Can you solve that problem?

[Str!ke]

Only with the hints I got it but without them I wouldn't have it either ><

 

[lostinself]

It took me about 3 minutes but i'm pretty sure i wouldn't have solved it without that hint about pre-school kids.

 

[pete02]

It took me a couple of minutes myself. Not sure that's a good thing though cause it puts me more in the child category than intelligent adults!

 

[dugdeep]

I checked it out on my break at work and couldn't figure it out. Then I checked it again on my second break a few hours later and I got it right away. I guess there's something to be said for sitting with a problem for awhile, while thinking about something else. I guess my system 1 figured it out while I was working :D

 

[Olesya]

The answer came pretty fast. My daughter solved it even faster than I did. So it is true that some problems and their solutions are more obvious to the children than adults. The answer got me thinking about an array of seemingly unrelated things. I need to sleep on it. :) Thank you, Gandalf. It is fun!

 

[Nicholas]

My that was frustratingly fun. Took me 40 minutes. The first 30 minutes I must have been trying to hard. Then I came back to it and tried to relax my mind and suddenly the key to the pattern popped out!

 

[Stoneboss]

Well, I didn't get it at all even though I tried to get into the pre-school mindset.

Same with me.

 

[loreta]

Well, I didn't get it at all even though I tried to get into the pre-school mindset.

Same with me.

I am in your club. When in front of numbers I loose my temper, my mind, my concentration, my intelligence, everything that is me is lost in front of mathematics. This is very, extremely frustrating because I know that mathematics is the most important thing in this planet. And evidently I am out of humor in front of numbers, also.

 

[Gimpy]

When I first looked at it, my brain shut off. ;D

Half a day later, when I was tired from sweeping off the sidewalk outside, I looked at it again and thought "Oh, its this."

Isn't it funny how math is often a source of frustration and knee jerk avoidance? Even when its something simple, I still have a strong aversion to numbers, especially story problems. I am convinced those were created to torment people, and if hell does exist? It's filled with soap operas, sitcoms, and story problems.

 

[Keit]

I think I see the answer - SPOILER ALERT:

Didn't put the spoiler in the quote on purpose. ;)

And yeah, it's so simple and obvious when you know the answer! Thinking like a pre-schooler and seeing patterns, indeed. As for myself, I "guessed" or was sure about what will be the right answer, but couldn't explain it until I gave up and read your post.

 

[Alana]

The clue is to think like a pre-school child ;)

That helped ;) I saw it after a few minutes.

 

[Olesya]

I think I see the answer - SPOILER ALERT:

Didn't put the spoiler in the quote on purpose. ;)

And yeah, it's so simple and obvious when you know the answer! Thinking like a pre-schooler and seeing patterns, indeed. As for myself, I "guessed" or was sure about what will be the right answer, but couldn't explain it until I gave up and read your post.

What looks really curious to me now is that when my daughter was solving this problem yesterday, in the beginning she forgot to add the last number. That was kind of strange. She got it eventually. And today, after I read this post, I think it is well worth mentioning. Thank you, Keit.

 

[tempo]

I approached it like a code where certain digits on the right had a certain value, then just added up those values, using logic to find the pattern of which digits had what values.

I think I see the answer - SPOILER ALERT:


The numbers to the right represent the number of circles/zeros in the numbers on the left

Totally didn't notice the digits I assigned values to corresponded to the digits with circles in them!

 

[Deleted member 4737]

Doh! I feel like smacking myself now. :D
I've always loved the riddles that require you to think outside of your box.

 

[l apprenti de forgeron]

When I first looked at it, my brain shut off. ;D

Half a day later, when I was tired from sweeping off the sidewalk outside, I looked at it again and thought "Oh, its this."

Isn't it funny how math is often a source of frustration and knee jerk avoidance? Even when its something simple, I still have a strong aversion to numbers, especially story problems. I am convinced those were created to torment people, and if hell does exist? It's filled with soap operas, sitcoms, and story problems.

It took me a while to realize too. Thanks for sharing Gandalf!