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January 27, 2006
Risk architecture
A recent study tells us that men who do well on a short quiz tend to enjoy risk more than others. On the other wrist, women who do well tend to enjoy risk less. So, how’d you do?
1) A bat and a ball cost $1.10 in total. The bat costs $1 more than the ball. How much does the ball cost?2) If it takes five machines five minutes to make five widgets, how long would it take 100 machines to make 100 widgets?
3) In a lake, there is a patch of lily pads. Every day, the patch doubles in size. If it takes 48 days for the patch to cover the entire lake, how long would it take for the patch to cover half the lake?
The test measures not just the ability to solve math problems but the willingness to reflect on and check your answers. (Scores have a 0.44 correlation with math SAT scores, where 1.00 would be exact.) The questions all have intuitive answers — wrong ones.
As it happens, I got all 3 correct. And my taste for risk is low...
(Full article and answers at the NY Times)
Posted by Andrew at January 27, 2006 11:10 AM
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Comments
I also got them correct and am not particularly into risk, though I wouldn't say I am fully risk adverse either.
Posted by: RevChad at January 29, 2006 03:25 PM