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The Power of the Brain

true colors test, personality, leadership
True Colors Personality Test
 True Colors Personality Test 800 800 SnehaSuri
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Ever wonder what kind of leader you are? The true colors test fills us in! Each color (4 in total) is assigned to a different kind of leadership style. Are you a green (analytical), blue (emotional), gold (organized) or orange (impulsive) leader? How do you prefer to tackle different tasks? What color are you and how well do you mix with other colors? Take the test and see for yourself how accurate your results are! See the links below.

Click here for the TEST

Click here for SCORING RESULTS

 

How to Plan for the Future
 How to Plan for the Future 1024 640 admin
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Nowadays, we are able to immediately satisfy our needs, whether it be same-day shipping or doing a quick online search to find the answer to whatever question we have. With this, we can forget the importance of planning for the future. In this Ted Talk, Ari Wallach gives us the proper tools to have the foresight to ensure that we can help make the world a better place in the next 10 to 15 years, and beyond.

Wallach suggests that we can better plan for the future by realizing our responsibility to help set up the future generations, rather than just focusing on ourselves. Next, there are many different “futures” that we can help become a reality if we put in the effort. Lastly, all of this is not possible if we think of the “future” as 5 years from now. Rather, we must think “30, 40, 50, 100 years ahead.”

This is an important shift in thinking, as many of us just try to find “sandbag solutions”: temporary fixes to our dilemmas. However, these do not fully fix our problems and leave the future no better than before.

With this in mind, we can take control of the future and not think about it as something that just washes over us. Rather, it is something we have full control of. We just need to widen the view of the world and our impact on others.

Watch Wallach’s Ted Talk below, and check out other talks at Ted.com.

Why the Ball Costs 5 cents…
 Why the Ball Costs 5 cents… 1024 550 BRendine
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The ball costs 5 cents. If a bat and a ball together cost $1.10 and the bat is $1 more than the ball, then $1.05 plus $0.05 is $1.10. I was reading the book, Thinking Fast and Slow, where Daniel Kahneman explains that there are two systems to the brain. There is the fast thinking side of the brain, which relies on past experiences to give you the quick responses, like what is 1 plus 1 – you don’t have to use energy to get an answer. Then there is the slow side of the brain, which needs to work its way through a problem. The downside of the slow side of the brain is that it uses energy and wants to rely on the fast side of the brain. So it will default to reason if we do not sit down and force ourselves to think though a seemingly simple problem. Take our bat and ball question for example – this question is designed to see how lazy your brain is. A brain that heavily relies on the fast thinking side of the brain, will say 10 cents… $1.10 minus the dollar for the bat is 10 cents; however, the fact checking, slow thinking side of the brain, if given the chance to think it through, will stop us in our tracks and say “Wait a second, a dollar more than 10 cents is $1.10 but then we need to add those numbers together since we are buying BOTH the bat and the ball, which would total $1.20 and not the $1.10 total we were given.

It’s a good read…

Pathways

Bat and Ball Trivia Question – Warning, This May Make You Crazy
 Bat and Ball Trivia Question – Warning, This May Make You Crazy 275 183 BRendine
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Here is a trivia question that we often use in our Adventure Quests! You will want to check back later for the answer and explanation…

A bat and a ball together cost $1.10. The bat costs $1 more than the ball. How much does the ball cost?

ted talk, julian baggini, real you, true self, reinvent yourself
Reinvent and Understand Yourself Better with This Ted Talk
 Reinvent and Understand Yourself Better with This Ted Talk 960 640 Emilie
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Many of us are very tied to the idea of a soul, or inner essence that makes us what we are. Attached to this are our memories, beliefs, desires and knowledge. We spend time with inner reflection and meditation, so that we can become more in touch with this “true self.” However, in Julian Baggini’s Ted Talk, he challenges this idea: asking “Is there a real you?”

Baggini is a philosopher, author, and editor in chief of Philosopher’s Magazine. You can learn more about him here. Baggini claims that their is no true center of yourself to which these components attach themselves. Instead, he argues that it is these components (your beliefs, knowledge, memories and desires) that are you. He says it is the way in which these factors interact in a unique way that make you you.

This seems like a minor distinction, but it actually has enormous implications. Think about it. You are constantly developing new memories, new knowledge, new beliefs and new desires. Parts of these stay constant, of course. For instance, your past memories stay constant, and many of your desires stay constant. This means that although parts of you will remain the same, much of you changes throughout your life. There is no constant, “true self.” Instead, you are forever changing.

The way Baggini sees it, this knowledge gives you the freedom to become what you want to. You are not wedded to a core essence within yourself that will dictate every one of your beliefs and desires with constancy. Instead, he says that we can “channel the direction of our development.” He says that the true self is “something you in part discover, and in part create.”

