My Head hurt worse - Einstein puzzle

You cannot determine that ANYONE owned a "fish". The 5th pet could just as easily be a gerbil, boa constrictor, or kangaroo since "fish" does not appear in any of the absolutely known facts or hints.

Determining who owns the "fish" is therefore always based on an assumption and cannot be a proven answer.

I give puzzles like these to kids in class about once a week. It sharpens thinking skills. Once I showed them the technique, they started speeding through them.

It bugs me that assumptions are made in IQ tests and other standardized testing as well.

Here is a true false question from an online IQ test:

If a doughnut shaped house has two doors to the outside and three doors to the inner courtyard, then it's possible to end up back at your starting place by walking through all five doors of the house without ever walking through the same door twice.

No mention of windows and the possibility of going through them, no mention of the possibility of climbing onto the roof, no mention of the possibility of the house moving in relationship to the ground, no mention that the doughnut shape could be on end, no mention if one or more of the doors is a cat door, etc..

OK, this is getting stupid. "I taught my gerbils how to answer these riddles in my spare time." "I am so 2%, yes I am" Give me a break. Put up or shut up.

If we can assume that the question gives thew fimal type of pet then the german has fish, if not then we do not know the finla type of pet. However since a lot of logic problems will ask that type of question we can safely assume that the fish is the final type of pet.

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Do not Lead for I will Not Follow
Do not Follow for I shall Not Lead
I am but a Simple Drummer

I agree, that is how these logic puzzles usually work.

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Einstein was obviously a brilliant guy so don't you think he would have realized that more than 2% of people could solve this if he was going for the obvious "logical" answer?

Einstein stressed examining assumptions, since he had to base so much of his work on scientific assumptions, and at lease once (that I can think of- the Einstein Solid) his work was based on a faulty assumption and had to be revised later.

The point wasn't that you CAN'T make assumptions, since most times you have to in order to solve a problem. It was just that you should examine the facts you have and plug in more than a single assumption to examine the effects before deciding.

What fish?

hehe- I just realized I asked that you make the ASSUMPTION that Einstein was smart enough to realize that more than 2% of people could solve. Just goes to show how often we really do make assumptions when trying to validate an argument