I think mostly people don't hate teachers, most professors are pretty cool till you get to the Sciences where the professors often think in black and white. Last year I finished my Masters in Business, I was often a thorn in instructors beliefs cause I knew they had limited real life experiences compared to mine, but in the world of grades for those who need them students have to become sheep and stay within the confines of the black and white, it is like the corporate world, know who the guy is above you and tell him what he is expecting from you. But truly bright people don't think between the two, they think outside the box. You have to think outside the box if you want to get ahead. I just wonder how many solutions it took to invent the altimeter? And did the question to the student was vague.
The link I provided gives the history of the problem if you can be arsed to look it up. As far as the problem itself, in the absense of a barometer, the other answers make sense. Go for the weighted rope, go for the stopwatch, go for the bribeable super, go nuts. BUT given a working barometer, there is only one answer that makes sense. This wasn't a test in creativity, this was a test to see if the student learned the tried-and-true class material and he failed miserably to demonstrate such learning. Sucks to be him. Thinking outside the box is great, even mandatory, for unsolved problems. This example isn't that. Get over it.
Perhaps the student could have had what the other 99% would have written about under his first answer to pacify those who require to have more of rigid answer. But he still won his debate, cept took longer and lesson in some classes best to be like sheep. kut2k2, always like reading your posts.
Seriously, this wasn't a class in creative writing, it wasn't a class in engineering design and it wasn't a class in experimental physics. All of those benefit from creativity. This was a test in basic physics. If the student fails to demonstrate his knowledge of the core material, he has nobody to blame but himself. And if this is based on a true story and the student did win his argument, then shame on the so-called instructor. Every answer that ignores the basic function of the barometer is emphatically suboptimal. How is that teaching good problem solving? The analogy of this anecdote/urban legend/whatever to trading strategy design is utterly specious.
Lateral thinking is solving problems through an indirect and creative approach, using reasoning that is not immediately obvious and involving ideas that may not be obtainable by using only traditional step-by-step logic. The term was coined in 1967 by Edward de Bono. Lateral thinking - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lateral_thinking
Everybody seems intent on missing my point. This isn't about lateral thinking or creativity, which is great. This isn't about thinking outside the box. This is about a lame example that simply fails. Using a barometer to measure altitude is a SOLVED problem. All the creativity has already been done. The test is to see if you've learned the solved problem, not to see if you can reinvent the wheel. In fact, using the rope, the stopwatch, etcetera is precisely like trying to reinvent the wheel and coming up with something that isn't nearly as round as the solution that was already taught in class. Sorry, folks, but sometimes there are right answers and wrong answers. If you add two and two and get any answer other than four, you are simply wrong. The world doesn't give a rat's ass about your opinion in many cases. Get the right answer or get lost. "Sorta right" just doesn't cut it in basic math, or basic science, or engineering design where lives are at stake. And if you're a really good trader, this applies to you as well. "Sorta profitable" is for posers; the best traders want the best methodologies they can muster to get the best results possible.
There was a gentleman whose handle is Hirtop who sent me a PM. If you read this, the website is not allowing me to respond to you, idk if it is bc your profile has limited functionality as it is new. If you want me to respond, pls post your question in the forum here and i will try my best to help. As you can see from what has already happened, the thread will be bombarded with useless comments and messages...just.ignore the stupid responses that you will get and i will reply back to you.accordingly. BOG