Mind illusions - a form of mind teaser with no solution

Mind illusions – seeing things in a different way.

Mind illusions are a funny thing. Sometimes somebody sees one thing, somebody else sees another. A mind that can see things laterally may or may not be able to see both. There are a number of common 2-way mind illusions such as the old woman/young lady, face/vase, among others. These are there to show perceptions – a way of showing that sometimes the information given by the eye is not always what the brain receives. This happens because of our perceptions of our surrounds, and because of conflicting visual cues. Such illusions tease and tantalise the mind. Here is the one for this week:

Mind teaser #7

There are two images here – a duck and a bunny. Can you see both?

Answer to mind teaser # 5, Mind Illusions Part 1

Answer to mind teaser #5

Up for grabs.

How do I answer mind illusions?

You can’t answer mind illusions. They are designed to tease your mind and distort your perception. Optical illusions rely on your eyes to tease you mind. There are two types of optical illusions. One of these has two ways of looking at the same picture, the other has a way of making the impossible look possible, although your mind does get tricked. The former is more common as it is used to show you that there is more than one way of looking at a picture. The latter is usually used to show how the mind can be easily fooled by the senses. They are sometimes called Esher Illusions, after MC Esher, the man who popularised them with his works. This week, we will feature an optical illusion known as Blivet (aka, the impossible trident illusion)

Mind teaser/illusion #6

There will be no solution to mind teaser/illusion #6 as there is nothing to solve. Just ponder the image for this week, and wonder where the middle fork joins.

answer to mind teaser #4, answering rebus mind teasers

Answer to mind teaser #4

The stranger was a baby and the woman died in childbirth.

How do I answer Rebus mind teasers?

Rebus mind teasers are usually words or letters put in interesting combinations and positions to represent a word, words or phrases. Sometimes pictures are used to the same effect, though usually in combination with words and letters. The trick with these is to think laterally – the phrase or words are hidden in the rebus. Sometimes, the rebus looks strange, but look deeper into the mind teaser – there is an answer there. Think of what the combinations of letters, words and sometimes objects, could represent.

Here is the mind teaser for this week

Mind teaser # 5

Anser to mind teaser #3, answering mind teaser involving riddles

Answer to mind teaser #3

Since Itchy saw one of the dice, the other one is either a six (1/6 chance) or a non-six (5/6 chance.)
This means that if the scenario is repeated several times over, you would expect that on 5 out of every six occasions there would be one six and one non-six on the board in which case the hidden die is not a six. On the sixth occasion there are 2 sixes on the board so that either one may be revealed and still leave one six hidden. That means that out of every 7 occasions where a six can be revealed, 2 will result in a six remaining hidden.
Answer: Probability = 2/7

How do I answer mind teasers in the form of riddles?

This forces you to think logically, and laterally. It is not always easy to see the answer to these types of mind teasers, so the best way to solve these ones is to practise a lot.

For example, the riddle: Where will you find roads without cars, forests without trees and cities without houses?

It is not easy to see the answer at first. It forces your mind to ponder what it is.

In fact, the answer is: a map.

There is simply no way to teach this. It is a matter of perception and practise. To help you practise, here is this week’s mind teaser.

Mind teaser #4

Strange Death

A man and a woman were driving in their car when it broke down. The man decided to go for help at a gas station a few miles back. He made sure nobody was in the car, rolled all the windows up, and locked all of the sedan's doors. He went off, but when he came back, his wife was dead, and there was a stranger in the car. No physical damage was done to the car, so how did the stranger get in?

remember - answer comes in week's time.

Answer to mind teaser #2, Answering mind teasers involving probability

answer to mind teaser #2

Jenny - Orange - Saturday
Bob - Banana - Tuesday
Kate - Apple - Friday
Joseph - Grapes - Monday

How do I tell if a mind teaser requires an answer that involves probability?

When the mind teaser is given to you, it will ask ‘how likely’, ‘what are the odds’, ‘what is the probability’, etc. These types of questions will tell you that probability is involved.

How do I answer mind teasers that involve probability?

That’s simple. You probably have worked with probability a little bit in high school. This is all you will need when solving mind teasers that require probability. You also need logic in order to solve the mind teaser – some are not as straightforward as it looks.

Here’s this week’s mind teaser to keep you going.

Mind teaser #3

Itchy and Scratchy are playing Backgammon, which requires two identical dice to be rolled on each turn. Scratchy rolls the dice but just as they come to a halt on the board he covers them up with his hands.
"You can't look," screams Scratchy.
"Too late," yells Itchy. "I saw one of them and it was six! Show me the other one." Scratchy at first declines the offer but Itchy applies a gratuitous amount of violence with a chainsaw resulting in the amputation of one of Scratchy's arms, revealing one of the dice. As you may have guessed the revealed die is of course a six. What is the probability that the still hidden die is also a six?