Watch Baggini’s Ted Talk below, or check out his and other talks at Ted.com.

brain teaser, puzzle, power of the brain, morning, riddle
Start Your Monday with These 3 Brainteasers
 Start Your Monday with These 3 Brainteasers 960 678 Emilie
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Last week we brought you 3 brainteasers to fight the Monday blues and get your brain moving. No matter how much coffee we have, sometimes it seems impossible to fully wake up at the beginning of a work week. But with these fun brainteasers, we know you’ll be able to tackle your Monday with ease!

Triangles. Here at United EVENTures, we love our geometric puzzles! This triangle puzzle from Brain Athlete challenges you to calculate the total number of triangles located in the image below. How many can you find?

Blood Donors. Now that we’ve tested your geometric analysis, let’s try a logic puzzle! This riddle, from Brain Bashers asks you to determine the position, age, height, blood type and weight of each blood donor. Brain Bashers has all kinds of riddles and puzzles that you can check out whenever you want!

Five patients, all potential blood donors, are waiting in the doctor’s surgery and are sitting on the bench from left to right. Can you determine the position of each patient along with their blood group, age, height and weight? Their ages are 5, 9, 30, 46 and 60. Their heights are 40, 48, 60, 65 and 74. Their weights are 40, 75, 96, 125 and 165.

  • The person on the far right is 37 years older than Jason, and is 60 inches tall.
  • Jason weighs 56 pounds more than his height.
  • Alan weighs 75 pounds and is 74 inches tall.
  • John is type AB and weighs 56 pounds less than Jason.
  • The person in the centre is 9 years old, is blood type AO and weighs 96 pounds.
  • Adam, who is the first, is 65 inches tall, and weighs 100 pounds more than his height.
  • The person who is blood type O, is 25 years older than the person to the left of them.
  • Kevin is 60 years old.
  • The person who is blood type A, is 55 years younger than Kevin and is not next to the person who is type AO.
  • The person who is next to the 9 year old but not next to the person who is 65 inches tall, is blood type B, and weighs 125 pounds.

Number Trouble. We got this number riddle from SeriousShops.com. To find even more of their brainteasers, click here!

Find a number less than 100 that is increased by one-fifth of its value when its digits are reversed.

Answers

Triangles. 41 triangles. For a detailed explanation, check out the description at Jeremy Jones.

Blood Donors.

# Name  Type  Age  Height  Weight
1 Adam     A       5          65        165
2 Alan       O      30        74         75
3 Jason   AO      9         40         96
4 Kevin    B       60        48        125
5 John    AB      46        60        40

Number Trouble. 45, because 1/5 of 45 is 9, and 9 plus 45 is 54 (the reverse of 45).

power of the brain, brainteaser, riddle, puzzle, brain
Start Your Morning with These 3 Brainteasers
 Start Your Morning with These 3 Brainteasers 992 744 Emilie
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We know that it can be hard to get your brain moving on a Monday morning. Here at United EVENTures, we’re big fans of brainteasers. They keep you alert and sharp, while also allowing you to think in new, creative ways. Take a look at these brainteasers to jumpstart your brain this morning!

Apples, Bananas and Coconuts. We got this brainteaser from ABC News, and thought it was interesting because although it was meant to be a brainteaser for children (with very basic math!) it has managed to confuse many people! See if you can get it right.

PHOTO: A seemingly simple childrens brainteaser is sweeping the internet as people struggle to find the correct answer.

The Parking Space. We got this question from Wimp.com, and chose it because incoming first graders in China were able to answer this question in only 20 seconds (on average)! But the same question is difficult for adults to solve.

The Swimming Pool. This brainteaser comes from East Coast Radio. They designed the brainteaser so that the majority of people will not answer correctly. See if you can get it!

pool

Answers:

Apples, Bananas and Coconuts: The answer is 14, not 16! The trick is to count the number of bananas and coconuts in each grouping. Each banana represents “1,” each coconut represents “1,” and each apple represents “10.”

The Parking Space: 87. The lot numbers are simply upside down, and you will see that this space falls between space 86 and 88.

The Swimming Pool: 29 days. The answer is actually right in the question! It says that “every day the amount of water doubles.” The last day the pool is filled up 100%, so that means the day before must be when it is filled 50%.

 

 

dog, animal, animal cognition, psychology, carl safina, ted talk
What do Animals Really Think About?: Ted Talk by Carl Safina, and Other Studies
 What do Animals Really Think About?: Ted Talk by Carl Safina, and Other Studies 960 640 Emilie
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When it comes to thinking about animal thought, people have widely differing viewpoints. Some believe that their pets feel love, happiness, curiosity, sadness, and many other emotions. Yet others believe that people with these viewpoints are simply anthropomorphizing animals: placing human feelings on non-human animals. Carl Safina, who is an accomplished author (writing novels such as Song for the Blue Ocean) and host of PBS’s Saving the Ocean, is also a knowledgeable marine biologist and overall nature and animal expert. In his Ted Talk What are Animals Thinking and Feeling, he provides great inside into animal cognition.

