Here it is, the IQ test that will either make you feel great about yourself or.... make you feel like you need to rethink your life and go back to school.
The Cognitive Reflection test is the 'world's shortest IQ test' made up of just 3 simple questions but before you start getting too confident, 80% of people fail it at first.
Here we go:
1. A bat and a ball cost $1.10 in total. The bat costs $1.00 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 of the lake?
Think you went ok?
Check out the answers below and see if you were able to get any of them correct and then see how your answers compared to Clint, Meg & Dan when we got them to take the test themselves.
the real answers are:
1. The ball would actually cost five cents.
Since the bat costs $1 more, that ball has to cost 5 cents to keep the total $1.10. If the ball cost 10 cents, then the bat would then cost $1.10 itself.
2. It would take five minutes to make 100 widgets.
The machine itself takes 5 minutes to make a widget, the number of machines all making widgets at the same time doesn't change it.
3. It would take 47 days for the patch to cover half of the lake.
This one works best working backward. Since it doubles in size every day, the day before it covers the whole lake (day 48), it would cover half of the lake.
Clint Meg and Dan also gave the IQ test a go and I'll be honest, I'm surprised they were able to get most of them correct first go.
Q1: Dan: 10 cents | Meg: 5 cents | Clint: 5 cents
Q2: Dan: 100 minutes | Meg: 1 hour 40 minutes | Clint: 5 minutes
Q3: Dan: 48 days | Meg: 47 Days | Clint: 47 days