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> I would guess that your ability to correctly answer an "ambiguous" question like that measures your ability to effectively communicate with other humans So i

> I would guess that your ability to correctly answer an "ambiguous" question like that measures your ability to effectively communicate with other humans So it measures how good you are at not thinking outside of the box? ;)

FaceKicker 14y ago
Exactly. But I would say that "thinking inside of the box" is actually an incredibly important skill in practical situations. Probably 99+% of any functioning adult's thinking is "inside-the-box" (I realize that this is sort of a nebulous/meaningless statement, sorry). Things that we don't even think about, like looking both ways before crossing the street or watching our step as we get off the bus are all examples of inside-the-box thinking. But maybe a more interesting example of inside-the-box thinking (in the context of something you might want to actually test) is communicating effectively with other humans of a similar cultural background to your own. So to get back to the portion of the article I quoted and maybe refine my point a bit, maybe it really isn't fair to say that any answer to questions like the farm animal one is more "natural" than another, but rather only seems more natural due to the biases of our own mental models that our evolution has optimized for survival rather than to achieve any measure of fundamental truth or purity. That's perfectly okay to me, as long as the test makes no claim to measure intelligence in any "fundamental" sense, but rather in a particular sense of intelligence that arises only as a human being living on earth. It's entirely a matter of opinion whether such a sense of intelligence is of any interest or relevance, though. Personally I think it is.
- evoxed 14y ago
  I prefer to describe it to people as thinking the box, knowing the contents, and being willing keep it neat and tidy inside.
- waterlesscloud 14y ago
  Perhaps the best way to put it is that this kind of question measures an ability to discern the edges of the box.
- moconnor 14y ago
  Not so much thinking inside or outside "the" box, but being able to think inside somebody else's.
- gurkendoktor 14y ago
  I agree. I am just not sure what task this is particularly useful for- from experience, it is really, really good for "feeling what an exam is probably about and acing it without studying much" :)
nitrogen 14y ago
I would put it as measuring one's ability to determine the most salient category from the perspective of the person asking the question. In the case of the farm animal question, the context of the question implies the criteria that should be used to determine which is different.

FaceKicker 14y ago

Exactly. But I would say that "thinking inside of the box" is actually an incredibly important skill in practical situations. Probably 99+% of any functioning adult's thinking is "inside-the-box" (I realize that this is sort of a nebulous/meaningless statement, sorry). Things that we don't even think about, like looking both ways before crossing the street or watching our step as we get off the bus are all examples of inside-the-box thinking. But maybe a more interesting example of inside-the-box thinking (in the context of something you might want to actually test) is communicating effectively with other humans of a similar cultural background to your own. So to get back to the portion of the article I quoted and maybe refine my point a bit, maybe it really isn't fair to say that any answer to questions like the farm animal one is more "natural" than another, but rather only seems more natural due to the biases of our own mental models that our evolution has optimized for survival rather than to achieve any measure of fundamental truth or purity. That's perfectly okay to me, as long as the test makes no claim to measure intelligence in any "fundamental" sense, but rather in a particular sense of intelligence that arises only as a human being living on earth. It's entirely a matter of opinion whether such a sense of intelligence is of any interest or relevance, though. Personally I think it is.

evoxed 14y ago
I prefer to describe it to people as thinking the box, knowing the contents, and being willing keep it neat and tidy inside.
waterlesscloud 14y ago
Perhaps the best way to put it is that this kind of question measures an ability to discern the edges of the box.
moconnor 14y ago
Not so much thinking inside or outside "the" box, but being able to think inside somebody else's.
gurkendoktor 14y ago
I agree. I am just not sure what task this is particularly useful for- from experience, it is really, really good for "feeling what an exam is probably about and acing it without studying much" :)

nitrogen 14y ago

I would put it as measuring one's ability to determine the most salient category from the perspective of the person asking the question. In the case of the farm animal question, the context of the question implies the criteria that should be used to determine which is different.