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A Quick Puzzle to Test Your Problem Solving

nytimes.com

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Re: A Quick Puzzle to Test Your Problem Solving

#122

Post by harryjo »

abecedarius wrote: post #14

I ran this experiment for a while (code at https://github.com/darius/wason , derived from http://lesswrong.com/lw/g2/positive_bias_test_c_program/ ). In my logs most people seem to have gotten it right, though presumably that's because it was linked from LessWrong. For an actually-fun game like this, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zendo_%28game%29 .

Thank you! I forgot the name of the game, and it is totally unsearchable.

Re: A Quick Puzzle to Test Your Problem Solving

#124

Post by jonkiddy »

ubernostrum wrote: post #82
diminishedprime wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's exactly what I was thinking. I (sometimes) follow TDD, and I applied it to this problem. I made sure to include negatives, 0, positives, and include primes here or there to help avoid issues with multiplication/exponentiation. After a few of these, I felt pretty confident that the rule was simple.

My process was: [3 5 7] [7 5 3] [8 4 2] [5 7 3] [1 2 3] [1 1 1] [0 1 2] At that point I could've done some more to be really certain, but felt confident enough and guessed (correctly).

[16 32 64] [0 0 0] [1 2 3] [3 2 1] [-1 0 1] [3 5 7] [-2 -1 0] [111 54231 9999999999999999999999]

At that point, I correctly answered the question.

Re: A Quick Puzzle to Test Your Problem Solving

#125

Post by 109876 »

cabirum wrote: post #23

function judgeSentence(sentence, numNo) var probablyWrong = ["doubl", "expon", "multipl", "^", " ", "power", "two", "2", "twice", "as big", "nth", "rais"]; var seemsRight = ["larger", "increas", "greater", "small", "less", "big", ">", " Been expecting something more interesting than that

Full method just for fun:

    function judgeSentence(sentence, numNo) {

        sentence = sentence.toLowerCase();

        // no nos -> wrong.
        if (numNo === 0 || sentence == "") {
            return false;
        }

        // if have any fancy words -> wrong.
        var probablyWrong = ["doubl", "expon", "multipl", "^", "**", "power", "two", "2", "twice", "as big", "nth", "rais"];
        if (hasAny(probablyWrong, sentence)) {
            return false;
        }

        // if you have the right words, and no buts.
        var seemsRight = ["larger", "increas", "greater", "small", "less", "big", ">", " wrong.
        // var s = nlp.pos(sentence).sentences[0],
        //     verbs = s.verbs().map(getWords),
        //     nouns = s.nouns().map(getWords),
        //     adj = s.adjectives().map(getWords),
        //     numWords = verbs.length + nouns.length + adj.length;
        // if (numWords === 0) {
        //     return false;
        // }


        return false;
    }

Re: A Quick Puzzle to Test Your Problem Solving

#127

Post by matchu »

Retr0spectrum wrote: post #92
binarymax wrote: post #87

The puzzle is not nearly as interesting as the code being able to understand my answer! My answer: The numbers increase from left to right Application response: As you seem to have guessed, the answer was extremely basic

I said "The numbers are in ascending order", which it didn't seem to recognise.

"ascending" is one of the words it checks for. Might've typoed it? :/

Re: A Quick Puzzle to Test Your Problem Solving

#128

Post by reagency »

rockdoe wrote: post #50
qznc wrote: post #22

> A mere 8 percent heard at least three nos I guessed correctly with only 2 nos. Since there is no penalty for guessing incorrectly here, I felt safe enough with my theory. I might have checked for more nos, if I had to announce my theory publicly (Twitter, comment, etc). However, I also knew about Confirmation Bias beforehand.

I guessed correctly with only one no. You can enter all kinds of crazy random sequences which only have The Rule in common and get a yes, which seemed to be enough assurance. If you're trying to get it to say "no" but failing, is that still confirmation bias? Doesn't sound like it.

That highlights a great point: on this simple decision rule, using random test data will draw the solution more quickly than human cleverness.

Re: A Quick Puzzle to Test Your Problem Solving

#129

Post by reagency »

phaemon wrote: post #74
o0-0o wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Were you guessing random area codes of midwestern states? :)

Hah! No, I'm not American :) But, in case no-one guesses, the answer is (rot13): erirefr nycunorgvpny beqre

You vastly overestimated NYT's estimate of the cleverness of their readers

Re: A Quick Puzzle to Test Your Problem Solving

#130

Post by dEnigma »

Geee wrote: post #49

Anyone tried entering letters in the boxes? I didn't. I think that would have been an unexpected twist. So, after all, I think I fall in the trap of confirmation bias that the sequence must consist of numbers only.

Well, after all they tell you that the sequence consists of numbers:

>We’ve chosen a rule that some sequences of three numbers obey

>Now it’s your turn. Enter a number sequence in the boxes below, and we’ll tell you whether it satisfies the rule or not.

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