The shortest 3-question intelligence test that few people pass

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Assess your intelligence level with just three questions. Ready to find out how smart you are?

There has been a popular belief lately that intelligence is often overrated. Success in life sometimes depends more on courage and impudence than on pure intelligence. There may be some truth to this, but having a high IQ has never been a disadvantage. Are you interested in your own intelligence level? It’s easier to assess than you think.

Traditional IQ tests can be challenging with their many complex questions. They typically contain between 50 and 100 questions, which often leads to frustration and impatience.

For those who find long tests cumbersome, psychologist Shane Frederick has developed a more concise alternative.

In 2005, Shane Frederick introduced the shortest intelligence test ever developed. This test consists of only three questions, and the task is to answer them as quickly as possible.

Shane Frederick, a professor at the Yale School of Management, specializes in decision-making research. In collaboration with Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman, Frederick developed this intelligence test and conducted research to validate it. Of the 3,428 participants, only 17 percent answered all three questions correctly. More than half answered at least one question incorrectly, and a third scored zero out of three. Even among the top students at prestigious American universities, more than half failed the test.

Now it's your turn to test your mental abilities. Think for a minute, write down your answers and look at the answers at the end of the article. You have 2 minutes to answer all three questions.

Ready?

These are the questions:

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Question #1. A tennis racket and a ball together cost $1.10. The racket costs $1 more than the ball. How much does the ball cost?

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Question #2: It takes 5 machines 5 minutes to make 5 parts. How long will it take 100 machines to make 100 parts?

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Question #3. There are water lilies growing in a pond. They grow quite quickly, doubling their area of ​​spread every day. It will take them 48 days to completely cover the pond. How many days will it take for the water lilies to cover half the pond?

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Got the answers? Let's see the correct answers.

According to Shane Frederick, these questions are designed to elicit simple but incorrect answers: 10 cents, 100 minutes, 24 days. These answers are usually given by those who rely on intuitive thinking, while those with a more analytical mind tend to find the right answers.

Arriving at the right answers often requires rejecting the instinctive but incorrect answers that first come to mind. Interestingly, men tended to score higher on this test than women, suggesting that men may be more likely to reflect on their answers rather than rely on intuition.

Now about the correct answers:

Answer #1 : The ball costs 5 cents. If the ball cost 10 cents, the racket would cost $1.10, making it $1.20 instead of $1.10.

Answer #2. Answer 5 minutes. It takes 5 minutes to produce 100 parts on 100 machines. Productivity remains constant regardless of the number of machines.

Answer #3: It takes 47 days to cover half of a pond. Since the lily pads double in size every day, the pond will be half covered in a day before it is completely covered.

If you answered all three questions correctly, congratulations! You are one of the smartest people out there. If you didn't get something right, don't be upset. It just means you have a more intuitive way of thinking.

How many correct answers do you have? Write in the comments!