The simple task that hinders most Harvard students

[Graham]

...mental shortcuts and all.

Exactly what it is. Could have answered differently, if asked verbally.

[Geminus]

It's really simple if you write it down like in Vrhbosnian Vanguard's post, which is the best method in most of these kind of questions.
But the intuitive answer of most would be that that the ball costs 10 cents. I guess the human brain naturally just isn't made for solving such questions

[east]

It's really simple if you write it down like in Vrhbosnian Vanguard's post, which is the best method in most of these kind of questions.
But the intuitive answer of most would be that that the ball costs 10 cents. I guess the human brain naturally just isn't made for solving such questions

There is little catch - the numbers 1.10 and 1. First human reaction is to subtract 1 from 1.10, so comes the easy answer 0.10 $.

[Sarmatian]

It's very simple arithmetic task. Take the price difference (1$) off the total price and divide by two (the number of products) to get the price of the cheapest one (the ball).

Honestly if Harvard students find it difficult to solve I think US education system is far behind of ex-Soviet school in maths. That is something I withness myself. An average kid of Russian immigrants is far superior to an average Westerner in math but falling behind in social sciences.

[Hayalet]

If you think the answer is "10 cents", then you are wrong.

I don't see why or how anyone would say 10 cents unless they are forced to give an answer in milliseconds. And there is no way Harvard students will get this wrong, typical Internet urban legend.

[Sarmatian]

I don't see why or how anyone would say 10 cents unless they are forced to give an answer in milliseconds. And there is no way Harvard students will get this wrong, typical Internet urban legend.

The 'obvious' simplicity of the task is pretty much forcing people into temptation to give an answer in milliseconds. Otherwise people feel they may be labelled thick and retarded. As result they give impulsive answer which appears to be wrong for most of people.

As for Harvard students it may as well be true. They may excel in complicated formulas but as result they often lack the flexibility of mind required to solve such a simple but tricky tasks.

[east]

I don't see why or how anyone would say 10 cents unless they are forced to give an answer in milliseconds. And there is no way Harvard students will get this wrong, typical Internet urban legend.

Here is the source. There you will find answer of your question and professional comment.

http://www.businessinsider.com/quest...-wrong-2012-12

[Hayalet]

^ Very strange. This doesn't even seem similar to one of them brain teasers to me.

[Leon_C]

Most Harvard students are going to answer impulsively the first answer that comes to their head because they know they are smart, then they probably think for a few seconds and realise they are wrong, first time I saw this I thought the ball was 10c but then I thought about it and realised it was 5c

[Trun]

Doubt a Harvard student would mistake that, no matter how absent-minded they are.