The following experiment shows how much effort it takes to question your own theory. A professor presented his students with the number sequence 2–4–6.They had to calculate the underlying rule that the professor had written on the back of a sheet of paper. The students had to provide the next number in the sequence, to which the professor would reply ‘fits the rule’ or ‘does not fit the rule’. The students could guess as many numbers as they wanted, but could try to identify the rule only once. Most students suggested 8 as the next number, and the professor replied: ‘Fits the rule.’ To be sure, they tried 10, 12 and 14. The professor replied each time: ‘Fits the rule.’ The students concluded that: ‘The rule is to add two to the last number.’ The professor shook his head: ‘That is not the rule.’One shrewd student tried a different approach. He tested out the number -2. The professor said ‘Does not fit the rule.’ ‘Seven?’ he asked. ‘Fits the rule.’ The student tried all sorts of numbers -24, 9, -43?. . .?Apparently he had an idea, and he was trying to find a flaw with it. Only when he could no longer find a counterexample, the student said: ‘The rule is this: the next number must be higher than the previous one.’ The professor turned over the sheet of paper, and this was exactly what he’d written down. What distinguished the resourceful student from the others? While the majority of students sought merely to confirm their theories, he tried to find fault with his,consciously looking for disconfirming evidence.
Posted on: Fri, 18 Apr 2014 09:31:56 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015