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Oct 20, 2006

Brain Puzzle for the Whole Brain: The Blind Beggar

By:

Exer­cise mul­ti­ple areas of your brain by try­ing to answer this riddle:

A blind beg­gar had a brother who died. What rela­tion was
the blind beg­gar to the brother who died?
“Brother” is not the answer.

Now, your brain’s turn. What is the answer?

tick tick tick tick…

still work­ing on it? …

Expla­na­tion (answer at bot­tom):
This puz­zle is very sim­ply stated and yet stumps those who have not heard it before, because the lis­tener tends to make an implicit assump­tion about gen­der — in this case that a blind beg­gar is a man.

Brain Use:
This puz­zle touches on ana­lyt­i­cal func­tions like abstract rea­son­ing, hypoth­e­sis test­ing, and implicit assump­tions resid­ing in your frontal lobes, as well as your cre­ativ­ity in find­ing novel solu­tions to prob­lems and emo­tional mem­ory.

The brain region most strongly impli­cated in emo­tional mem­ory is the amyg­dala. The amyg­dala is crit­i­cally involved in cal­cu­lat­ing the emo­tional sig­nif­i­cance of events, and, through its con­nec­tion to brain regions deal­ing with sen­sory expe­ri­ences, also appears to be respon­si­ble for the influ­ence of emo­tion on per­cep­tion — alert­ing us to notice emo­tion­ally sig­nif­i­cant events even when we’re not pay­ing atten­tion. The amyg­dala appears to be par­tic­u­larly keyed to neg­a­tive expe­ri­ences. But it is not only the amyg­dala that is involved in this com­plex inter­ac­tion. The cere­bel­lum, most strongly asso­ci­ated with motor coor­di­na­tion skills, may also be involved in remem­ber­ing strong emo­tions, in par­tic­u­lar, in the con­sol­i­da­tion of long-term mem­o­ries of fear. Parts of the pre­frontal cor­tex also appear to be involved. One study found that a region of the pre­frontal cor­tex was jointly influ­enced by a com­bi­na­tion of mood state and cog­ni­tive task, but not by either one alone. Another study found that the dor­so­lat­eral pre­frontal cor­tex is more active when the par­tic­i­pants were sur­prised by unex­pected responses.

Links:
Exec­u­tive func­tion
Exec­u­tive Func­tion Dis­or­der
Basic Neu­roanatomy

Answer:
The blind beg­gar was the sis­ter of her brother, who died.

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Categories: Brain Teasers, Cognitive Neuroscience, Health & Wellness, Peak Performance, Professional Development, Technology, Uncategorized

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46 Responses

  1. Ed says:
    October 20, 2006 at 12:10

    Dear Alvaro, this blog is amaz­ing brother! I am a cur­rent under­grad stu­dent in biopsych and have a blog of my own. I was won­der­ing if you have an email address where I can con­tact you or if you can just email me and I will reply with the ques­tions. Nice Blog, keep up the geat work!

    Ed

    Happy Mind — Happy Mood
    http://www.happy-mind.blogspot.com

  2. Alvaro says:
    October 20, 2006 at 12:44

    Thanks for the kind words, Ed. In fact this post was writ­ten by Caroline-will make a pub­lic intro­duc­tion now. Will shoot you an email.

  3. Puzzle: do writing miracles happen? « SharpBrains: Your Window into the Brain Fitness Revolution says:
    October 20, 2006 at 1:32

    […] Solu­tion: please wel­come Car­o­line, our con­tribut­ing edi­tor of the blog, who started writ­ing last week such good posts as: — Brain Puz­zle for the Whole Brain: The Blind Beg­gar — Nutri­tional Sup­ple­ments and Brain Fit­ness — Visual Per­cep­tion Brain Teaser — Brain Coach Answers: How Can I Be More Cre­ative? Is Cre­ativ­ity a Part of Brain  Fit­ness? — Social Intel­li­gence and Mir­ror Neu­rons — Social Intel­li­gence and the Frontal Lobes — More Weight, Less Mem­ory – Con­nec­tions Between Phys­i­cal and Brain Fit­ness — Brain Yoga: Stress — Killing You Softly — Brain Coach Answers: Aren’t cross­words and sudoku suf­fi­cient brain exercise? […]

  4. Joanne says:
    October 28, 2006 at 9:00

    This is the first time vis­it­ing this site and it is truly blow­ing my mind. I love it.

