoon had a civic mascot called a "warm fuzzy" about a decade or so ago. It was a little 1-inch fluff-ball with googly eyes and feet with a little streamer labeled "Warm Fuzzy" used as a promotional gimmick.)

Re: Giraffe Test
grelber #11512 08/19/10 05:46 PM
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ok I'm picking nits but I can't help it, it's in my nature

Originally Posted By: grelber
3. The Lion King is hosting an animal conference. All the animals attend ... except one. Which animal does not attend?

Correct Answer: The Elephant. The elephant is in the refrigerator. You just put him in there.
This tests your memory.


This makes the basic assumption that there's one of each animal to consider. One elephant, specifically, there are no other elephants to attend the meeting. You could get into "all the animals" attend, but whether you want to interpret that as "one of each" or "EVERY", either 3 or 4 doesn't work, unless you're assuming "EVERY" and that you put ALL the elephants in the fridge, which isn't very intuitive.


Originally Posted By: grelber
4. There is a river you must cross, but it is used by crocodiles and you do not have a boat. How do you manage it?

Correct Answer: You jump into the river and swim across. Have you not been listening? All the crocodiles are attending the Animal Meeting. This tests whether you learn quickly from your mistakes.


Now you're stating "used by crocodiles" and "All the crocodiles", more than one. It wouldn't make much sense to have a river with one croc in it anyway.

Questions 1 and 2 also put at odds the question of whether or not to consider physical size and capacity of containers. If the fridge is big enough to hold a giraffe, who's to say it doesn't have space left for an elephant too?


The test isn't very fair. Its only purpose appears to be to make people feel dumb wink


I work for the Department of Redundancy Department
Re: Giraffe Test
Virtual1 #11516 08/20/10 03:02 PM
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RE The test isn't very fair. Its only purpose appears to be to make people feel dumb wink

And your point would be ...? wink smirk

Re: Giraffe Test
grelber #11517 08/20/10 03:32 PM
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I work for the Department of Redundancy Department
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