[.ca] Match Wits With Mensa: The Complete Quiz Book (ISBN 0738202509)

Problems with IQ Tests:
Re: The reviewer who posed the following question from the book and the only question that even remotely challenged him/her: A horse merchant goes to a fair to sell his horses. he sells half of his horses to his first client and adds half a horse as a bonus. then he sells half of the horses he has left to the second client and, you got it, adds another half a horse for good measure. to the last client, he sells half of the horses he has left and then adds half a horse. all clients got full horses (nobody had to drag half a carcass away). How many horses did the horse merchant sell that day? The reviewer didn't give the response, but I will. It's 7. To the first client he gives half of his 7 horses, which equals 3.5. To this number the merchant adds a half of a horse giving the first client 4 horses, leaving the merchant with 3 horses. To the next client the same process is repeated, the merchant gives half of his remaining 3 horses, which is 1.5. To this number the merchant adds a half of a horse giving the second client 2 horses, leaving the merchant with 1 horse. To the final client the merchant gives half of his remaining 1 horse, which is .5, and to this number the merchant adds a half of a horse giving the third client 1 horse, leaving the merchant with 0 horses. \oIn this example, if I were the last client it would be startlingly clear that the merchant is totally insane. However, as long as the bottom line is that I get a complete horse at an agreed upon price I'm satisfied.\c Therefore, the total number of horses the merchant had that day was 7 and he sold 7. Easy, right? Or, is the answer 14? (Use a starting number of 15) Or, is the answer 21? (Use a starting number of 23) In fact, there are multiple answers. By increasing the answer by seven each time, e.g., 7, 14, 21, 28, 35, etc. with the beginning number of horses to sell that day increasing by one each time over the previous beginning number, e.g., if the number of horses sold were 7, the beginning number was 7 (7+0). If the number of horses sold were 14, the beginning number is 15 (7+1). If the number of horses sold were 21, the beginning number is 23 (7+2), etc. This is one complaint I have about IQ tests. The language is not precise enough. The question never said that the merchant sold all of his horses nor did it ask for the best response. In the latter case, seven horses would have been the best response. Or, is it? To the merchant the best answer may not be that he sold all of his horses that day but rather an answer that yielded the highest number of horses sold. So, don't get taken in by the catchall phrase, "best response." Frequently I have seen cases where there could be more than one response, and the creator of the question gets off the hook by asking for the best response. In their opinion. This is where the question of societal forces may come into play. But a typical response to this consideration is two-dimensional thinking. That is, an IQ test may get dumbed down by those who create a particular test. The thinking may be that since a particular minorities culture may not have access to the education or resources of say, for example, an upper class white man, then an answer has to be made simpler, or with fewer references to the imagined world at large. However, this is more a reflection of the bias of those creating a test of this sort. Three-dimensional thinking is what is missed in IQ tests. The questions aren't looking for multiple possibilities, the question are attempting to funnel the response to a single answer. Towards this end, the questions frequently include the phrase, "best response" and this is where the problem lies. This is an area where some have noticed that societal differences can enter into the bigger picture. Again, it is not about dumbing down the questions, but thinking at a deeper level. For instance, a logical conclusion to a farmer may be a different from a Wall Street stockbroker. On the other hand, a woman's conclusion may assimilate subtle emotions and/or pull from a completely different set of criteria than a man's. Culture, geography, mechanics, talents, spirit may all enter into it. By now, most have heard of an EQ test, or an emotional quotient test, that acknowledges that there is more to intelligence than previously thought. Here too though, limitations are placed by attempting to quantify. Isn't it interesting that those who may have a remarkable memory for facts or trivia do not necessarily have an IQ that is that different from the norm? It is the case that for a number of these individuals (if driven by their ego) to allow a so-called "fact" to keep them from having to think beyond a shallow consideration. And let's not leave out those emotionally charged individuals that have searing insights into human nature, which seem dead on (while assassinating another's character through gossip). One may buy what these pseudo intellects or emotional zealots are selling, but it's not necessarily correct. Without necessarily realizing it, this three-pound mass we call a brain is an amazing computer that thinks three dimensionally for everyone. In problem solving, balancing one's checkbook, balancing one's life and family's survival an incredible number of processes kick into gear that don't have to stop at one solution. There are a number of bad choices, a number of good choices and even a few excellent possibilities that you would never find on an IQ test.