  5. SharpBrains: Your Window into the Brain Fitness Revolution » Blog Archive » Puzzle: do writing miracles happen? says:
    October 28, 2006 at 3:26

    […] Solu­tion: please wel­come Car­o­line, our con­tribut­ing edi­tor of the blog, who started writ­ing last week such good posts as: — Today’s great Brain Puz­zle for the Whole Brain: The Blind Beg­gar — Nutri­tional Sup­ple­ments and Brain Fit­ness — Visual Per­cep­tion Brain Teaser — Brain Coach Answers: How Can I Be More Cre­ative? Is Cre­ativ­ity a Part of Brain  Fit­ness? — Social Intel­li­gence and Mir­ror Neu­rons — Social Intel­li­gence and the Frontal Lobes — More Weight, Less Mem­ory – Con­nec­tions Between Phys­i­cal and Brain Fit­ness — Brain Yoga: Stress — Killing You Softly — Brain Coach Answers: Aren’t cross­words and sudoku suf­fi­cient brain exercise? […]

  6. Caroline says:
    October 28, 2006 at 5:13

    Joanne,
    We’re so glad you like our blog! Our goal is that you both have fun and learn some­thing along the way, so feel free to send us feed­back any­time! Also, please note that we have now moved to http://www.sharpbrains.com/blog. Come visit us in our new loca­tion!
    –Caroline

  7. » Well-deserved break: Top 10 Brain Teasers   « Brain Fitness Revolution at SharpBrains      says:
    December 9, 2006 at 8:53

    […] 8. Brain Puz­zle for the Whole Brain: The Blind Beggar […]

  8. Randy says:
    December 16, 2006 at 11:57

    I got this because I’d learned from the doc­tor who can’t oper­ate on a fam­ily mem­ber. Does this mean I didn’t exer­cise my brain this time?

  9. Caroline says:
    December 18, 2006 at 2:32

    Reusing infor­ma­tion still uses your brain (essen­tially you’re “prac­tic­ing” some­thing you already know), but the amount and pat­tern of neu­rons used is dif­fer­ent when you already know some­thing. To see what I mean, look at the pic­ture here. As the infor­ma­tion gets more rou­tine, your brain becomes more effi­cient and exer­cises fewer neu­rons. Hence, we sug­gest “stretch­ing prac­tice” which means prac­tic­ing cog­ni­tive skills, but always try­ing a slightly more chal­leng­ing prob­lem to ensure you engage as much of your brain as pos­si­ble. This is also why computer-based brain work­outs are more effec­tive than an assort­ment of recre­ational activ­i­ties. The soft­ware can keep push­ing you a lit­tle more each time, even while exer­cis­ing the same cog­ni­tive skills.

  10. Greg Koch says:
    April 26, 2007 at 12:25

    I thought sib­ling would be cor­rect answer to Blind Beg­gar.
    I can­not fig­ure out how it is sis­ter, can you please help?

  11. Caroline says:
    April 30, 2007 at 1:44

    Greg, you are right that “sib­ling” is a cor­rect response, but it is not spe­cific enough to be the answer. The hint tells you that “brother” is not the answer. So, the only other sib­ling left is a sis­ter. Hope you enjoyed the puzzle!

  12. David Nicoson says:
    May 15, 2007 at 9:09

    The “hint” isn’t a hint. It’s a new con­straint. I.e., it’s part of the problem.

    So I don’t like the word­ing of this problem.

  13. Caroline says:
    May 15, 2007 at 9:17

    David,

    Good point. I removed the “hint” and made it part of the puz­zle. The orig­i­nal goal was to get you think­ing about it, and then pro­vide more infor­ma­tion, but I see your point. Thanks for the feedback!

  14. zizo says:
    September 7, 2007 at 3:27

    In Ara­bic the verbs and pro­nouns are dif­fer­ent for both female and male. which made this test not easy for me

  15. Alvaro says:
    September 8, 2007 at 8:32

    Hi Zizo, that’s good for you-you exer­cised your brain more than the rest of us :-)

  16. Security at GLORIAD » Blog Archive » The Many Faces of Podcasting says:
    September 8, 2007 at 8:05

    […] A blind beg­gar had a brother who died. What rela­tion was the blind beg­gar to the brother who died? “Brother” is not the answer. — riddle […]

  17. S E E Quine says:
    September 14, 2007 at 8:46

    ‘ I fail to see how this is a puz­zle — I got the answer in less than a second.

  18. Alvaro says:
    September 15, 2007 at 3:17

    So you mean that, for you, see­ing how this is a puz­zle is a puz­zle itself?

    What is your guess?

  19. Jenn says:
    October 15, 2007 at 8:16

    Hmmm, I thought maybe they were monks? Broth­ers in a non-blood-relation sense?

  20. Alvaro says:
    October 15, 2007 at 9:39

    Hello Jenn, that is a good obser­va­tion, but if you fol­low the line of thought you’d have to say that the blind beg­gar is a brother too…and the prob­lem states that is not the case.

