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Only 36 Percent of People Can Solve This Logic Problem. How About You? ... It seems stupidly simple.
https://www.popularmechanics.com ^ | By Katie Dupere Nov 19, 2020

Posted on 11/23/2020 9:24:03 AM PST by Red Badger

A survey found only 36 percent of people could find the right answer to a seemingly simple logic problem, according to economics and math pro Presh Talwalkar of the YouTube channel Mind Your Decisions.

Here's the problem:

"There are three hats, each with an accompanying statement.

Hat One: The cat is in this hat.

Hat Two: The cat is not in this hat.

Hat Three: The cat is not in Hat One.

Exactly one of the statements is true. Exactly one hat contains a cat. Which hat contains the cat?"

The answer options are:

1) Hat One;

2) Hat Two;

3) Hat Three;

4) None of the hats; or

5) Not enough information.

Okay, so maybe this problem isn't as simple as it seems. But thankfully, Talwalkar broke down how to solve the logic problem in a new YouTube video.

Did you solve the problem without cheating?

VIDEO AT LINK.................

So, what is the correct answer?

Well, first, you have to logically consider each case, assuming the cat is in each hat, then seeing if each statement applies to that case. If you end up with one true statement and two false statements, you have the correct cat-in-hat placement.

Let's assume the cat is in Hat One.

Hat One's statement is obviously true in this scenario. But if the cat is in Hat One, the cat would not be in Hat Two, making the second statement also true. This means the cat is not in Hat One because if it was, two statements would be true—and that clearly doesn't satisfy the conditions of the problem.

Well, what if we assume the cat is in Hat Three?

Hat Three’s statement would then be true, while Hat One’s statement would be false. So far, so good for only one true statement in the bunch. But the issue comes when considering Hat Two’s statement: The cat is not in Hat Two. That would also be true, assuming the cat were in Hat Three. With two true statements, this isn’t the right answer.

Spoiler Alert:

The cat is in Hat Two—and here’s why. Assuming the cat is in Hat Two, the statement corresponding with that hat is false. In addition, the first statement is also false, as the cat is in Hat Two, not Hat One. The true statement then is Hat Three’s statement. The cat is not in Hat One. This answer satisfies the confusion conditions of the problem, putting the cat in Hat Two with the correct statement being that of Hat Three.

Trust us: Watching the problem play out in Talwalkar’s video is helpful in understanding this complex logic test. The math pro says most people run into trouble assuming the cat must be in a hat where the statement is true. But that's obviously not the case. The two need to be thought as independent conditions to solve the problem correctly.

That said, we'd just pick up each hat until we found the damn cat, but that’s probably not as impressive.


TOPICS: Education; Health/Medicine; Society; Weird Stuff
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1 posted on 11/23/2020 9:24:03 AM PST by Red Badger
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To: Red Badger

Gesundheit.


2 posted on 11/23/2020 9:27:45 AM PST by calenel (Tree of Liberty is thirsty.)
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To: Red Badger

Get a little dish of tuna......voila!!


3 posted on 11/23/2020 9:30:31 AM PST by Sacajaweau
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To: Red Badger

What cat????


4 posted on 11/23/2020 9:30:34 AM PST by JBW1949 (I'm really PC.....Patriotically Correct)
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To: Red Badger

Plot twist: Durga Shiva Kamala from the Temple of Doom sentenced the cat to death because she couldn’t figure out this logical problem.


5 posted on 11/23/2020 9:31:21 AM PST by Greetings_Puny_Humans (I mostly come out at night... mostly.)
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To: All

Hat 2


6 posted on 11/23/2020 9:31:52 AM PST by mmichaels1970
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To: mmichaels1970

I promise I didn’t read down to the spoiler. Yay for me.


7 posted on 11/23/2020 9:32:54 AM PST by mmichaels1970
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To: Red Badger

Hat Two. Statement three is the only one that can be true and not contradict the other statements (if they are false)


8 posted on 11/23/2020 9:33:24 AM PST by LukeL
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To: Red Badger

I believe in knowing by doing.

I tried to put a cat in hat 1. It scratched me and ran away.

I tried to put a cat in hat two. It bit me and ran away.

I didn’t even try to put a cat in hat three. I put a can of Campbell’s Tomato Soup in hat three.

The answer is:

I need some crackers. Forget about those ornery cats.


9 posted on 11/23/2020 9:33:39 AM PST by blueunicorn6 ("A crack shot and a good dancer”)
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To: Red Badger

But is the cat alive or dead?


10 posted on 11/23/2020 9:34:02 AM PST by ClearCase_guy (If White Privilege is real, why did Elizabeth Warren lie about being an Indian?)
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To: Red Badger

The hat is over the cat


11 posted on 11/23/2020 9:34:10 AM PST by Pollard (Bunch of curmudgeons)
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To: Red Badger

Isn’t this puzzle well over a hundred years old or so? I’ve seen so many times for decades.


12 posted on 11/23/2020 9:34:20 AM PST by lefty-lie-spy (Stay Metal)
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To: Red Badger

What about Schroedinger’s variation where the cat is both in and not in the hat?


13 posted on 11/23/2020 9:34:22 AM PST by Dr. Sivana (There is no salvation in politics)
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To: Red Badger

I said 2 before I read 2......ya gotta believe me. At my age my honesty is one of the few things I have left.........LOL


14 posted on 11/23/2020 9:34:47 AM PST by Dawgreg
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To: Red Badger

It never says you can’t have more than one cat.


15 posted on 11/23/2020 9:35:36 AM PST by ConservativeMind (Trump: Befuddling Democrats, Republicans, and the Media for the benefit of the US and all mankind.)
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To: Red Badger

Cat in hat one: T T F
Cat in hat two: F F T
Cat in hat three: F T T

So if only one cat and only one true statement, then cat is in hat two.


16 posted on 11/23/2020 9:35:42 AM PST by Pikachu_Dad ("the media are selling you a line of soap)
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To: Red Badger

It’s not a cat.


17 posted on 11/23/2020 9:35:53 AM PST by Larry Lucido (Donate! Don't just post clickbait!)
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To: Red Badger

Where are the rules? Is there really a cat?

All the statements are false? That is logic? What if there is a dog under hat 1? Then again all the statements are false. There is not enough information to answer this question.


18 posted on 11/23/2020 9:36:22 AM PST by CoastWatcher
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To: Red Badger

But where is schrodinger’s cat?


19 posted on 11/23/2020 9:36:32 AM PST by cartoonistx ( the feeling of fainting! )
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To: Red Badger

While I got the right answer, it’s more likely that the correct hat would have moved as the cat tried to escape before figuring it out.


20 posted on 11/23/2020 9:36:36 AM PST by alancarp
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