Can First Graders Outsmart Princeton Students with This Riddle?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers around a riddle that purportedly stumps a significant number of Princeton students while being easily solved by first graders. Participants explore the riddle's content and the implications of its difficulty across different age groups.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant notes that 80% of Princeton students could not solve the riddle, while 90% of first graders did so quickly.
  • Another participant acknowledges familiarity with the riddle but indicates they deleted their answer after realizing the request to refrain from posting it immediately.
  • Some participants express difficulty in coming up with an answer, with one repeating their struggle to think of anything.
  • A participant suggests that a previous post might have unintentionally revealed the answer, questioning whether it was a mistake or a subtle clue.
  • Another participant proposes that the wording used by the previous poster could have been a deliberate hint rather than a straightforward answer.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally express uncertainty regarding the riddle's answer and the implications of its difficulty, with no consensus reached on the interpretation of previous posts.

Contextual Notes

Some assumptions about the riddle's difficulty and the participants' familiarity with it remain unresolved, as does the interpretation of the responses given by participants.

gravenewworld
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Here is a riddle that 80% of the students at Princeton University could not solve but 90% of all first graders asked, replied with the answer in less than 5 minutes.

Q: What is greater than God, more evil than the Devil, rich people need it, the poor people have it, and if you eat it you will die?


If you have heard this riddle before, please don't post the answer right away.
 
Last edited:
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I've heard this one before, I posted the answer then saw what you wrote so I deleted the post.
 
Thats hard. I can think of nothing.
 
pikapika! said:
Thats hard. I can think of nothing.
Very naughty...you gave the answer away!
 
I'm sure he didn't mean to say 'nothing' as the answer - just an unfortunate choice of words?
 
Or, the more likely thing, he posted it as a subtle clue to anyone who doesn't know the answer.
 

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