MJ DeMarco
I followed the science; all I found was money.
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So this week I see my FB newsfeed blow up with this stupid giraffe riddle.
(And by "stupid" I mean the riddle itself, not the people who played, and got played.)
If you haven't heard it, here it is.
It’s 3 a.m., the doorbell rings and you wake up. Unexpected visitors! It’s your parents and they are here for breakfast. You have strawberry jam, honey, wine, bread and cheese. What is the first thing you open?
If you answer incorrectly, you're supposed to change your profile picture to a giraffe. I'm sure you've seen many of your FB friends change their profile picture.
So if you haven't answered the riddle yet, take a guess.
(SPOILERS BELOW)
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
The correct answer, and the answer that is being universally accepted by the masses, is "your eyes."
Some are claiming it's "the door".
The truth is, neither of these are correct unless you are being intellectually dishonest and ignoring verb tenses.
The correct answer would be "your eyes" if the riddle read "What is the first thing you opened?" But it doesn't. "OPEN" is present tense, meaning, you're already awake. In order to see your parents outside the door, both the DOOR and your EYES are already open.
And yet, the internet as whole, believes that "your eyes" is the correct answer.
Some argue it's the door.
The real answer, if you're being intellectually honest and critically thinking based on the given information and their verb tenses, is "your mouth".
Here's what I wrote on FB regarding this poor excuse for a "riddle"...
The *riddle* asks what is the first thing you "open" which is present tense-- NOT the first thing you opened, past tense. I guess English means nothing when you're trying to propagate a poorly written riddle. Like Bill Clinton, I guess verb tense is something we can ignore when it serves our agenda. The fact is, you cannot see your parents without your eyes open. You cannot see your parents without the door already open. (Oh, am I to believe a curtain-jerked look out the window? GMAFB). The correct answer is your mouth. Because after you open your eyes to open the door, you yell "WTF are you doing here at this hour?" The entire thing is based on intellectual dishonesty and syntaxical errors. Real riddles should be grossly offended. I want my 45 seconds back.
I think this entire thing blowing up has many interesting angles.
1) How people are easily hoodwinked into believing something without really critically thinking about it.
2) How people don't question "why" and just because its "on Google", that the answer must be correct.
3) No matter how many websites exclaim that the answer is "your eyes" it doesn't change the truth based on a correct reading of tensing: If you're being syntaxically correct and intellectually honest, the real answer is "your mouth", or really, anything you want from the point you see your parents. (You could effectively keep quiet an open a carton of OJ. LOL)
4) The psychology (and gullibility?) of the masses.
5) How "one word" can change the meaning of something. (Open VS Opened)
6) How a poorly written story can get so much publicity. (I say "story" because calling this a riddle is an insult to real riddles.)
What's your take?
(And by "stupid" I mean the riddle itself, not the people who played, and got played.)
If you haven't heard it, here it is.
It’s 3 a.m., the doorbell rings and you wake up. Unexpected visitors! It’s your parents and they are here for breakfast. You have strawberry jam, honey, wine, bread and cheese. What is the first thing you open?
If you answer incorrectly, you're supposed to change your profile picture to a giraffe. I'm sure you've seen many of your FB friends change their profile picture.
So if you haven't answered the riddle yet, take a guess.
(SPOILERS BELOW)
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
The correct answer, and the answer that is being universally accepted by the masses, is "your eyes."
Some are claiming it's "the door".
The truth is, neither of these are correct unless you are being intellectually dishonest and ignoring verb tenses.
The correct answer would be "your eyes" if the riddle read "What is the first thing you opened?" But it doesn't. "OPEN" is present tense, meaning, you're already awake. In order to see your parents outside the door, both the DOOR and your EYES are already open.
And yet, the internet as whole, believes that "your eyes" is the correct answer.
Some argue it's the door.
The real answer, if you're being intellectually honest and critically thinking based on the given information and their verb tenses, is "your mouth".
Here's what I wrote on FB regarding this poor excuse for a "riddle"...
The *riddle* asks what is the first thing you "open" which is present tense-- NOT the first thing you opened, past tense. I guess English means nothing when you're trying to propagate a poorly written riddle. Like Bill Clinton, I guess verb tense is something we can ignore when it serves our agenda. The fact is, you cannot see your parents without your eyes open. You cannot see your parents without the door already open. (Oh, am I to believe a curtain-jerked look out the window? GMAFB). The correct answer is your mouth. Because after you open your eyes to open the door, you yell "WTF are you doing here at this hour?" The entire thing is based on intellectual dishonesty and syntaxical errors. Real riddles should be grossly offended. I want my 45 seconds back.
I think this entire thing blowing up has many interesting angles.
1) How people are easily hoodwinked into believing something without really critically thinking about it.
2) How people don't question "why" and just because its "on Google", that the answer must be correct.
3) No matter how many websites exclaim that the answer is "your eyes" it doesn't change the truth based on a correct reading of tensing: If you're being syntaxically correct and intellectually honest, the real answer is "your mouth", or really, anything you want from the point you see your parents. (You could effectively keep quiet an open a carton of OJ. LOL)
4) The psychology (and gullibility?) of the masses.
5) How "one word" can change the meaning of something. (Open VS Opened)
6) How a poorly written story can get so much publicity. (I say "story" because calling this a riddle is an insult to real riddles.)
What's your take?
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