What Are Your Best Mind-Boggling Questions?

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Discussion Overview

The thread invites participants to share intriguing and thought-provoking questions, often with a focus on puzzles or paradoxes that challenge conventional thinking. The scope includes conceptual and hypothetical scenarios, as well as discussions about the nature of art.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants share mind-boggling questions, such as the paradox of a player kicking a ball that returns without bouncing off anything.
  • One participant questions the nature of art, suggesting that the definition of art is subjective and can depend on context.
  • Another participant presents a classic riddle involving a character named Alice who walks in a specific pattern and returns home, prompting discussions about the possible solutions.
  • A participant introduces a humorous and nonsensical question about chickens and cucumbers, highlighting the playful nature of the discussion.
  • Some participants propose that the perception of art can be influenced by historical significance rather than aesthetic value alone.
  • There are multiple interpretations of the Alice riddle, with some suggesting different geographical contexts or solutions.
  • One participant suggests that the nature of a piece of art may change over time, depending on what survives into the future.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a variety of opinions on what constitutes a mind-boggling question, with no consensus on specific answers or definitions of art. The discussion remains unresolved with competing views on both topics.

Contextual Notes

Some questions posed are intentionally nonsensical or humorous, while others delve into deeper philosophical discussions about art and perception. The nature of the questions varies widely, reflecting individual interpretations of what is considered "mind-boggling."

dpa
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hi all,
i want you to post best mind boggling/twisting questions you know of.
Thanks
dpa
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Why is it that sometimes my pain pills work one day and not the next for the same symptom?

Will you be answering our questions? :biggrin:
 
By what stretch of the imagination is this "art"?

2dqk1dx.jpg
 
sorry but i was not expecting humour.
You know, the problem solving kinda.
And i am not going to answer on forum. We can think on our own.
I will answer yours though.
Its so simple. The date of pills expired exactly after you took them the previous day. It's as simple as that.
 
A player kicks a ball and it comes back to him without bouncing off of anything else, how is this possible?
 
DragonPetter said:
A player kicks a ball and it comes back to him without bouncing off of anything else, how is this possible?
He kicks it up
 
Ryan_m_b said:
He kicks it up

No, he kicks it into a hurricane that blows it back at him.
 
One person's boggle line is different from another's. Most PFers would find this question pretty easy, I think:

Alice leaves her house and walks north for 5 km. Then she turns and walks west for 5 km. Then she turns south and walks 5 km, and is back at her house, where she started. How is this possible?
 
lisab said:
One person's boggle line is different from another's. Most PFers would find this question pretty easy, I think:

Alice leaves her house and walks north for 5 km. Then she turns and walks west for 5 km. Then she turns south and walks 5 km, and is back at her house, where she started. How is this possible?
:confused: Something to do with this?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spherical_geometry[/color]
 
  • #10
lisab said:
One person's boggle line is different from another's. Most PFers would find this question pretty easy, I think:

Alice leaves her house and walks north for 5 km. Then she turns and walks west for 5 km. Then she turns south and walks 5 km, and is back at her house, where she started. How is this possible?
I bet Alice's toes are frozen.

~~~

Here's an oldie I really love: You're in a room with 2 doors and 2 guards. One of the doors leads to freedom, the other to death, you don't know which is which. One of the guards always tells the truth the always lies but you don't know which guard is which.

You are allowed to ask one of the guards one question to gain your freedom. What do you ask?
 
  • #11
Lemme fix that for you
lisab said:
Alice leaves her bear friend and walks SOUTH for 5 km. Then she turns and walks west for 5 km. Then she turns NORTH and walks 5 km, and is back at her friend's, where she started.
What color is the bear's fur ?
 
  • #12
Q_Goest said:
I bet Alice's toes are frozen.

~~~

Here's an oldie I really love: You're in a room with 2 doors and 2 guards. One of the doors leads to freedom, the other to death, you don't know which is which. One of the guards always tells the truth the always lies but you don't know which guard is which.

You are allowed to ask one of the guards one question to gain your freedom. What do you ask?

You ask one guard what the other guard would say if you asked him which door leads to freedom.
 
  • #13
Think about the set of all sets that are not members of themselves!
 
  • #14
humanino said:
Lemme fix that for you

:smile: nice
 
  • #15
By what stretch of the imagination is this "art"?
well if eons later that is the only piece of digital work that survives and everything even our way of sleeping changes, then this would be one of the most valued art piece.
 
  • #16
dpa said:
well if eons later that is the only piece of digital work that survives and everything even our way of sleeping changes, then this would be one of the most valued art piece.
Woule it be art or just a picture of a messy bedroom? I believe it would be considered the latter.
 
  • #17
you see you consider a broken rustic chalice or ancient vase as work of art and preserve in a museum and even pay millions.

Yeah, its all about how you define art as!
 
  • #18
dpa said:
you see you consider a broken rustic chalice or ancient vase as work of art and preserve in a museum and even pay millions.

Yeah, its all about how you define art as!
It's not so much art as an historical piece.
 
