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All Forums >> [Casual Banter] >> Polls and Other Random Stupidity >> Dots ... lines ... Perceptions and Open minds. Page: [1]
[Poll]

Dots ... lines ... Perceptions and Open minds.


I know this one already! The answer is ... (pls post)
  18% (3)
1 line
  6% (1)
2 lines
  6% (1)
3 lines
  0% (0)
4 lines
  25% (4)
5 lines
  25% (4)
6 lines
  6% (1)
You can't do it.
  0% (0)
All of the above
  6% (1)
Other (post an explanation)
  6% (1)


Total Votes : 16
(last vote on : 12/30/2006 6:42:56 PM)
(Poll will run till: -- )
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Dots ... lines ... Perceptions and Open minds. - 12/28/2006 2:49:10 PM   
FirmhandKY


Posts: 8948
Joined: 9/21/2004
Status: offline 		I've always been interested in how the mind works, and how and why people think the things that they do.

I'm currently doing a little research for a discussion with Real0ne about government conspiracies, and ran across an interesting example of "thinking outside the box".

It's one that I would bet a fair number of people have seen before, which makes this even more interesting, because I think the answer may surprise everyone.

Here is the test:

Without lifting pencil from paper, draw no more than four straight lines that will cross through all nine dots in Figure 6.

How many lines are required?


https://www.cia.gov/csi/books/19104/fig6.gif

[Mod Note:  Image replaced with link to source]

< Message edited by ModeratorEleven -- 12/30/2006 5:19:02 PM >

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RE: Dots ... lines ... Perceptions and Open minds. - 12/28/2006 3:10:21 PM   
FullCircle


Posts: 5713
Joined: 11/24/2005
Status: offline 		5 unless you fold the paper over?

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RE: Dots ... lines ... Perceptions and Open minds. - 12/28/2006 9:04:41 PM   
dcnovice


Posts: 37282
Joined: 8/2/2006
Status: offline 		With a wide enough pen/marker/paintbrush, you could do it in a single line, but that might be bending the rules.

I couldn't do it in fewer than five lines.

Found an interesting four-line solution at http://www.jimloy.com/puzz/9dots0.htm.

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RE: Dots ... lines ... Perceptions and Open minds. - 12/29/2006 3:21:53 AM   
FirmhandKY


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Status: offline 		If you'll notice, dc, there's also a three line answer on that link.

FirmKY


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RE: Dots ... lines ... Perceptions and Open minds. - 12/29/2006 3:38:40 AM   
FirmhandKY


Posts: 8948
Joined: 9/21/2004
Status: offline 		Answer:

The nine-dots puzzle illustrated in Figure 6 above ... is difficult to solve only if one defines the problem to narrowly. A surprising number of people assume they are not supposed to let the pencil go outside an imaginary square drawn around the nine dots.

Figure 7: https://www.cia.gov/csi/books/19104/fig7.gif 

This unconscious constraint exists only in the mind of the problem-solver; it is not specified in the definition of the problem. With no limit on the length of lines, it should be relatively easy to come up with the answer shown in Figure 7.

Figure 8: https://www.cia.gov/csi/books/19104/fig8.gif

Another common, unconscious constraint is the assumption that the lines must pass through the center of the dots. This constraint, too, exists only in the mind of the problem solver. Without it, the three-line solution in Figure 8 becomes rather obvious.

Figure 9: https://www.cia.gov/csi/books/19104/fig9.gif

A more subtle and certainly more pervasive mental block is the assumption that such problems must be solved within a two-dimensional-plane. By rolling the paper to form a cylinder, it becomes possible to draw a single straight line that spirals through all nine dots, as in Figure 9.

[Mod Note:  Images replaced with links to source]

< Message edited by ModeratorEleven -- 12/30/2006 5:23:43 PM >

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RE: Dots ... lines ... Perceptions and Open minds. - 12/29/2006 3:41:03 AM   
FirmhandKY


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quote:

ORIGINAL: dcnovice

With a wide enough pen/marker/paintbrush, you could do it in a single line, but that might be bending the rules.


Width of the pencil wasn't specified, so, yes, I'd say you had another single line answer.

FirmKY


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RE: Dots ... lines ... Perceptions and Open minds. - 12/29/2006 3:58:34 AM   
LadyEllen


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Joined: 6/30/2006
From: Stourport-England
Status: offline 		4 is easy! And I didnt use Fig7 to do it

The 3 and 1 solutions you gave are cheating though LOL!

E

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RE: Dots ... lines ... Perceptions and Open minds. - 12/29/2006 5:39:08 AM   
Stephann


Posts: 4214
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From: Portland, OR
Status: offline 		It's not really a question of cheating - it's an example of different ways to solve the same problem.  In school, we're taught 'cheating' is wrong.  In the real world, cheaters (as problem solvers) are not only rewarded, but become leaders.  It's the ability to disregard perceived rules that don't really exist that the exercise addresses - a CIA agent doesn't get points marked off for sneaking in a window, instead of picking a lock.

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RE: Dots ... lines ... Perceptions and Open minds. - 12/29/2006 6:35:53 AM   
LadyEllen


Posts: 10931
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From: Stourport-England
Status: offline 		I'd have done the roll up thing - but my screen doesnt roll very well. In fact it just creaks and fizzes when I try it.
E

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In a test against the leading brand, 9 out of 10 participants couldnt tell the difference. Dumbasses.

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RE: Dots ... lines ... Perceptions and Open minds. - 12/29/2006 6:53:08 AM   
FullCircle


Posts: 5713
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Status: offline 		The problem was I drew the matrix of dots to big on the paper and I didn’t want to draw on my desk, so there.

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RE: Dots ... lines ... Perceptions and Open minds. - 12/29/2006 6:54:17 AM   
dcnovice


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quote:

If you'll notice, dc, there's also a three line answer on that link.


I noticed it, but wasn't as impressed, since it only seems to graze some of the dots rather than going straight through them.

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RE: Dots ... lines ... Perceptions and Open minds. - 12/29/2006 6:58:18 AM   
dcnovice


Posts: 37282
Joined: 8/2/2006
Status: offline 		It is a good exercise in seeing how we hem ourselves in.

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RE: Dots ... lines ... Perceptions and Open minds. - 12/29/2006 7:24:43 AM   
FullCircle


Posts: 5713
Joined: 11/24/2005
Status: offline 		I hate it when I find out I’m not a genius it’s the same reason I never do IQ tests.

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RE: Dots ... lines ... Perceptions and Open minds. - 12/30/2006 5:09:06 PM   
LeMis


Posts: 9255
Joined: 9/24/2005
From: Florida
Status: offline 		we learned this puzzle way back a few years, dad brought it to our attention as kids, figure 7 is how we were shown

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