The Chrysler Norseman
For Chrysler’s 1957 auto show, designer Virgil Exner prepared a one-of-a-kind prototype: the Norseman, a sleek four-seat fastback coupe with a sloping hood, cantilevered roof, and aerodynamic underbody.
After 15 months’ work, the fully drivable $150,000 concept car missed its shipment date and was put aboard the next available transport.
That was the SS Andrea Doria. The unique prototype was lost in the sinking, and the car was never produced.
Grammatical Illusions
More people have been to Russia than I have.
Most listeners find this sentence acceptable when they first hear it, but it’s meaningless: The phrase “more people” seems to set up a comparison between two sets of individuals, but there’s no second set.
“In light of the fact that the sentence lacks this basic property, it is remarkable that speakers so commonly fail to notice the error,” write linguists Colin Phillips, Matthew W. Wagers, and Ellen F. Lau.
No head injury is too trivial to be ignored.
At first this seems to mean “No head injury should be ignored — even if it’s trivial,” but reflection shows that it really means “All head injuries should be ignored — even trivial ones.”
“This difficulty has certain interesting properties,” write psychologists Peter Wason and Shuli Reich. “When the correct interpretation was explained it was often adamantly rejected in our informal studies, as if the informants literally could not see an alternative view.”
(Colin Phillips, M. Wagers, and E. Lau, “Grammatical Illusions and Selective Fallibility in Real-Time Language Comprehension,” in Jeffrey T. Runner, ed., Syntax and Semantics 37: Experiments at the Interfaces, 2011; Peter C. Wason and Shuli S. Reich, “A Verbal Illusion,” Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology 31:4 [1979], 591-597.)
Quickie
CHAIN is to INGOT as MILLS is to … ?
The Value of Disagreement
In 1907, Francis Galton famously found that when a crowd were asked to guess the weight of an ox, the average value of their responses was surprisingly accurate — in Galton’s experiment, it fell within 1 percent of the ox’s true weight. This is “the wisdom of crowds”: By canceling errors across individuals, the mean response often proves more accurate than individual estimates.
Interestingly, the same phenomenon can arise when we aggregate multiple estimates made by a single person (the “wisdom of the inner crowd”). And organizational behavior researchers Philippe van de Calseyde and Emir Efendić now find that the accuracy can be refined still further when people are asked to consider a question from the perspective of someone they often disagree with.
“In explaining its accuracy, we find that taking a disagreeing perspective prompts people to consider and adopt second estimates they normally would not consider as viable option, resulting in first and second estimates that are highly diverse (and by extension more accurate when aggregated),” the researchers write. “Our results suggest that disagreement, often highlighted for its negative impact, can be a powerful tool in producing accurate judgments.”
(Philippe van de Calseyde and Emir Efendić, “Taking a Disagreeing Perspective Improves the Accuracy of People’s Quantitative Estimates,” PsyArXiv, Nov. 15, 2019.)
Unquote
“It tires me to talk to rich men. You expect a man of millions, the head of a great industry, to be a man worth hearing; but as a rule they don’t know anything outside their own businesses.” — Theodore Roosevelt
Podcast Episode 322: Joseph Medicine Crow
Joseph Medicine Crow was raised on a Montana reservation in the warrior tradition of his Crow forefathers. But during World War II he found himself applying those lessons in very different circumstances. In this week’s episode of the Futility Closet podcast, we’ll describe Joseph’s exploits in the war and how they helped to shape his future.
We’ll also consider how to distinguish identical twins and puzzle over a physicist’s beer.
Intro:
Two opposing bullets struck one another during the siege of Petersburg.
Which full house is likeliest to win?
Sources for our feature on Joseph Medicine Crow:
Joseph Medicine Crow and Herman J. Viola, Counting Coup: Becoming a Crow Chief on the Reservation and Beyond, 2006.
Charles A. Eastman, Living in Two Worlds: The American Indian Experience Illustrated, 2010.
Rick Graetz and Susie Graetz, Crow Country: Montana’s Crow Tribe of Indians, 2000.
Joseph Medicine Crow, From the Heart of the Crow Country: The Crow Indians’ Own Stories, 2000.
