Zero. The Nile is the longest river in the world. Some claim the Amazon as the longest, but that too has no “S”es (that looks weird but I don’t know how else to write the plural of “s”). The Mississippi is the 4th largest river in the world according to a href=”https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_rivers_by_length”>Wikipedia.
A woman shoots her husband, then holds him under water for five minutes. Finally, she hangs him. Five minutes later they enjoy a wonderful dinner together. How can this be?
Four cards are placed in front of you on the table, each with a number on one side and a color on the other. The visible cards show 3, 8, red and brown. Which cards should you turn over in order to test the truth of the statement that if a card shows an even number on one face, then its opposite face is red?
You’d need to turn over only the 8 and brown card. Only a card with an even number on one face and which is not red on the other face can invalidate the stated rule. If you turn over the 3 card and it’s not red, it doesn’t invalidate the rule, nor does turning over the red card and finding it has the label 3.
This test was devised by Peter Cathcart Wason and is known as the Wason selection task. Less than 10% of test subjects got it correct in two separate studies.
My first is in alphabet, my third is in Guinness, my sixth is in donut and my eighth is in elephant. My fifth doesn’t appear in walrus, my second isn’t in stealth, but my seventh is in tremendous and my fourth is in horse. I can create peace.
In 2014, Howard returned from his football game later than normal and Trudy, his Mom, was concerned. She asked what position he played, and he said he was a lineman. She asked what team they played and he said the Bears. She asked if anything strange had happened, and he said no. She asked what the score was and he said their team won, 14-1. Satisfied, Trudy sent Howard up to bed. The next morning Trudy told her husband Mick about her conversation with Howard. Mick’s face turned red and he stormed up to Howard’s room.
Mick knew Howard was lying about being at the football game because in American football it’s impossible to score just 1 point (before the 2015 one-point safety rule). A score of 2 is the lowest possible score (awarded for a safety). In fact, 1 is the only impossible score in football. You can score 2 points for a safety, 3 points for a field goal and 6 points for a touchdown, with an extra point for the field goal. You also have the option to go for another touchdown for a 2-point conversion. With 2, 3, 6 and 7 you can generate any other number except for 1.
For example, here are ways a team could score from 2 to 10 points.
2 = safety
3 = field goal
4 = 2 + 2
5 = 3 + 2
6 = touchdown
7 = touchdown and extra point attempt
8 = touchdown and two point conversion
9 = touchdown and field goal
10 = touchdown, extra point attempt and field goal
