DiscussMormonism.com

http://www.livescience.com/16151-god-be ... ition.html

Shenhav and his colleagues investigated that question in a series of studies. In the first, 882 American adults answered online surveys about their belief in God. Next, the participants took a three-question math test with questions such as, "A bat and a ball cost $1.10 in total. The bat costs $1 more than the ball. How much does the ball cost?"

The intuitive answer to that question is 10 cents, since most people's first impulse is to knock $1 off the total. But people who use "reflective" reasoning to question their first impulse are more likely to get the correct answer: 5 cents.

Sure enough, people who went with their intuition on the math test were found to be one-and-a-half times more likely to believe in God than those who got all the answers right. The results held even when taking factors such as education and income into account.



Dang....I said ten cents. Shite. Apparently I'm a believer.

I am a believer and I got it right before I read your answer. for what it's worth The percentage of religious folks who think is negligible. So stats are meaningless in this regard. TMWFI

I really should have taken a less sarcastic approach in the op, as I am a believer also. I just don't believe in Deities. I think that at the base of existence is a one awareness.



Anyway, I think intuition vs. logic studies/debates are interesting. I don't think that the bat/ball answer is a matter of the I.Q. of the solver, but like the article suggests, it's intuitive types v reflective types.

tana39 wrote:http://www.livescience.com/16151-god-belief-intuition.html

Shenhav and his colleagues investigated that question in a series of studies. In the first, 882 American adults answered online surveys about their belief in God. Next, the participants took a three-question math test with questions such as, "A bat and a ball cost $1.10 in total. The bat costs $1 more than the ball. How much does the ball cost?"

The intuitive answer to that question is 10 cents, since most people's first impulse is to knock $1 off the total. But people who use "reflective" reasoning to question their first impulse are more likely to get the correct answer: 5 cents.

Sure enough, people who went with their intuition on the math test were found to be one-and-a-half times more likely to believe in God than those who got all the answers right. The results held even when taking factors such as education and income into account.



Dang....I said ten cents. Shite. Apparently I'm a believer.

I am in some sense worst of all. I have no intuition at all other than it probably isn't 10 cents, and am forced to scribble the little system of equations down on a napkin or try to do it in my minds eye which is hard for me since since my minds eye is the opposite of eidetic.

First I sheepishly write on a napkin or whatever is within my reach:

x+y=1.10
x-y=1

then I can solve in my head: 2y=.10, y=.05

OK, I guess really can do this in my head but it takes effort. I would just scribble it down.

It has always been a source of wonder that I can do pages and pages of Ph.D. level math correctly but doing arithmetic or baby algebra in my head is hard. My ex-wife couldn't do any abstract math but could add big fractions in her head say 123/76 + 12/191. It used to make me feel dumb of course.

I wonder how I would have done before I knew baby algebra, say at age 10 or something. I did believe in a rather concrete personal God back then. LOL

Aside:
I can't see an arithmetic problem written out in my head easily--it is unstable and changes on me while I am trying to calculate: When I picture something in my head, something like an apple, it is either just an impression of an apple in the abstract without detail or if I can muster detail (best when I am sleepy or on the right drug) the apple will be vivid but not be stable. It will spin, change color, a worm will pop out or it will quickly "morph" into something else like a red rose or bloody face.
Usually, conjuring an image creates just a flash or impression (of an apple say)
I think one of the reasons I was attracted to LSD when I was 14 or 15 is because of the idea that I could see vivid images in my head, an ability that I had maybe subconsciously envied.
I heard somewhere that people who are good at abstraction are more often like me in this regard but I seem to be one of the worst among my friends.

For what it's worth.

Maybe I'm just dumb, but can someone explain why it's 5 cents??

This sounds suspiciously like "the missing dollar".

Something like this...

3 guests check into a hotel. The price is $30 per night. The 3 of them split the bill, each paying $10. Later, the front desk discover a mistake and realize it should have only $25. The manager gives 5 $1 bills to the bell boy. To make things easy, the bell boy gives each of the 3 guest $1 back and keeps the other $2.

So each guest paid $9 now. $9x3=27 + the $2 that he kept=$29. Where did the missing dollar go?

Scottie wrote:Maybe I'm just dumb, but can someone explain why it's 5 cents??

Lol. You're a lot of things, but dumb ain't one of 'em.

Scottie wrote:Maybe I'm just dumb, but can someone explain why it's 5 cents??

I initially thought 10 cents was right too. The phrase "$1 more than the ball" is the trick. If the ball cost 10 cents, the bat would cost $1 more, which is $1.10. Add them together and you get $1.20. If the ball costs 5 cents, the bat would cost $1 more, or $1.05. Add them together and you get $1.10.

DarkHelmet wrote:

Scottie wrote:Maybe I'm just dumb, but can someone explain why it's 5 cents??

I initially thought 10 cents was right too. The phrase "$1 more than the ball" is the trick. If the ball cost 10 cents, the bat would cost $1 more, which is $1.10. Add them together and you get $1.20. If the ball costs 5 cents, the bat would cost $1 more, or $1.05. Add them together and you get $1.10.

Wow, that's tricky!!

Thanks for explaining!

Scottie wrote: 3 guests check into a hotel. The price is $30 per night. The 3 of them split the bill, each paying $10. Later, the front desk discover a mistake and realize it should have only $25. The manager gives 5 $1 bills to the bell boy. To make things easy, the bell boy gives each of the 3 guest $1 back and keeps the other $2.

So each guest paid $9 now. $9x3=27 + the $2 that he kept=$29. Where did the missing dollar go?

The problem is here: "$9x3=27 + the $2 that he kept=$29"

For a correct reflection of what happened, the formula is $9x3=27 MINUS the $2 that he kept=$25.