A common myth asserts that the Dutch settlers purchased Manhattan Island for $24 in 1626 from the aboriginal people. If that $24 were invested in 1626 at the current interest rate of 7% per annum, what would be the approximate value of that investment today? A) $13 trillion B). $1.3 trillion C). $13 billion D) …
There is a degree of subjectivity to what each of us would describe as “extreme intelligence.” Some have described Mozart as a genius for his innate musical sense, and many would attribute extremely high intelligence to Shakespeare for his remarkable insight into human nature and his linguistic skill in the cogent expression of ideas. In …
There is a perception among many that those who accumulate wealth become obsessed with accumulating more and, in the process, lose their capacity to feel empathy for others. As far back as the beginnings of recorded history, the accumulation of wealth has been perceived as a corrupting influence. In the Biblical scripture, Timothy 6:10, we …
To prepare for his fortune-telling tea party, Teeha brewed a giant pot of tea by tossing teabags into a large cauldron of water. The 100-lb mixture was 99% water by weight. Teeha then boiled the mixture until it was only 98% water by weight. What was the weight of the mixture when it was 98% …
Mathematics is a language like English, Spanish or Chinese. While natural languages use words to represent ideas, concepts, and relationships, mathematics uses numbers and variables for the same purpose. You cannot touch a noun, but you can touch the object to which the noun refers. If we say that a particular planet is a “sphere” …
Suppose we were to ask, “Are athletically gifted people better than the others?” The answer would be, “They are probably better at sports, but not necessarily at other things.” Similarly, intelligent people are generally better than unintelligent people at mathematics, quantum physics, and making sense of complex concepts. The qualifier, “better than” requires specifying a …
Are intelligent people more important than unintelligent people? Read More »
Yes, research has revealed that some people do, indeed, have higher intelligence than others. This was established unequivocally by Bouchard and others during the 1990’s in their study of identical twins who were raised in different environments. Since the twins in Bouchard’s Minnesota study were raised apart, no part of the correlation in the IQ …
Two 10-sided dice have faces numbered from 1 through 10. What is the probability that a toss of the dice will yield a multiple of 2 on one die and a multiple of 3 on the other? Answer: Half the numbers on each die are multiples of 2, so the probability that a particular die …
During a dinner debate with Amy Chua (known as “Tiger Mom”) Larry Summers, President of Harvard from 2001–2006, quipped, “At Harvard, the A students tend to become professors and the C students become wealthy donors.” Summers’ facetious comment actually carries more than a grain of truth, and it challenges the assumption that high intelligence necessarily …
Why are great intellectuals and professors not the wealthiest? Read More »
Highly intelligent people are usually able to learn foreign languages more easily than most people. Among the cognitive abilities that characterize high intelligence are strong short-term and long-term memory, an quick grasp of new concepts, a capacity for abstraction and an ability to discover patterns in structures. Since these are the kinds of abilities that …