  • #19
lisab said:
One person's boggle line is different from another's. Most PFers would find this question pretty easy, I think:

Alice leaves her house and walks north for 5 km. Then she turns and walks west for 5 km. Then she turns south and walks 5 km, and is back at her house, where she started. How is this possible?

I came up with two interesting solutions, and was working on a third at the bottom of this page that micromass might be interested in reading:

I'll post a link to the image so I don't spoil it:
http://i43.tinypic.com/ibawhs.jpg
 
  • #20
QuarkCharmer said:
I came up with two interesting solutions, and was working on a third at the bottom of this page that micromass might be interested in reading:

I'll post a link to the image so I don't spoil it:
http://i43.tinypic.com/ibawhs.jpg

That made me lol! I love it!

Nice kitty :smile:
 
  • #21
QuarkCharmer said:
I came up with two interesting solutions, and was working on a third at the bottom of this page that micromass might be interested in reading:

I'll post a link to the image so I don't spoil it:
http://i43.tinypic.com/ibawhs.jpg

You can turn around several times, so there are actually infinitely many solutions of your type (1) :smile:

Type (2) is new to me however, and pretty neat :approve:
 
  • #22
humanino said:
You can turn around several times, so there are actually infinitely many solutions of your type (1) :smile:

Type (2) is new to me however, and pretty neat :approve:

That's why the "equator" is there. It's really just a line describing the domain of alice's house.A short "mind boggling" problem with a "not short" answer:
http://www.mathpages.com/home/kmath668/kmath668_files/image001.gif
Infinite grid of resistors with resistance R. Find the resistance between two adjacent nodes.

I tried it for a long time, refusing to look for a solution. I finally caved though :(

(If you want to try it yourself, all you need to know is that resistors in series add up to an equivalent resistance, and resistors in parallel are equivalent by: \frac{1}{R_{eq}} = \frac{1}{R_{1}}+\frac{1}{R_{2}}+\frac{1}{R_{3}}+...+\frac{1}{R_{n}} )
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #23
If a chicken and a half can lay an egg and a half in a day and a half, then how long will it take for a cockroach to kick all the seeds out of a cucumber?
 
  • #24
dpa said:
you see you consider a broken rustic chalice or ancient vase as work of art and preserve in a museum and even pay millions.

Yeah, its all about how you define art as!
Evo said:
It's not so much art as an historical piece.
Exactly Evo. The fact that something is a historical artefact does not automatically make it art. When I visit museums to see ancient tools it is not because I want to go and see something artistic. Even if I go to see ancient art that is far more due to historical curiosity than artistic. If someone now made a cave painting it wouldn't interest me, what interests me is the historical significance.
 
  • #25
DragonPetter said:
A player kicks a ball and it comes back to him without bouncing off of anything else, how is this possible?
Divine intervention.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSSzjgVl9RM
 
  • #26
Ryan_m_b said:
By what stretch of the imagination is this "art"?

2dqk1dx.jpg
It is art that is about vision enlarging and the deepening of your awareness.

At first sight the artist seems to be saying to the viewer Look at This! Look at This!But if you accept its challenge to enlarge your vision and expand your sensibilities you will realize the artist is saying Look at me! Look at me!

No, even that is too crude and reductive. M'as tu vu?! M'as tu vu?! sounds, and therefore is, better.
 
  • #27
epenguin said:
It is art that is about vision enlarging and the deepening of your awareness.

At first sight the artist seems to be saying to the viewer Look at This! Look at This!


But if you accept its challenge to enlarge your vision and expand your sensibilities you will realize the artist is saying Look at me! Look at me!

No, even that is too crude and reductive. M'as tu vu?! M'as tu vu?! sounds, and therefore is, better.

Actually the art here is to make people think it's art. So it is art.

Mind boggling?
 
  • #28
Hello quark charmer,

Is its solution related with the one with infinite row with two lines kind.

Do post here. That left me thinking for a while!
 
  • #29
Evo said:
Woule it be art or just a picture of a messy bedroom? I believe it would be considered the latter.

It's art, because it tells a story. The person isn't messy - she's ill. And the reason she's not present in the scene is because she has rushed to the bathroom in a hurry, seeing as how she didn't bother putting on her slippers, meaning she's probably suffering from dyssentry.
 
  • #30
QuarkCharmer said:
That's why the "equator" is there. It's really just a line describing the domain of alice's house.


A short "mind boggling" problem with a "not short" answer:
http://www.mathpages.com/home/kmath668/kmath668_files/image001.gif
Infinite grid of resistors with resistance R. Find the resistance between two adjacent nodes.

I tried it for a long time, refusing to look for a solution. I finally caved though :(

(If you want to try it yourself, all you need to know is that resistors in series add up to an equivalent resistance, and resistors in parallel are equivalent by: \frac{1}{R_{eq}} = \frac{1}{R_{1}}+\frac{1}{R_{2}}+\frac{1}{R_{3}}+...+\frac{1}{R_{n}} )

If you put this problem on a sign and hold it up in front of the building housing the Physics and Math department, how many professors will you kill off?

http://xkcd.com/356/

Or, alternatively, how many PF members will you kill off?
https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=206096&highlight=nerd+sniping
 
Last edited by a moderator:

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