Phillip Thomas Tucker, Death at the Little Bighorn: A New Look at Custer, His Tactics, and the Tragic Decisions Made at the Last Stand, 2017.
Cindy Ott, “Crossing Cultural Fences: The Intersecting Material World of American Indians and Euro-Americans,” Western Historical Quarterly 39:4 (Winter 2008), 491-499.
James Welch, “Killing Custer: An Excerpt,” Montana: The Magazine of Western History 44:4 (Autumn 1994), 16-27.
“See You Later, Joe Medicine Crow,” Wild West 29:2 (August 2016), 13.
“War Songs of the Plains: Joseph Medicine Crow,” Economist 419:8985 (April 16, 2016), 82.
Nina Sanders, “Remembering Dr. Joe Medicine Crow,” Smithsonian, April 6, 2016.
Mardi Mileham, “Honoring a Cultural Treasure,” Linfield Magazine 6:2 (Fall 2009), 6-11.
“Roundup,” Wild West 21:2 (August 2008), 9.
Bradley Shreve, “Serving Those Who Served,” Tribal College Journal 29:2 (Winter 2017) 10-11.
Brenda J. Child and Karissa E. White, “‘I’ve Done My Share’: Ojibwe People and World War II,” Minnesota History 61:5 (Spring 2009), 196-207.
Emily Langer, “Native American Icon Was ‘Warrior and Living Legend,'” Montreal Gazette, April 13, 2016, B.14.
“Joe Medicine Crow: Indian War Chief Decorated for Bravery Who Regaled Custer’s ‘Last Stand,'” Sunday Independent, April 10, 2016, 29.
“Joe Medicine Crow: War Chief Decorated for Bravery Who Told of Custer’s ‘Last Stand’ From the Perspective of the Natives,” Daily Telegraph, April 6, 2016, 27.
Mike McPhate, “Joseph Medicine Crow, Tribal War Chief and Historian, Dies at 102,” New York Times, April 4, 2016.
Sarah Kaplan, “Joe Medicine Crow, a War Chief, Historian and the Last Link to the Battle of Little Big Horn, Dies at 102,” Washington Post, April 4, 2016.
Alex Johnson, “Revered Indian Leader Joe Medicine Crow, Last Crow War Chief, Dies at 102,” NBC News, April 4, 2016.
“Native American Chief Joe Medicine Crow Dies Aged 102,” BBC News, April 3, 2016.
Matthew Brown, “Crow Tribe Elder, Historian Joe Medicine Crow Dead at 102,” Associated Press, April 3, 2016.
Mike Ferguson and Jordon Niedermeier, “Joe Medicine Crow Dies in Billings on Sunday Morning,” Billings [Mont.] Gazette, April 3, 2016.
Jack McNeel, “Joe Medicine Crow, War Chief,” Indian Country Today, Sept. 24, 2008, 21.
“Dr. Joseph Medicine Crow to Receive the French Legion of Honor Award and the Bronze Star,” Custer Battlefield Museum, May 21, 2008.
Robin A. Ladue, “The Last War Chief,” Tribal Business Journal (accessed Nov. 22, 2020).
“Smithsonian Curator Remembers Plains Indian War Chief Joe Medicine Crow,” All Things Considered, National Public Radio, April 4, 2016.
Jurek Martin, “Joe Medicine Crow, Warrior and Historian, 1913-2016,” FT.com, April 8, 2016.
“President Obama Names Medal of Freedom Recipients,” White House, July 30, 2009.
Herman Viola, “High Bird: Eulogy for Joe Medicine Crow (Crow), 1914-2016,” National Museum of the American Indian, April 21, 2016.
Tim Ellis’ daughter and the world’s largest rubber chicken.
Listener mail:
Kevin W. Bowyer and Patrick J. Flynn, “Biometric Identification of Identical Twins: A Survey,” IEEE Eighth International Conference on Biometrics Theory, Applications and Systems, 2016.
Sandee LaMotte, “The Other ‘Fingerprints’ You Don’t Know About,” CNN, Dec. 4, 2015.
Cailin O’Connor, “Life Is Random,” Slate, Sept. 12, 2014.