  21. » Brain Teasers and Games with a neuroscience angle: our Top 50    « Brain Fitness Revolution at SharpBrains      says:
    October 16, 2007 at 9:38

    […] 15. Brain Puz­zle for the Whole Brain: The Blind Beggar. […]

  22. System Advancements at the Monastery » Blog Archive » The Many Faces of Podcasting says:
    November 7, 2007 at 7:57

    […] A blind beg­gar had a brother who died. What rela­tion was the blind beg­gar to the brother who died? “Brother” is not the answer. — riddle […]

  23. NaeNae says:
    December 7, 2007 at 3:28

    Sis­ter — The Blind Beg­ger is a woman

  24. Patrick says:
    December 12, 2007 at 1:42

    Sib­ling is the cor­rect answer.

  25. Tina says:
    December 12, 2007 at 8:21

    Hey, I am a 12 year old stu­dent. My dad showed me this rid­dle, and i was con­fused. I thought about it for a cou­ple min­utes, still i didnt get it! {laughs) Finally, I got the answer…by scrolling down!!

  26. Alvaro says:
    December 12, 2007 at 10:14

    Hello Tina! thanks for vis­it­ing our web­site, and try­ing to solve the rid­dle. That was very good for your brain…and you will do bet­ter next time :-)

  27. JANICE says:
    December 26, 2007 at 2:53

    haha. i was think­ing “sur­vivor”. yap, , the dead brother had a blind sister…

  28. miranda says:
    December 26, 2007 at 9:22

    i am 13 and this was an easy riddle

  29. Alvaro says:
    December 27, 2007 at 8:42

    Hello Miranda and Jan­ice, thanks for stop­ping by. I hope you enjoy the other teasers as well!

  30. ET says:
    January 1, 2008 at 12:53

    I thought “alive”..lol but see you you got sis­ter.. :) Love this brain stuff

  31. Alvaro says:
    January 3, 2008 at 11:52

    glad to hear that :-)

  32. yahobahne says:
    January 20, 2008 at 9:05

    wow, assump­tion is a pow­er­ful thing. we all do it and as a result many bias, dis­crim­i­na­tions and prej­u­dices are formed.

  33. terrell owens says:
    February 28, 2008 at 8:33

    The beg­gar is obvi­ously the sister

  34. Alvaro says:
    February 28, 2008 at 10:47

    good job-and welcome!

  35. Rhiannon says:
    February 29, 2008 at 7:45

    There is a sim­i­lar rid­dle that I heard a num­ber of years ago that reminded me of and helped me with this one: A man and his son are in a car acci­dent and both rushed to the hos­pi­tal with seri­ous injuries. The doc­tor who is about to oper­ate on the son says, “I can’t oper­ate on this boy; he is my son.” How is this possible?

  36. Alvaro says:
    March 1, 2008 at 9:43

    Hello Rhi­an­non, that’s a good one. I’ll post it on its own-and we can post the answer, say, by Monday.

  37. jacky says:
    March 27, 2008 at 8:13

    THIS RIDDLE REALLY HAD ME THINKING LOL

  38. Lisbeth Laursen says:
    April 29, 2008 at 6:37

    Just found this great page! I am at my first year as a math teacher (grade 1–6) and have found a lot of inter­est­ing infor­ma­tion and things to try out! Thanks very much for all your work

    :) Lis­beth, Denmark

  39. Alvaro says:
    April 30, 2008 at 5:47

    Glad to hear, Lis­beth! Feel free to share with us good teasers and exer­cises you may find.

  40. spunkey_monkey says:
    November 2, 2008 at 10:31

    rhan­non
    i know that one the answer is.….….…..
    the doc­tor was his mother

  41. emina says:
    November 3, 2008 at 1:31

    i like this type of teaser, and I’m look­ing for­ward in see­ing more of this!
    It’s actu­ally my first time to visit and I instantly got hooked. great blog!

  42. Jess says:
    November 8, 2008 at 2:27

    well… i thought for about 10 secs… and then i got it :D
    I’m 16..

  43. kate says:
    January 3, 2009 at 7:14

    hmm…I don’t really get this. Why couldn’t the beg­ger be a man? If he was a man, he could still have a Brother..?

  44. chico says:
    January 11, 2009 at 12:27

    Sis­ter

  45. Annemarie Lykke Hansen says:
    March 9, 2009 at 7:48

    sis­ter

  46. Colleen Rae says:
    May 1, 2009 at 1:09

    The cor­rect answer should be — sib­ling.
    There is no evi­dence of gender.

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