A question autistics have an easier time answering

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TheMidnightJudge
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13 Mar 2011, 11:28 pm

There's a question that seems be (in my very limited experience) far easier for autistics to answer than neurotypicals.

Consider the following question:

At her own mother's funeral, a woman meets the man of her dreams. She falls madly in love with him. But once the funeral is over, the woman has no way to contact the man. So she kills her sister. Why?

(answer below)










She's hoping the same man will come to her sister's funeral.

Logically the answer is very clear, but in my experience, neurotypicals have a hard time getting the answer. I got the answer very easily, and my autistic friend did as well. I've only met one neurotypical who could get the answer. She's a thousand times smarter than me, and a professor in psychology; however, if memory serves, my autistic friend and I got the answer faster.
When I presented my little theory to her afterwards, she said perhaps the autistic ability to process logic and emotions separately was the reason autistic people could more easily answer this question. A neurotypical has to sort through the complicated emotions brought up by a woman who falls in love with someone at her mother's funeral, and then kills a sibling.

So what do you think guys? Did you get the answer? Could we include similar questions on a hypothetical autism test?


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simon_says
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13 Mar 2011, 11:31 pm

I'm not sure if it's very difficult but I got it.



League_Girl
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13 Mar 2011, 11:35 pm

I was stumped. I said "I don't know." I guess I have an NT mind. :P

But the answer made sense but no sane person would would do it. Only a crazy person would.



SammichEater
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13 Mar 2011, 11:35 pm

Yup I got it immediately.



katzefrau
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13 Mar 2011, 11:42 pm

i figured the man she fell in love with was the funeral director.

so she could get to know him quite well by killing people regularly, if it's a small town with only one funeral parlor.


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Verdandi
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13 Mar 2011, 11:47 pm

I zoned out while reading it and then caught the answer without having really read the question.

So I have no idea.



MXH
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13 Mar 2011, 11:49 pm

Interesting because it is a questions said usually to psychopaths not autistics. Anyhow my first time I thought 2 things, the real answer and so the sister wouldnt take him.



wefunction
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13 Mar 2011, 11:52 pm

I figured that's why she did it but I was going a step farther to figure out exactly who he was that he'd attend both funerals. Oddly, I got stuck wondering if this was an incestuous infatuation, which shouldn't be a far-fetched concept for someone who commits homicide on a romantic whim. It's just bizarre that I accepted the premise of the question. lol



mikeseagle
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13 Mar 2011, 11:53 pm

That one was easy because it was logical. Maybe the fact that she kills the sister throws other people off. How about this variation of the riddle


At her own mother's funeral, a woman meets the man of her dreams. She falls madly in love with him. So she kills her sister and they live happily ever after. Why?

Now the logic is not clear on why she would kill the sister. Those are the kinds of riddles that would stump me.

How about the missing dollar riddle. If you do not know it, then can click on this Wikipedia link

But riddles in how they phrased can show how a person thinks by the answers they give to them.



astaut
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13 Mar 2011, 11:55 pm

I got it, but I've heard it before. And I heard it from NTs :?


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katzefrau
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14 Mar 2011, 12:00 am

mikeseagle wrote:
How about this variation of the riddle


At her own mother's funeral, a woman meets the man of her dreams. She falls madly in love with him. So she kills her sister and they live happily ever after. Why?


this sounds like she and her dead sister live happily ever after. funny.


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AbleBaker
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14 Mar 2011, 12:07 am

Yes, I got it - "because she was hoping he'd come to the second funeral."

It seemed fairly obvious to me.



Jediscraps
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14 Mar 2011, 12:07 am

How would one know, or assume, that the man the woman fell in love with, would know her sister, if she herself didn't even know him before the funeral? It could be only the mother knew the man and both sisters did not know him.

If the sister did not know the man he would likely not attend her sister's funeral.

If the sister knew the man, how come the only way the woman could maybe even meet the man again, would be to kill her sister? Couldn't she just ask her sister about the man instead?



mikeseagle
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14 Mar 2011, 12:09 am

Jediscraps wrote:
How would one know, or assume, that the man the woman fell in love with, would know her sister, if she herself didn't even know him before the funeral? It could be only the mother knew the man and both sisters did not know him.

If the sister did not know the man he would likely not attend her sister's funeral.

If the sister knew the man, how come the only way the woman could maybe even meet the man again, would be to kill her sister? Couldn't she just ask her sister about the man instead?


Good point. The riddle would be better if it ended like this: So she kills his sister



AbleBaker
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14 Mar 2011, 12:19 am

Jediscraps wrote:
How would one know, or assume, that the man the woman fell in love with, would know her sister, if she herself didn't even know him before the funeral? It could be only the mother knew the man and both sisters did not know him.

If the sister did not know the man he would likely not attend her sister's funeral.

If the sister knew the man, how come the only way the woman could maybe even meet the man again, would be to kill her sister? Couldn't she just ask her sister about the man instead?
That's all true, of course, but I got that it was a riddle and riddles have their own logic.



DandelionFireworks
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14 Mar 2011, 12:20 am

I got it pretty quickly, after considering the idea that the man was a red herring and she killed her sister to get the inheritance. But so did my NT mother.


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