Brain Teasers
When we view certain visual images, we often fix on seeing them in one way, as in the vase below:
If you look again and think of the vase as background instead of the foreground, you may see the profiles of two people.
In the figure below, you probably see the green arrows. Try to see the figure from a different perspective and push those green arrows into the background. Can you now see the arrows emerge facing the opposite direction?
Sometimes our mental assumptions actually distort reality. Look at the figure below. Does the upper line appear longer than the lower one?
Take a ruler and measure the two lines and you'll see that they are the identical length. The above exercises are basic examples of visual brain teasers, the type that can and should become a part of your daily mental aerobic workout.
Warm-up Exercise.
1. Take a piece of paper and a pencil and try writing your first name using your non-dominant hand (i.e., left hand if you are right-handed). Now take a second pencil and try writing your first name using both hands at the same time. Now try it with your last name.
2 - Right-Brain Exercise. How many squares are there in the following figure?
3 - Right-Brain Exercise. Complete the sequence by choosing object A, B, or C:
4 - Right-Brain Exercise. Look at the object on the left and then choose the version that matches, A, B, or C.
5 - Right-Brain Exercise. Arrange five toothpicks of your own into the shape of a number five as below. Now try to rearrange them into the number sixteen.
6 - Left-Brain Exercise. The following proverb has had all of the vowels taken out, and the remaining letters broken up into groups of four or three letters each. Replace the vowels and find the proverb:
RLLN GSTN GTH RSN MSS
7 - Left-Brain Exercise. Starting with SOFT, change one letter at a time until you have the word LENS. Each change must be a proper word.
SOFT, ............, ............, ............, LENS
8 - Left-Brain Exercise. A water lily doubles its size every day in a round pond, and after 20 days, the lily will completely cover the pond. How many days will it take to cover half the pond?
9 - Left-Brain Exercise. Which is the odd one out:
CAT MONKEE WHALE MOUSE SHARK
10 - Left-Brain Exercise. What number ends this sequence?
36 25 16 9 __
11 - Left-Brain Exercise. Which letter or number is the odd one in each rectangle?
12 - Whole-Brain Exercise (both hemispheres). A woman marries 11 men in the space of 10 years. She divorces none of them, none of them die and she has not committed any crime. How is this possible?
13 - Whole-Brain Exercise. You need to get a pair of matching socks from your drawer but the room is pitch black. You know there are 10 blue socks and 10 brown socks in the drawer. How many socks do you need to remove to be sure you have a pair of matching socks?
14 - Whole-Brain Exercise. Hans is standing behind Gerrie and at the same time Gerrie is standing behind Hans.
