WoK3: Puzzle #5

Anthony and Cleopatra are lying dead on the floor of a villa in Egypt. Nearby is a broken bowl. There is no mark on either of their bodies and they were not poisoned. How did they die?

WoK3: Puzzle #4

Deep in the forest was found the body of a man who was wearing only swimming trunks, snorkel and face mask. The nearest lake was eight miles away and the sea was 100 miles away. How did he die?

WoK3: Puzzle #3

A man is lying dead in a field. Next to him there is an unopened package. There is no other creature in the field. How did he die?

WoK3: Puzzle #2

Not far from Madrid, there is a large wooden barn. The barn is completely empty except for a dead man hanging from the middle of the central rafter. The rope around his neck is ten feet long and his feet are three feet off the ground. The nearest wall is twenty feet away from the man. It is not possible to climb up the walls or along the rafters. The man hanged himself. How did he do it?

WoK3: Puzzle #1

A man lives on the tenth floor of a building. Every day he takes the elevator to go down to the ground floor to go to work or go shopping. When he returns, he takes the elevator to the seventh floor and walks the stairs to reach his apartment on the tenth floor. He hates walking so why does he do it?

WoK3: Reason

Rationalism comes from the Latin ratio, meaning 'reason'. While our sense perception, language, and emotion provide us with some valid ways of knowing, each has their limitations. As a result, philosophers often turn to reason as a rational attempt to find logically persuasive ways of knowing. Rationalists, in fact, believe that reason plays the main role in understanding the world and obtaining knowledge -- and they seek to prove their ‘knowledge’ through reasoned arguments.

From our viewing of Monty Python's 'Argument Clinic', we learned that an argument:

1. is an intellectual process;
2. is a connected series of statements intended to establish a proposition; and
3. involves supporting claims and judging those of others.

In short, an argument = a set of statements which is such that one of them (the conclusion) is supported or implied by the others (the premise). In lesson 2, we will explore the two main types of arguments –- i.e. deductive and inductive.

In preparation for next lesson, I would like you to attempt the puzzles #1-#5. To do so successfully, you will be testing your lateral thinking skills – i.e. solving problems by employing unorthodox and apparently illogical means, so that the usual thinking patterns are challenged and restructured.

Please have a go at least two of the five puzzles above... and post your solution as a comment to your attempted puzzles by Tuesday, December 4th.

Romeo & Juliet -- Cole

1.

The two families of Romeo and Juliet, are sworn enemies, therefore, it is forbidden that Romeo and Juliet are together, So Romeo decides to hide outside Juliets window in the hedges as he overhears Juliet confessing her love for Romeo and how she wishes He could change his name so that it would be okay for them, surprisingly he agrees to this.

We can relate this to our lesson on what language is because although this play was written a very long time ago, all the same purposes were intended, they are trying to express themselves and we all use language to communicate and express ourselves and our thoughts and feelings and this is exactly what they are doing. We know our language and the way we speak it is dependant on our culture and hthis is why the passage has different way of being spoken and language has changed to create more moderness or simplicity.

As we know, language is a skill, words are tools of the skills, since we know our mother tongue language comes from our culture etc, we know how to speak it but nevr ponde the question why? why? why is a dog called a dog?, Why is a horse called a horse? Why dont we change it, and what does it mean, and where does it come from? This is the exact problem, we all use words to communicate but the six billion and more of us in the world all speak different languages due to our cultures which creates many complications due to our communicative sustainability. Therefore we need to try to influence the new people in this world to speak a union, a universal language.

Cole Pamuk 6U1