WHY SMART PEOPLE ARE STUPID

New Yorker | JUNE 12, 2012 | Jonas Lehrer

[nickcarraway]

WHY SMART PEOPLE ARE STUPID

[blueunicorn6]

More global warming problems.......

[libertarian66]

I got every single one of the silly example questions correct, nearly instantaneously. And without any iota of a tendency to the erroneous thinking patterns described.

It's not just a question of IQ (three standard deviations above the mean in my case); or trained thinking - rationality has been more or less "instinctive" for me since early childhood.

I think the point is most folks, smart or not, are intellectually lazy and dishonest. If you are looking for short-cuts in thinking and not too scrupulous about what is actually the truth of the matter, sure you're going to make mistakes in your thinking.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Q =19
T =12
A =2
F =14
S =5
P =10-B= 12-Z
B =Z-2=10-P
Z =B+2 = 12-P

[thecodont]

I think the point is most folks, smart or not, are intellectually lazy and dishonest. If you are looking for short-cuts in thinking and not too scrupulous about what is actually the truth of the matter, sure you're going to make mistakes in your thinking.

This isn't the sort of person you'd want to have as a lab partner in Physics class. :)

[Bob]

no, that answer is not *only* half correct. that answer is 100% correct. The question is how long to cover half the lake. The answer for covering half the lake is the entire correct answer.

Which half? Is this an unusual lake whose area does not have two halves?

One half of its area, the inner portion, is covered in 47 days. The other half of its area, the outer portion, is covered in one day, the 48th day.

[wintertime]

The bat costs a dollar more than the ball. How much does the ball cost?
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

This is a **very** simple algebra problem.

Solution:

Bat + ball= 110 cents
Bat= ball +100 cents

Therefore using substitution of Bat with ( ball + 100 cents):

ball +100 cents + ball = 110 cents

2 balls +100 cents= 110cents
2ball = 110 cents -100 cents
2 ball= 10cents
1 ball = 5 cents

[wintertime]

This is a problem involving exponential growth.

It’s like asking a person, “Would you like to have a million dollars right now, or start with a penny now and double the amount daily for ten years? “

[Swordmaker]

This isn't the sort of person you'd want to have as a lab partner in Physics class. :)

Physics class would be a lot safer than chemistry class... BOOM!

[Revolting cat!]

I hope the author reads this thread. Everyone is smarter than the author, the New Yorker, and the psychologists who conducted these experiments. And everyone is smarter and contemptuous of everyone else.

Everybody is stupid in his own way, said Leo Tolstoy, I hear.

Everyone can know no more than three or four things, said someone else, I forget who (that would be the fifth thing to know for me.)

[mamelukesabre]

Yes. your final statement is correct. your last two sentences are the entire answer. mathematically.

in reality the truth is they start at the edges and work in to the center. they also start at many location around the perimeter of the lake and never reach the deep areas.

[bmwcyle]

How much grant money did we waste on this study?

[Daffynition]