Sixty Problems
Copyright (c) 2002 - Marlowe C. Embree, Ph.D.
Your challenge: If "intelligence" is defined as "problem solving ability", how many different kinds (classes or categories) of problems can be identified on the list below... hence, how many separate kinds of intelligence?
1. What does 2 + 3 equal?
2. What is the basic theme of Finnegans Wake?
3. My kindergarten age son is shy and does not make friends easily.
4. What do I want my life to be like in twenty years?
5. My sister and I have been alienated since an argument we had last Christmas.
6. Of the different religious viewpoints in the world, which is most likely to be correct and why?
7. I lost my checkbook last night and can't find it.
8. What is the quickest way to get from West High to the Log Cabin Restaurant by car?
9. How can I ensure that I will have enough money to live on when I retire?
10. My middle school age daughter was caught "huffing".
11. Is light more like a wave or a particle?
12. What would life be like in America today if Germany had won World War II?
13. My wife and I aren't getting along very well these days.
14. My psychology teacher's lectures are boring.
15. My favorite TV show was just cancelled.
16. What is the second derivative of x3 - 2x + 5?
17. The leaky faucet in my bathroom keeps me awake at night.
18. Frankly, I'm not that much interested in life any more.
19. Does human consciousness survive the death of the physical body?
20. Who was the most influential person of the twentieth century?
21. I need to lose twenty pounds but am having a hard time doing so.
22. What are 10 innovative, creative uses for a rock?
23. Where should I go out to eat tonight?
24. Why doesn't anyone understand my sense of humor?
25. How can our society develop a means of providing universal health coverage without bankrupting the economy?
26. My job is boring and frustrating.
27. What can be done about global warming?
28. In the chess game I am playing, my opponent opened with the Queen's Gambit Declined. What move should I make next?
29. Why are we capable of remembering the past, but not the future?
30. What new kind of toothpaste could be developed that would capture the market?
31. My husband annoys me by always leaving the toilet seat in the upright position.
32. I work with an abusive colleague.
33. How can we best account for the origin of the universe?
34. I'm getting too old to shovel snow by hand any more.
35. When I go to my mother's house for dinner, she always serves brussels sprouts. I hate brussels sprouts.
36. I have just been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer that is invariably fatal within one year.
37. What can be done about the Arab-Israeli conflict?
38. What was the primary cause of World War I?
39. What is the square root of 5 - 3i?
40. I'm having trouble finding paint to match the existing color of my spare room.
41. I have a hard time controlling my temper.
42. I wish I were more assertive (if that's okay with you).
43. What would a truly alien (nonhuman) consciousness be like?
44. I can't get promoted at work because I'm a woman.
45. Could there ever be such a thing as a truly universal language?
46. What shall I do about the stray cat that is living under my back porch?
47. Which is better, cheese or Wednesday?
48. I'm in the middle of making a recipe that calls for coriander, but I've run out and the local grocery store doesn't have any.
49. What is a four-letter word that means "baby horse"?
50. What was I doing exactly one year ago today?
51. I'm a Boomer scheduled to give a lecture to an audience of Gen X-ers. Given our different experiences and values, how can I best connect with them?
52. If the price of food keeps going up, I won't be able to afford to eat at all.
53. If I wanted to corner the market in pork belly futures, how would I begin?
54. I think I'm a caffeine addict.
55. What would a person who weighs 100 pounds on earth weigh on the moon?
56. I think I might need bifocals.
57. What is the meaning of life?
58. I have trouble remembering other people's names.
59. What can be done to prevent the collapse of the Social Security system?
60. What shall we name the baby?