Tuesday 8 April 2008

When you think you’re thinking the right thing

Sometimes, we think too much. Actually, let me rephrase that… most of the times, we think too much. We tend to over-think things and apply our understanding on things that may seem otherwise.

Disagree? Care to take a test? Try this simple mathematics test... and yes, this is a mathematics test…no calculators allowed…

There was a bus with 17 passengers on board. As it reached the first bus-stop, 5 passengers got down from the bus and 12 passengers boarded the bus.







At the next bus-stop, 10 passengers got down from the bus and 3 passengers boarded the bus.







At the next bus-stop, 2 passengers got down from the bus and 18 passengers boarded the bus.







At the next bus-stop, 15 passengers got down from the bus and 9 passengers boarded the bus.







At the next bus-stop, 8 passengers got down from the bus and 5 passengers boarded the bus.







At the next bus-stop, 10 passengers got down from the bus and 1 passenger boarded the bus.







At the final bus-stop, 5 passengers got down from the bus and 22 passengers boarded the bus.

Now, very quickly, without the aid of a calculator, can you tell me…









How many bus-stops have the bus been to?

Don’t you think sometimes, we may be thinking about the wrong things all along?

Have you tried
this mathematical question I asked earlier?

41 comments:

Anonymous said...

This question already lost its tricky charm to me as i'm immune to tis question.My friend used to ask me a question very very similiar to this!

& bus stops and i dont know how many ppl are there in the bus!

Jerrenn said...

Haha I fell for it!

Nice one!

Shows that we DO think too much =)

Anonymous said...

Er.....23? 24? or maybe 25? I lost count in the 4th bus stop help! As you know how 'good' am I at mental calculations......I'm LOST! Even if it isn't complicated I'll somehow get lost...... ;-)

Anonymous said...

yea! u are right...we tend to think towards the more complicated part!

=(

a nice one here, zewt!

rainbow angeles said...

i din bother to think.. am i smart? haha :P

Anonymous said...

It took quite a while before I realise the whole point, I actually scrolled back up to count the no. of bus stops though I had counted the no. of passengers. Before long, u can guess sweat readily trickled down my head.

Maverick SM said...

This is not the fault of thinking; it's the mind that focus on numbers; it's the left brain working harder than the right.

Anyway, you are right in a sense.

day-dreamer said...

LOL. Yes, I counted how many passengers were left. >.<

Winn said...

it's normal for humans to have a set of default expectation.

actually the more ppl board the bus, the bus became heavier right..do u think the fuel consumption will increase coz it is now heavier??????? hehehhee
why u look at me liddat. u so geng u do the math laaaaaa:P

Winn said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Rashikaps said...

wowow!!! i loved this. :) I was too busy doing mental math.

Anonymous said...

Well, angeles! U know what teachers do to that kind of students in the class??? LOL!!! I've heard this one before, zewt. That's a trick question!

myop101 said...

dear zewt,

when i saw the words "mathematics test", i instantly tune out. hahaha....

Tunku Halim said...

Sure I reckon I over-think. That's why it's nice to veg out, see a movie, do somethin' to get out of your own head! :)

Huei said...

wahahhahhah yup! but then half way through calculating the passengers..i stopped..must be a trick question! hah! =P

yep..i think i think too much..n sometimes..it makes things complicating..n oso life complicating..haih..so many thigns to think! if only i can think of life as a simpler one

me said...

i didn't use calculator but i used a paper and pen. and i wrote down the mathematics AND the no. of bus stops. hehehe. clever girl leh. *nodding in agreement* *pats own head*

Sharon said...

hahaha, dammit! there i was writing down the numbers at the side as I "stopped" at each bus stops -_-

Jorji said...

maths? no tq.i dun care.

:)

Tine said...

Dammit. And there I was counting the number of passengers left. Geez.

:p

izpuri said...

hahahaha..
this is the trickiest question i ever met.
ya..ya..a lot of thinking needed in this question.
btw, thanks for stopping by.

Eryn said...

Nah. I didn't think that much as I know the trick already! =P

Anonymous said...

-_________-"

(copy from CreativeBitchin)

Anonymous said...

I dun think it has anything to do with whether we think too much or not. It is just that different people tend to think from different perspectives and I believe most of us concentrate on the number of passengers rather than how many times the bus has stopped. LOL!

Supergirlfriend said...

hahah...when I scrolled back to the top of the post, the ques didn't even mention what we're supposed to be calculating. Tricked!

Seaqueen said...

Can't figure it out. By the time I read this, my brain juice's practically almost dried up already. Hahhahah!!!

kyh said...

u early say mah... kesian my poor rusty brain which needs more, more, and more rest at this crucial period of time. :P

Kel said...

i calculated the bus stops la
so how now?
I am abnormal i know

Anonymous said...

@#$%&!

zewt said...

pookyma - hahaha... heard before... good for u.

poseidon - hahha... i am glad you fell for it :P

Lisan - oh c'mon... u just have to try it!

lynnwei - thanks... guess you fell for it?

angeles - that's lazy!

Dan-yel - hahahaha.... you actually did that? well, u certainly didnt get the idea eh?

maverick SM - both are numbers isnt it?

zewt said...

day-dreamer - you're not alone... :)

Winn - err... i lost you.

rashikaps - hahahaha... so, how many bus stops?

suituapui - trick is good :)

tunku halim - that's quite lazy right? hehe... but i dont mind.

huei - solve one thing at a time... best solution...

zewt said...

me - self praise is no praise...

Sharon - so you still managed to get the number of bus stops... but that is not your focus... no?

j or ji - ohhh.. c'mon bro.

tine - hahahaha.... fell right into it.

cleaner of the year - you're welcome.

Eryn - hi, welcome to AZAIG. well... good for u...did you try the other one?

willchua - hehe... means what ah?

zewt said...

myop101 - oh c'mon.... it is a good one u know..

jam - hehehe... so... salah focus la...

supergirlfriend - so you got the point or not?

seaqueen - do it again la.

kyh - ohhh... exam? better rest then.

Kel - you just happened to heard of it before eh?

Siew lol!!!!!!!!!!!

~aSstHa~ said...

reminds me of the last time i kena "pai siong thoy" wen my fren was goin 4 an interview as a programmer and i accompanied her cos it was late... the guys told me to jz do the IQ Test for fun and cos i was like totally out of touch wit everything i learnt in school cos all the questions i know i have done them in Form 5 before but cos i was so outta touch with tat and completely forgot everything i cudn't be bothered... then there was this one trick question that i knew the answer to so i answered it... in the end they asked me how come my test was empty but the one thing most ppl got wrong... i got it correct... hahaha... ok.. digress again as usual... too long hvn't posted comments... :P

myop101 said...

hehe... it is just me. i saw the words "math test". keke...

sharlydia said...

haha! I guess I fall under the pple-who-think-too-much category...

zewt said...

asstha - hmmm... what question was that?

myop101 - more like a test of... focus :)

sharlydia - hahahaha... go try it on your husband.

Kel said...

dont think so, maybe i did but i "forgot" remember?

zewt said...

kel - i have a feeling, one day... it will all come back to you. pray... :)

Melissa said...

7 bus stops...i counted that too..hahaha..so i looked at what everyone was looking at and also what others were not.. ;-)

Anonymous said...

Cis...made me do all that counting unecessarily...should really read the whole question before anwering huh? ;p

zewt said...

melissa - you're not only over focus... you are also widely focussed! hahaha...

marg - the word is focus... and able to see other things :)