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This puzzle appeared in The Guardian a couple of days ago. The author claimed that approximately 80% of people get the wrong answer.
It’s not a trick question, nor does it involve lateral thinking.
John is looking at Anne.
Anne is looking at George.
John is married. George is not married.
Is a married person looking at an unmarried person?
Yes
No
Not Enough Information
I’ll post the answer later today.
Comments
In principle and in guess...
In principle, there is not enough information, as we have no reliable way to discern whether Anne is married or not.
In guess, however, ladies should not stare so openly if they are married. And married men typically look at women who are not married. ;-) So, Anne must be unmarried, and since John is looking at her, the answer should be Yes. :-)
Yes.
The answer is yes.
A nice couple of minutes thinking, thanks.
Now back to my Sudoku.
Joolz
Yes
Yes, 100% certain. Case 1: Anne is unmarried. The first sentence describes a married person looking at an unmarried person.
Case 2: Anne is married. Now, the second sentence applies.
-- Daphne Xu
If those two are the only
If those two are the only possibilities while widowed, divorced and engaged are unmarried - then you're right.
on face value
it would be not enough information.
some of the responses are very insightful as to others thinking. saying a married person does or doesnt look at someone because of their status is only valid part of the time. there are lots of "cheaters" but this is just talking about LOOKING, as in just seeing a person. if you are in the same room, you are looking at each other, unless you are so shy and antisocial you dont even look in their direction.
based on the not a trick question, or no lateral thinking, i would have to stay with not enough information.
Teresa L.
Timing
This would have to be after John married Cynthia but before George married Pattie, since George didn't divorce her until after John married Yoko. I'm not sure who Anne is.
By any chance...
... is this a reference to The Beatles?
-- Daphne Xu
LOL - love the answers so far.
The answers given are very insightful, however in most cases (>90%) the simplest answer is the correct one. People usually get the wrong answer because they 'read' more into it the is necessary.
The only things we know about Anne is that John is looking at her and she is looking at George. We know nothing of her marital status, and the social queues we know vary by country and state/region so do not apply. Soooo, the only correct answer is "Not Enough Information".
Great post Nicki
Hugs,
Erin of Wis
Daphne has the correct answer; yes.
I too love all of the answers so far.
We have no information regarding Anne's marital status of which there are only two possibilities.
Possibility 1: Anne is married.
John (married) is looking at Anne (married).
Anne (married) is looking at George (not married). Answer: Yes.
Possibility 2: Anne is not married.
John (married) is looking at Anne (not married). Answer: Yes.
Anne (not married) is looking at George (not married).
Wait a minute, wait a minute!
We may not have enough information. Nowhere is it stated that John, Anne, and George are persons. For all we know they could be married or not married pets, or maybe even aliens or something even weirder!
Anne could be divorced or widowed
In which case the correct answer is No.
That does not matter
If Anne is divorced or widowed (ocurring sometime in the past) then she is still either married or not married when she is looking at George. The reason she might be not married (because never married, annulled, divorced, widowed, etc.). does not matter, she is still not married.
not
enough information by my logic.
oophs
I submit to the logic of the answer that posted while I was posting and change my answer to yes.
Not enough information to tell, the way I see it
But I'm not very bright ...
Nerd humor
http://www.buzzfeed.com/tomchivers/shut-up-the-constipated-m...
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.