Smarter than a monkey (about science) test.

[Jovus]

12/12. Conclusion: I am four monkeys.

Correction: you are 65,536 monkeys.

[LordFerret]

65,535... we start the initial offset at 0.

(unsigned)

[Jovus]

Maybe you do. I'm doing math, not playing with a glorified abacus.

[Shpaget]

A monkey can get 12/12 on his first try.

[ChrisSpace]

I scored 11 out of 12.

[theend3r]

12/12. If you were to ask me about the author of the Polio vaccine, I wouldn't know but the other choices were obviously wrong.

The demographic data was pretty interesting though, so thanks.

Which they don't understand unless it's something along the lines of 2 + 2 = ?

Even birds can do that one. Ask them what's the capital of Iraq? I don't think any animal trainer has ever been able to teach that one to any of their charges.

Parrots definitely could. Some could probably learn all the capitals in the world and react to hearing the country's name by telling you its capital.

Edited September 16, 2015 by theend3r

[Shpaget]

That doesn't mean they have the understanding of what is a country or a concept of a capital.

They just attach one sound to another.

[theend3r]

That doesn't mean they have the understanding of what is a country or a concept of a capital.

They just attach one sound to another.

So do we. We memorize it by connecting the capital's name with the name of the country, nothing more.

You can create a deeper understanding by actually visiting the city and getting to know it. If you did that with a parrot and kept telling him the name of the city, he would recognize it and name it if you showed him a picture from the place you visited. The same as you.

[maggi323]

So do we. We memorize it by connecting the capital's name with the name of the country, nothing more.

You can create a deeper understanding by actually visiting the city and getting to know it. If you did that with a parrot and kept telling him the name of the city, he would recognize it and name it if you showed him a picture from the place you visited. The same as you.

True. Can't argue with that. It is only experienced this place, will here impressed.

mate s schutzhülle

Edited September 17, 2015 by maggi323

[Shpaget]

I'm talking about the concept of countries and capitals.

When you take a look at the Earth from orbit there are no visible borders. Also, there is nothing that sets a capital from any other city other than an agreement and functions of some buildings that from the outside appear no different to any other building.

A human can recognize that distinction and knows that if a city is a capital of some country that that city is a place where you can find some administrative stuff you can't find elsewhere.

A parrot will have no such understanding.

[More Boosters]

12/12 and I'll admit I didn't actually know the answer to one of them. I was able to eliminate the other 3 answers so just picked what was left.

I will gladly take my 4 monkeys parcel post to the included address. Bonobos, if possible.

Was it the Polio Vaccine question?

[Superfluous J]

Was it the Polio Vaccine question?

Yup. all I knew was it was NOT Einstein, Newton, or Curie.

[Shpaget]

Same here. That was the only one I needed the multiple choice system which I could "abuse".

The answers to the sound one were a bit weirdly worded, though.

[Superfluous J]

I didn't mind the wording on that one. As someone who records himself talking and editing those files on a near daily basis for a disturbingly long time, I knew it instantly.

The only question (other than the Polio one) that gave me any pause at all was the altitude / boiling water one. I COULD have figured it out based on air pressure but instead went with the fact that all cooking instructions say to boil longer at higher altitudes, which implies that boiling water is not so hot up there If I'd thought for a few more seconds, I'd have remembered that room temperature water will boil in a vacuum, too, but I can't control the way my brain decides to dole out data.

[Shpaget]

On the sound one, when I read the question, but before reading the answers I expected to see something along the lines of pressure differential.

Amplitude would have been fine in itself, but the "or height" part threw me off for a bit.

Height of what?

Height of a line on a pressure vs time graph? That's just a way to represent something that we can't see. There is no height in sound.

Also the other answer "Velocity or rate of change".

My first though at that was "Rate of change of what? Velocity? That would be acceleration. What does that have to do with it?" After that "Velocity is a vector, what is that all about?"

Then finally the astrology question bothers me quite a bit, for a different reason.

"Which of these terms is defined as the study of how the positions of stars and planets can influence human behavior?"

They word the question as if planets can actually influence human behavior.

[GoSlash27]

If I wasn't from Pittsburgh, I probably wouldn't know who Dr. Jonas Salk was.

But since I am... all the monkeys.

I'm surprised so many people got the Denver question wrong.

Best,

-Slashy

[Scotius]

I made a mistake on that teeth cavity diagram Apparently my understanding of math in english is still iffy.

[Feradose]

12/12 as a highschool student. Am I more smarter than a monkeys? (Asking this proves that me am not.. right? [right?] I hope not.)

[PB666]

A monkey can get 12/12 on his first try.

odds are very very low, in the 10^-8 to -9 range

(12-3)=9, 9^2=81, 81/3=27, 81/9=9, 27+9=36

P_x² = CHIDIST(36,1) = 0.000000009

Thus using either fisher exact test 3000,9000,12,0 of chi-square analysis the value is that rougly 100 million monkeys answered all 12 questions 1 would get it right.

A monkey can get it right, but we would never expect a monkey to get it right. I we want to assure that a monkey never gets it right we would have to increase the number of questions.

[Darnok]

12/12. If you were to ask me about the author of the Polio vaccine, I wouldn't know but the other choices were obviously wrong.

The demographic data was pretty interesting though, so thanks.

