Wow. I watched this program on a math savant, and it was fascinating. How they think he visualizes numbers, and has an extreme memory. He also learned a new language from scratch in a week. And most surprisingly of all, he didn't have any known extraordinary disabilities like most savants tend to have- truly amazing.
It was on the Discovery Health Channel.
Brainman Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
If you want to depress yourself about the state of humanity, take their test. It's easy enough to be a little embarrassing.
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
Hey! I got a perfect score on the smarty pants quiz. And I don't even wear pants!
quote: Which of the following is not a form of an electromagnetic wave?
a) X-rays b) Microwave oven c) Water d) Warmth radiating from a radiator
That was my favorite!
Posted by Evie3217 (Member # 5426) on :
Aww....I missed one question. I guess I'm just pretty smart. Oh well.
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
Was it that you weren't sure if a microwave oven or water was a wave?
I'm looking at my oven, and it doesn't look all that wavy to me.
Posted by Evie3217 (Member # 5426) on :
Tante- I always thought that water was just a little too wavy for my tastes.
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
<-- a wave Another wave --> Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
You prefer your water in particle form?
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
I missed a few, although I did manage to have the correct answer as my second choice....
Also, it is because of the DENSITY of the sun, not it's size, that causes it's gavity to dominate the solar system, so their test has a mistake in it.
Density does not equal size, although it this case the larger object IS more dense so the effect is the same. Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
I still say the "microwave oven" one is the best mistake. And as I understand it, it's the mass of the Sun -- neither size nor density -- which matters in this case.
Posted by Shigosei (Member # 3831) on :
Well, the mass is sort of the size times the density (if you say that size = volume), so we can all be right and hold hands and sing happy songs.
Maybe that will keep me from bemoaning the state of humanity. You don't need to be a smarty-pants to do well on that test. You don't even need to be a smarty-boxers. And I guess I could say my microwave oven is a wave of some kind...as long as I'm not observing it.
Posted by Eaquae Legit (Member # 3063) on :
Isn't E=mc^2 the Law of Conservation of Mass and Energy? Or can it be Relativity too? It's been too long since I last did this stuff.
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
You all are such smarty pantses. Uh, smarties pants? And I love being right and holding hands and singing happy songs -- good idea, Shigosei.
Posted by KarlEd (Member # 571) on :
The biggest mistake is calling it a test of "brilliance". It is merely a test of knowledge. To me "brilliance" would be a test of intelligence or problem solving using questions for which you didn't need to have taken a science history lesson.
A monkey who can assemble a step-ladder to reach a banana is displaying a level of "brilliance".
A student who can recite the periodic table is displaying "knowledge". (Or perhaps an extraordinary memory.)
Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
EL: E=MC^2 is the theory of Relativity.
The Law of Conservation of Mass and Energy states that "Matter and Energy can neither be created or destroyed."
The theory of Relativity showed that Matter can become Energy, maintaining the Law of Conservation of Mass and Energy.
![[Wave]](graemlins/wave.gif)
<-- a wave![[The Wave]](graemlins/thewave.gif)
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
And as I understand it, it's the mass of the Sun -- neither size nor density -- which matters in this case.