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posted by cmn32480 on Thursday April 16 2015, @01:24AM   Printer-friendly
from the it-seemed-like-the-logical-thing-to-do-at-the-time dept.

A couple of months ago, it was a color-changing dress that blew out the neural circuits of the Internet. Now Kenneth Chang reports in the NYT that a problem from a math olympiad test for math-savvy high school-age students in Singapore is making the rounds on the internet that has perplexed puzzle problem solvers as they grapple with the simple question: "So when is Cheryl's birthday?"

Albert and Bernard just met Cheryl. “When’s your birthday?” Albert asked Cheryl.
Cheryl thought a second and said, “I’m not going to tell you, but I’ll give you some clues.” She wrote down a list of 10 dates:
May 15 — May 16 — May 19
June 17 — June 18
July 14 — July 16
August 14 — August 15 — August 17
“My birthday is one of these,” she said.
Then Cheryl whispered in Albert’s ear the month — and only the month — of her birthday. To Bernard, she whispered the day, and only the day.
“Can you figure it out now?” she asked Albert.
Albert: I don’t know when your birthday is, but I know Bernard doesn’t know, either.
Bernard: I didn’t know originally, but now I do.
Albert: Well, now I know, too!
When is Cheryl’s birthday?

Logical puzzles like this are common in Singapore. The Singapore math curriculum, which has a strong focus on logic-based problem solving, has been so successful that it's been adopted around the world. According to Terrance F. Ross, US students have made strides in math proficiency in recent years, but they still lag behind many of their peers internationally, falling at the middle of the pack in global rankings. In the same PISA report the U.S. placed 35th out of 64 countries in math. "And even though the "Cheryl's Birthday" question may be atypical of the average Singaporean classroom, perhaps it's still worth asking: Are you smarter than a (Singaporean) 10th-grader?"

 
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  • (Score: 2) by jmorris on Thursday April 16 2015, @03:02AM

    by jmorris (4844) on Thursday April 16 2015, @03:02AM (#171339)

    Yea, that is the fatal flaw. Each knows either the month or day and from the wording of the problem they are left to ASSume she told the other party the other clue and ASSuming she didn't give either a clue that would instantly give it away. So anyone who answers this one fails because they ASSumed more information that was stated. The only correct answer must be 'unknown due to insufficient data'

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 16 2015, @03:09AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 16 2015, @03:09AM (#171343)

    Regardless of how the question is stated, the guy who cheats will get the job.

    • (Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday April 16 2015, @03:29AM

      by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Thursday April 16 2015, @03:29AM (#171349) Journal
      Unless, of course, he's too dumb to know how to cheat.
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 16 2015, @03:46AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 16 2015, @03:46AM (#171360)

        Unless he's too naive to know to cheat.

        • (Score: 2, Insightful) by khallow on Thursday April 16 2015, @12:27PM

          by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Thursday April 16 2015, @12:27PM (#171545) Journal

          Unless he's too naive to know to cheat.

          Naivety is a less permanent condition than stupidity.

  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 16 2015, @03:37AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 16 2015, @03:37AM (#171354)

    I agree with this. Years and years of "never assume, verify" pounded into my head has made me terrible at riddles but magnificent at getting actual shit done.