I’m a genius AMA

amother

Tue, Oct 05 2021, 4:46 pm

amother [ Pansy ] wrote:

A boat sails from Point A to Point B and returns to Point A at a steady speed. As the direction of the current is toward Point B, the boat is able to complete the journey in that direction in 3 hours.
The return trip from Point B to Point A takes a total of 4 hours, because the boat is traveling against the current. If the owner of the boat would turn off the motor, how long would it take the boat to sail from point A to Point B?

7 hours

mum22

Tue, Oct 05 2021, 4:47 pm

honeymoon wrote:

can you explain how you figured this out? My equation doesn't make sense.

From A to B, the boat travels at (x/3) MPH (where x = the distance in miles).
From B to A, the boat travels at (x/4) MPH.

Difference in speed is (x/3)-(x/4). That is equivalent to (4x/12)-(3x/12), and equals (x/12).

The difference in speed is double the rate of the current (as the current helps one way and hinders the other way). So, the current's speed is (x/24) MPH. It therefore will take 24 hours to travel x miles.

mum22

Tue, Oct 05 2021, 4:49 pm

amother [ Pansy ] wrote:

Let's call the amount of water flowing from one faucet in one hour "one unit". As eleven faucets are simultaneously emptying the urn, it is obvious that the amount of water emptied from the urn in one hour equals eleven units, without accounting for the evaporated water.

If seven faucets could empty the urn after an hour and a half, in spite of the fact that they only manage to empty 10.5 units (7x1.5), it is obvious that one-half unit of water evaporates every half-hour. it thus emerges that one total unit of water will evaporate after one hour, and the rate of evaporation is equal to the flow of one faucet.

The rest you can figure out. (if not, let me know.)

But you never told us how long it would take for 7 faucets to empty the urn?

honeymoon

Tue, Oct 05 2021, 4:50 pm

mum22 wrote:

Got it. Thank you.

amother

Watermelon

Tue, Oct 05 2021, 4:51 pm

Hey fellow genius! I guess I count as one also, although I don't really go through life thinking about myself that way. I scored a 171 on the The Stanford-Binet IQ test when I was 5. My mom saved a copy for me. So most would consider that gifted. Also got over 1400 on the SATs. Funny thing is that even though I did fine in math, I never really enjoyed math brainteasers. Just not my thing. My thing is trying to understand people- THAT to me is the ultimate puzzle. I have always had a knack for taking tests - even if I didn't study I could usually do well based on my recall (pretty good but not photographic) of the class lessons.
This backfired majorly on me in college because there was a little too much material on the finals and I didn't have great study skills. I can write awesome papers in beautiful English, but I procrastinated writing them and that also affected my grades. I was a teacher and a mom for many years and put my intelligence into raising my family. I always read a lot, fiction and nonfiction, and keep up on new scientific developments. I enjoy learning new computer programs and thinking of ways to be more efficient. But I still hate washing dishes...
I'm happily married to a gifted guy (no he never took a test but was always valedictorian) and we have kids who are all smart in their own way. I try to teach my kids to value learning and think for themselves while learning to get along with others who may not be as smart. Genius can give you a nice boost but it can also be distracting and is less important in the end than perseverance, responsibility and being kind.
But you knew that already. So do you tell your kids that you're a genius? How do you feel it affects your parenting? Or your marriage? Do you ever wish you were more average? And what do you see yourself doing 10 years from now?

mum22

Tue, Oct 05 2021, 4:54 pm

amother [ Pansy ] wrote:

Ok one more and then I have to go make supper.
This was my favorite riddle as a kid. Anyone can answer it.

How do you divide $1,000 into 10 envelopes in such a way that you can give someone any amount of money they ask for in dollars (up to 1,000) without opening any of the envelopes? (You don't have to use all 10 envelopes.)
Good luck!

$1, $2, $4, $8, $16, $32, $64, $128, $256, $489

amother

Tue, Oct 05 2021, 4:59 pm

amother [ Watermelon ] wrote:

Wow. No I don’t tell my kids that I’m a genius but they are very gifted themselves. I don’t talk to anyone about this but people tell me I am but I always ignore it. Idk how it affects my life. My career is very specific so I can’t write about it. I was just curious to see the replies here and as I thought people get annoyed. Especially women to women

doodlesmom

Tue, Oct 05 2021, 5:14 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

People don’t get annoyed, they just find it interesting when someone announces they are special in any way, especially if proving it is difficult.

Now if you would give info on some of your accomplishments or scores or what not we would probably be less annoyed and more fascinated.

Like now I would like to hear more about mum 22 and her background, as well as the amother who scored 171 on the IQ test.

amother

Camellia

Tue, Oct 05 2021, 5:27 pm

amother [ Watermelon ] wrote:

I agree with your post and don't doubt any of it, but want to just throw in my pet peeve that the SAT means anything with respect to intelligence. I scored near perfect on the verbal section and trust me, I am absolutely no genius.

amother

Denim

Tue, Oct 05 2021, 5:27 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

מהרל
רמחל
הרב הוטנר
Dostoyevsky
And the like..

Now there’s some familiar territory!
Do you retain what you’ve read? Can you explain Rav Hunters understanding of the Gra’s distinction between מלך and מושל as it relates to the human intellect?

How about the difference between רוב and גדול as it relates to shabbos according to Rav Hutner?

amother

Grape

Tue, Oct 05 2021, 5:36 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

And afterwards everyone else

It sounds like you may fall into the category of 'gifted', but 'genius' is its own territory.

You may or may not be a genius -- without knowing your actual IQ and/or any specific accomplishments you may have, it would be difficult if not impossible to determine your level of giftedness and whether it falls into the more common level of giftedness or statistically the extremely rare (top 2%, very end of the bell curve) one.

I studied giftedness and creativity, and hold a PhD in a related field. I am smart but not a genius, even though I have been called that many times while growing up.