Safina shows an overlap between human capacities (like love and curiosity) and those possessed by non-human animals. He shows how crayfish respond to the same anxiety medication as humans, how otters use tools, and how the lives of whales follow that of a career path. But Safina does not even scratch the surface in his short talk about the immense number of impressive animal capabilities. This article and video shows how crows not only use, but actually make their own tools. Check out this article, which demonstrates how elephants, chimpanzees, and magpies have funeral practices for their dead: demonstrating that they feel grief. This study from Japan’s Kwansei Gakuin University demonstrates the incredible empathetic capacity of rats. As Safina says, the qualities that we think make humanity distinct are actually shared by many other animals.

To watch Safina’s Ted Talk in its entirety, click here. What do you think? What animal stories do you have of your own? Animals have complex understandings, emotional capacities, and thought processes, and we are just beginning to understand them.

daniel goldstein, ted talk, motivation, long term goal, future
How to Resist Instant Gratification and Reach Long Term Goals
 How to Resist Instant Gratification and Reach Long Term Goals 960 640 Emilie
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Daniel Goldstein, who is in charge of the blog Decision Science News, is an expert in how we make decisions that impact our future. He focuses on the impact of economic and financial decisions, but his research analyzes the way in which we make all kinds of decisions. In his Ted Talk, “The Battle Between Your Present and Future Self,” he discusses the way in which we are less in touch with our future selves than we might think. Although we all know that one day we will get old, and that our present decisions will later effect us, we see our present selves as more “us” than our future selves, and thus show more loyalty to our present selves.

If we eat junk food now, we will gain weight in the future. If we don’t exercise now, our heart and muscles will be weaker later down the road. If we don’t save money, we will have less money for retirement. Often, we do not think of these things as definite. We figure we can exercise more later, or save more money at a later point. But in reality, these are just tactics for us to avoid the reality that our future selves are a direct result of our present. And when forced into a decision, we show more allegiance towards our present selves than future selves.

The key to reaching those long term goals is to remember that we are just as much our future selves as we are our present selves. Protecting and helping yourself in the future should be just as much a priority as helping yourself today. For this, we can try several tactics. Goldstein suggests simulating outcomes so that you can directly see the correlation between what you do today and what happens in the future. For instance, create example investment plans that demonstrate how the amount that you save now influences how much you will have later. Or create model exercise plans that demonstrate how this will impact your health later down the road. If you are a more visual learner he suggests using apps or images. For example, show yourself pictures of apartments you will be able to afford depending on how much you have saved for retirement. There are also apps that can make it look like you have aged or gained weight.

Overall, if you are finding it difficult to keep those long term decisions, do whatever you need to do to simulate future outcomes. And remember, your future is directly impacted by your present!

brain teaser, trivia, power of the brain, morning
5 Brainteasers to Get Your Brain Moving this Morning
 5 Brainteasers to Get Your Brain Moving this Morning 960 678 Emilie
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Here at United Eventures, we love our brain teasers! We use brain teasers and trivia in all types of events, from our Trivia Nights where trivia is the main focus, to our Geotrekking where you can find brain teasers or trivia at various checkpoints. So whether you are looking to improve your brain teaser skills for your next United Eventure, or you’re simply looking for a way to exercise your brain in the morning, we found 5 great brain teasers just for you!

 

Under The Radar
Thanks Henry D

Spell radar

Spell the word RADAR.
Start on any R.
Advance in any direction, forwards or backwards.
Follow the lines from letter to letter.
You can not skip letters.
Question:
How many different ways can you spell RADAR?

Which number replaces the question mark ?

Non Verbal Reasoning Brain Teaser

Brain Teaser to test Spatial visualization ability

How many blocks do you see ? #riddle #riddles:

Answers

Try not to peak!

  1. RADAR problem: 80 Ways. Can’t get to 80? Hint, you can reuse the same A and R twice per word. Try finding the total from one corner, and then multiply by four.
  2. Number question mark problem: 9. The sum of every square is 22.
  3. Letter question mark problem: O. The letters at the front of the alphabet correspond with those in the back- A corresponding with with Z, B with Y, C with X.
  4. Folding cube problem: D.
  5. Block problem: 9 blocks.
Brain teaser 1 Courtesy: http://www.pedagonet.com/brain/SpellRadar1.html
Brain teaser 2 Courtesy: http://funthingstodowhenbored.com/riddle/brain-teasers-solver-4th-square-by-looking-on-others
Brain teasers 3&4 Courtesy: http://www.funwithpuzzles.com/2015/06/non-verbal-reasoning-test-with-answers.html
Brain teaser 5 Courtesy: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/305400418459642631/

 

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