Parrots definitely could. Some could probably learn all the capitals in the world and react to hearing the country's name by telling you its capital.

This is exactly how it is working, even monkey can be taught sign language and as "answer" make set of signs representing capital name, but that doesn't mean that monkey is smart

Most of people thinks that memorizing all the capitals names or any other things makes them smart, it is not, it just makes access to that knowledge faster.

What really makes you smart is ability to interpret question in many ways and ability to find and verify right answer for those interpretations or invent right answer, if nobody answered that question before you.

If I read results of this experiment correctly women are 10-15% less smart (depends on question) than man... 3... 2... 1... fight

[Vaporo]

I missed the magnifying glass one. I am ashamed.

It's sad how little most of the public knows about science. People are always impressed that I know things that I consider common knowledge. Last summer, everyone at my summer job was amazed when I knew how a blood moon worked. It's sad, really.

[Shpaget]

I must admit I don't follow your math.

I get (1/4)^12 = 5,96 x 10^-8 or 1/16 777 216 for each trial.

It is just as likely for the 12/12 to come up on a first try as is on 16 millionth.

[PB666]

I must admit I don't follow your math.

I get (1/4)^12 = 5,96 x 10^-8 or 1/16 777 216 for each trial.

It is just as likely for the 12/12 to come up on a first try as is on 16 millionth.

your not using the right test, you can use FET but one set is the expected, so you have to inflate the weight of the ratio.

http://www.langsrud.com/fisher.htm, 30000:90000, 12:0 .......2-Tail : p-value = 5.972096700429192e-8

theoretically if we increase the 3:9 weight to huge number FET will give best answer, but not every question had four possibilities

The chi-square is the accepted test.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chi_distribution

-----------------------

The reason your test and my test are similar is that they have the same underlying principle, people generally do not use the exact test in this way, but it turns out its more accurate than the chi-square because chi-square does not work well when one of the test values is below 5. In this case its not to bad because the observed minus expected is nine.

The reason why FET is not used because increasing the size of any one variable numerically greatly increases the computer processing power used to compute the value, you will reach the processing limit, even with log transformations.

Edited September 16, 2015 by PB666

[KerikBalm]

I saw this quiz earlier, but there seem to be some variations

I got 12/12, but I'd nitpick the questions a bit:

Question:

"which kind of waves is used to make and receive cell phone calls?"

Technically, radiowaves are light waves, with wavelengths that are far too long to be visible.

Light waves could be considered correct (radio waves is the more correct answer)

The linked quiz specifies visible light, but the PDF and the one I saw earlier did not (if my memory of the quiz I took earlier is accurate)

Question: "Ocean tides are created by which of the following?

"Which of these is the main way that ocean tides are created?"

Two variations, the online quiz asks the main way, the pdf says the question asks people to check all that apply - and then codes the moon's gravity as the correct one.

(If I'm interpreting it right, it would code it correct as long as the moon's gravity was checked, I'll note that the next most common answer was the earth's rotation, which is a good sign)

The moon's gravity causs the bulge, and the earth's rotation causes the bulge to move relative to a point on the earth's surface - and its this raising and lowering of the water level that people percieve as the tide, so I'd say both are equally important.

If Earth was tidally locked to the Moon, the Moon's gravity would still be there, but we wouldn't experience any tides.

For me, I'd code them all incorrect if they didn't specify both the moon and the earth's rotation (but the question's wording may need to be modified)

As for the cavities question... if you can participate on these forums, you should have had enough english comprehension to able to understand it.

* Nothing in the graph specifies a timecourse/years -> so an answer about an changes in the rate of cavities or consumption in recent years is obviously wrong

* Nothing specifies the rate of brushing -> an answer about brushing is clearly wrong

* The graph clearly correlates sugar consumption with cavity rate.

As long as your English comprehension is such that you are able to understand consumption = eating, and cavities = decayed teeth - then this answer should be obvious.

"Which of these elements is needed to make nuclear energy and nuclear weapons?"

Technically -> none of them. You can make nuclear weapons with plutonium and no Uranium.

Plutonium is made from Uranium (In theory, you could make it without bombarding Uranium with Nuetrons... but Uranium-> Plutonium is the only practical way we have).

If someone has a lot of Pu-239 (but no Uranium), and asks if you can make a nuclear weapon with it - you don't say: "Sorry, you need Uranium, and you don't have any"

As for Nuclear Energy, Thorium reactors work just fine (as do various other elements in RTGs).

A better question is which of these elements is used/can be used to make nuclear energy and nuclear weapons.

(Note: Sodium Chloride and Carbon Dioxide aren't even elements. And nitrogren is useless for nuclear weapons, although technically it is involved in fusion energy in stars through the CNO cycle)

Salk question: Yea, its not really science, its more of a question on the history of science.

"Which of these terms is defined as the study of how the positions of stars and planets can influence human behavior?"

None of them... Astrology is not defined as such- at least I've never heard it defined that way. Astrology is a set of beliefs of "how the positions of stars and planets can influence human behavior"

There is no such study of how they do it going on in Astrology. That definition is inaccurate and wrong. (sometimes there are multiple equally "correct" definitions for something... but this one is just plain wrong)

[Duxwing]

12/12, though only because I eliminated the other three famous scientists for their contributions to physics, leaving Salk for the invention of the polio vaccine.

-Duxwing