Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

CategoryLogic

three-fabric-gift-bags-in-gray-beige-and-red-sitting-on-a-ma-1173416824-stockpack-adobe_stock
Three fabric gift bags in gray, beige, and red, sitting on a marble surface against a bokeh background of Christmas lights.
Type
post
Robert J. Marks
Date
March 10, 2025
Categorized
Logic, Mathematics
Tagged
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Monday Micro Softy 17: Mixed-up Bags of Marbles

The bags-of-marbles puzzle is comparatively simple: How many marbles must you pull from the mislabeled bags in order to relabel them correctly?
Robert J. Marks
March 10, 2025
4
Logic, Mathematics
There’s a rough solution to the “leaky bucket” problem but an exact solution requires some use of fluid dynamics. And the Moon, surprisingly, changes nothing. Read More ›
colorful-space-galaxy-cloud-nebula-stary-night-cosmos-universe-science-astronomy-supernova-background-wallpaper-stockpack-adobe-stock
Colorful space galaxy cloud nebula. Stary night cosmos. Universe science astronomy. Supernova background wallpaper
Type
post
Peter Biles
Date
February 26, 2025
Categorized
Cosmology, Logic, Philosophy, Religion, Science
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Ross Douthat Makes the Case that Religious Belief Is Rational

His new book is written largely with the agnostic or full-on atheist in mind but believers would certainly also benefit, as I did
Peter Biles
February 26, 2025
5
Cosmology, Logic, Philosophy, Religion, Science
He notes, if our brains evolved merely to help us stay alive, then it’s strange that those same mental states could invent the telescope to explore the cosmos. Read More ›
set-of-metal-washers-in-the-foreground-stockpack-adobe-stock-295865857-stockpack-adobe_stock
Set of metal washers in the foreground
Type
post
Robert J. Marks
Date
February 24, 2025
Categorized
Logic
Tagged

Micro Softy 15: What Happens to the Hole in a Hot Washer?

When a washer ring is heated, does the hole in the center get bigger or smaller?
Robert J. Marks
February 24, 2025
2
Logic
The answer to last week’s Micro Softy turns on the question of what form of currency Claire gave the blind ticket seller. Did you guess it right? Read More ›
facade-of-grand-central-terminal-at-twilight-in-new-york-sto-73869599-stockpack-adobe_stock
Facade of Grand Central Terminal at twilight in New York
Type
post
Robert J. Marks
Date
February 17, 2025
Categorized
Creativity, Logic
Tagged

Monday Micro Softy 14: How Did the Blind Ticket Seller Know?

This puzzle doesn’t require math skills so much as advanced common sense reasoning
Robert J. Marks
February 17, 2025
3
Creativity, Logic
About last week’s solution, given here: If you code, the second part of the puzzle could also be offered to a computer. Read More ›
sandcastle-at-st-aubins-beach-stockpack-adobe-stock-26053835-stockpack-adobe_stock
Sandcastle at St Aubin's Beach
Type
post
Eric Holloway
Date
February 10, 2025
Categorized
Logic, Mathematics
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How Mathematician Kurt Gödel Proved the Unprovable Proposition

He kicked over the mathematical sandcastles of those who proposed a mathematical Theory of Everything
Eric Holloway
February 10, 2025
6
Logic, Mathematics
While Gödel’s technique was unheard of in his day, we are very familiar with it today. It is the same technique that computers use to store information. Read More ›
stained-glass-window-stockpack-adobe-stock-49509031-stockpack-adobe_stock
stained-glass window
Type
post
Robert J. Marks
Date
February 10, 2025
Categorized
Logic, Mathematics
Tagged
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Monday Micro Softy 13: Garbage Trucks, String Theory…

… and Stained-Glass Windows. What connects them?
Robert J. Marks
February 10, 2025
4
Logic, Mathematics
These puzzles, associated with the great mathematician Leonard Euler (1707‒1783), have a practical use, for example, in laying water pipes. Read More ›
group-of-musicians-after-the-performance-of-his-work-stockpa-64535576-stockpack-adobe_stock
group of musicians after the performance of his work
Type
post
Robert J. Marks
Date
January 27, 2025
Categorized
Logic, Mathematics, Probability
Tagged
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Monday Micro Softy 11: What Happened to That Other Dollar?

Shirley, Goodness, and Mercy get the discount for their cheap hotel rooms but the figures don’t really add up
Robert J. Marks
January 27, 2025
7
Logic, Mathematics, Probability
To solve this Micro Softy, you need to pinpoint the flaw in the logic that hinges on the Law of Conservation of Money. Read More ›
manhole-drain-cover-on-streets-of-lower-manhattan-stockpack-62965341-stockpack-adobe_stock
Manhole drain cover on streets of lower Manhattan
Type
post
Robert J. Marks
Date
November 18, 2024
Categorized
Business and Finance, Logic
Tagged
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Microsoft: What Did You Need To Work There in the Early Days?

They asked questions that were not about the details of computer technology. The questions made you think. Hard.
Robert J. Marks
November 18, 2024
3
Business and Finance, Logic
For example. they would ask questions like, why are manhole covers round? Read More ›
four-leaf-clover-stands-out-against-green-leaves-stockpack-adobe-stock
Four-leaf clover stands out against green leaves
Type
post
Gary Smith
Date
August 21, 2024
Categorized
Business and Finance, Logic, Mathematics, Sports
Tagged
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Bad Luck Seldom Persists — But it Never Guarantees Good Luck

Many people embrace the fallacious law of averages in their daily lives when "regression toward the mean" is a more realistic picture
Gary Smith
August 21, 2024
6
Business and Finance, Logic, Mathematics, Sports
For example, the baseball player with the highest batting average in any season generally does not do as well the season before or the season after. Read More ›
a-pile-of-shovels-and-forks-laying-on-the-ground-stockpack-unsplash
a pile of shovels and forks laying on the ground
Type
post
Gary Smith
Date
June 27, 2024
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Logic
Tagged
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AI Is Still a Delusion

Following instructions and performing fast, tireless, error-free calculations is not intelligence in any meaningful sense of the word
Gary Smith
June 27, 2024
8
Artificial Intelligence, Logic
Not knowing what words mean, neither OpenAI’s ChatGPT 3.5 nor Microsoft’s Copilot nor Google’s Gemini can do a simple logic test. Read More ›