if it was not for one gem...:
ok, i went through the whole book...i never really tested my iq...this was a total let-down...most of the questions are just childish forms of trick questions (how far does a dog run into the woods? halfway. from there the dog is running out of the woods...whaaaaaaat?). there is one gem and if you can't get this one, maybe you should buy the book: a horse merchant goes to a fair to sell his horses. he sells half of his horses to his first client and adds half a horse as a bonus. then he sells half of the horses he has left to the second client and, you got it, adds another half a horse for good measure. to the last client, he sells half of the horses he has left and then adds half a horse. all clients got full horses (nobody had to drag half a carcass away). how many horses did the horse merchant sell that day? my god, it seems soooooo simple now but it did take me ten whole minutes to get this one. but honestly, this is probably the only gem in this book so unless if you are totally bored and like asking trick questions to little kids...buy yourself a good meal instead!

The ONLY Mensa Quiz book worth having:
I can honestly say that I have never seen a Mensa book that so accurately reflected the challenges of being truly intellegent as this quiz book. I'm sorry that some of the other reviewers found the questions trival or inconsequential. However, I've found the book to be a lot of fun, and my husband-- a radio personality-- uses questions from it on the air constantly with great response. I think it's a winner!

Lots of teasers:
This book has a lot of brain teasers and a few trivia questions. Though, if you are a trivia buff, you are bound to be disappointed. You'd be much better off buying a book like "Quizzing" which I found had some amazing trivia questions.

An Entertaining Challenge:
If you want a challenge, 'Match Wits With Mensa' is the book. Filled with baffling, beguiling and brain-bursting puzzles, it will amaze, frustrate, inspire and delight. The puzzles are presented within specific categories, and although some solutions might appear obvious, don't jump in too quickly. To illustrate the book's scope and level of difficulty, following are a few examples. GENERAL KNOWLEDGE: True or False. 1) A 'stake-out' is the annual barbecue organized by the detectives within the Remedial Spelling Squad. _______ 2) The largest canal in Europe is Pavarotti's Alimentary. _______ 3) Chicken Cacciatore is always the last guy in the Italian Sky Diving Team to jump. _______ LATERAL THINKING: Circle the odd one out. 1) General, Parental Guidance, Restricted, X. ANSWER: X. It's not a movie classification. It's how Britney Spears signs her autograph. 2) pullover, boot, belt, buckle. ANSWER: Buckle. That's what Bill Clinton did under the pressure. The other words describe what LA Highway Patrolmen do to black motorists by the side of the road. 3) Franz Kafka, Henry Miller, Simone de Beauvoir, Alexei Tolstoy. ANSWER: Henry Miller. He's the only one of the four writers whose stuff has never been translated into English. 4) 12, 13, 14, 15. ANSWER: 13. 12, 14 and 15 are composite numbers. 13 is the IQ of your average talk show host. FAMOUS QUOTATIONS: True or False. 1) Having just been struck on the head by a falling apple, it was Sir Isaac Newton who said in a moment of brilliant scientific insight, "Of course! That's it! I'll call it gr... gra... granny smith!" _______ 2) In 1912, while vigorously arguing that repressed feelings played no part in any notion of The Unconscious, Sigmund Freud said to his rival, Alfred Adler, "Listen, Addled... whoops, pardon the slip. Well, there goes THAT little theory." _______ 3) It was Captain Smith of the 'Titanic' who said to his radio operator, "You're starting to bug me, Sparks. For the last time, the only ice around here is in the navigator's drink." _______ SHOW BUSINESS: Spot the mistake in these well known show business stories. 1) After three years locked away in her study, Bo Derek has recently completed a kiss-and-tell book about her life as an actress in Hollywood. "It was hard work," she said, "but now that I've done it, I might even think about reading another one." MISTAKE: Bo Derek is not an actress. 2) In July, 1991, following one of her more 'explicit' concerts, Madonna was charged with performing an act of gross indecency with a hand-held microphone by singing into it. MISTAKE: The word 'concerts' is ludicrously over-generous. ENGLISH USAGE: True or False. 1) A 'Simple Sentence' is not as good as an acquittal. _______ 2) A 'Double Negative' nets a blackmailer twice the amount. _______ 'Match Wits With Mensa' requires an average understanding of the English language and a moderate ability to reason. I guess that explains why the copy I sent to Jim Carrey is still in the envelope.