WEBVTT
Kind: captions
Language: en

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Here's a brain teaser

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A rooster is on a roof of a barn

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facing east

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The wind is blowing

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to the west at 10 mph

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The rooster lays an egg.

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Which direction does the egg roll?

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If you want, you can pause the video and think it over.

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The answer?

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There is no egg.

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The rooster didn't lay one because roosters are male.

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Did you get it right?

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Let's pick this apart and see why people have difficulty with this brainteaser

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and so many others.

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First, it's easy to overlook details

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or accept them without questioning.

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In this brainteaser, the answer could be found in the second word.

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Rooster. In hindsight, we realize

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it's impossible for roosters to lay eggs

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but it's easy to overlook when

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it's mentioned casually in the brainteaser.

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Another process at work in this brainteaser is misdirection.

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There were several details included

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that we may have paid too much attention to.

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The fact that the rooster was facing east

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and that the wind was blowing west at 10 mph.

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In the end, these details had nothing to do with

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the actual answer.

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But because they seemed important in the context of the brainteaser,

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they directed us away from the relevant information.

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The same techniques used to solve brainteasers

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can also be applied to real-world situations.

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When you're trying to figure something out,

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it's important to analyze the information that's available to you.

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Are there any key details I may be missing?

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Am I being misled by something?

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Could I be thinking about this in another way?

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Brainteasers not only help to keep your mind sharp,

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but they can help to improve your critical thinking skills as well.

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Let's finish things off with another brainteaser.

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You have a single match and are in a dark room

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with a candle, an oil lamp, and a gas stove.

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Which do you light first?

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The answer? The match.

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