From: rhinoceros (rhinoceros@freemail.gr)
Date: Sun Feb 29 2004 - 13:32:14 MST
An update on the the problem of the 10 divisions:
<quote>
problem #3:"Can you name the smallest number, which when divided by 10 gives a reminder of 9, when divided by 9 gives 8 as the reminder, when divided by 8 gives 7 as the remainder and so on, down to a remainder of 1 when divided by 2?"
how does the human brain come up with an answer......
<end quote>
This problem is trivial for a computer. It spits out the answer (2519) in a fraction of a second just by checking the numbers sequentially.
Now, the human brain is an animal of a different kind. It is not satisfied with this kind of answers. It needs to know "why". What does "why" mean in this case? I think humans demand that a solution should tell them how to handle similar problems in the future. They demand a generalization, something to fit in with other things they know how to do.
But if you think of it, today we have the computer which we can instruct to do these simple jobs for us. Isn't this enough? Could it be that this attitude of ours evolved in a pre-technological age? Even so, that is who we are.
Heh, I'll keep looking for a "why".
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