Thomas G. Kaye and Mark Meltzer, “Diatoms Constrain Forensic Burial Timelines: Case Study With DB Cooper Money,” Scientific Reports 10:1 (Aug. 3, 2020), 1-9.
This week’s lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Carsten Hamann, who sent these corroborating links (warning — these spoil the puzzle).
You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on Google Podcasts, on Apple Podcasts, or via the RSS feed at https://futilitycloset.libsyn.com/rss.
Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet — you can choose the amount you want to pledge, and we’ve set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website.
Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode.
If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at podcast@futilitycloset.com. Thanks for listening!
The Substitute
Between July 2015 and October 2018, the National Security Agency offered a monthly puzzle written by a staff member. Here’s the puzzle for October 2015, created by applied research mathematician Ben E.:
Kurt, a math professor, has to leave for a conference. At the airport, he realizes he forgot to find a substitute for the class he was teaching today! Before shutting his computer off for the flight, he sends an email: “Can one of you cover my class today? I’ll bake a pie for whomever can do it.” He sends the email to Julia, Michael, and Mary Ellen, his three closest friends in the math department, and boards the plane.
As Kurt is well-known for his delicious pies, Julia, Michael, and Mary Ellen are each eager to substitute for him. Julia, as department chair, knows which class Kurt had to teach, but she doesn’t know the time or building. Michael plays racquetball with Kurt so he knows what time Kurt teaches, but not the class or building. Mary Ellen helped Kurt secure a special projector for his class, so she knows what building Kurt’s class is in, but not the actual class or the time.
Julia, Michael, and Mary Ellen get together to figure out which class it is, and they all agree that the first person to figure out which class it is gets to teach it (and get Kurt’s pie). Unfortunately the college’s servers are down, so Julia brings a master list of all math classes taught that day. After crossing off each of their own classes, they are left with the following possibilities:
- Calc 1 at 9 in North Hall
- Calc 2 at noon in West Hall
- Calc 1 at 3 in West Hall
- Calc 1 at 10 in East Hall
- Calc 2 at 10 in North Hall
- Calc 1 at 10 in South Hall
- Calc 1 at 10 in North Hall
- Calc 2 at 11 in East Hall
- Calc 3 at noon in West Hall
- Calc 2 at noon in South Hall
After looking the list over, Julia says, “Does anyone know which class it is?” Michael and Mary Ellen immediately respond, “Well, you don’t.” Julia asks, “Do you?” Michael and Mary Ellen both shake their heads. Julia then smiles and says, “I do now. I hope he bakes me a chocolate peanut butter pie.”
Which class does Kurt need a substitute for?
Quarters
USC mathematician Solomon Golomb offered this puzzle in his column, “Golomb’s Gambits,” in Johns Hopkins Magazine. How can you dissect this figure into four congruent pieces?
Old Booty’s Ghost
A striking tale from the 18th century: It’s said that around 1687 a group of English mariners on the Italian coast were surprised to see “two men run by us with amazing swiftness”:
Captain Barnaby says, ‘Lord bless me, the foremost man looks like next door neighbour, old Booty;’ but said he did not know the other behind. Booty was dressed in grey clothes, and the one behind him in black; we saw them run into the burning mountain in the midst of the flames! on which we heard a terrible noise, too horrible to be described.
When they returned to Gravesend, Captain Barnaby’s wife said, “My dear, I have got some news to tell you; old Booty is dead.” Barnaby swore an oath and said, “We all saw him run into Hell!”
As the story goes, when word of this allegation reached Booty’s widow, she sued Barnaby for a thousand pounds. The punchline is that Booty’s appearance on the volcano was shown to have occurred within two minutes of his death, and when his coat was exhibited in the courtroom, 12 sailors swore that its buttons matched those of the fleeing man.
The Judge then said, ‘Lord grant I may never see the sight that you have seen; one, two, or three may be mistaken, but twenty or thirty cannot.’ So the widow lost her cause.
According to folklorist Jeremy Harte, this story appeared in print at least 19 times between the 1770s and the 1830s. It seems to have started among the dockyards of the lower Thames, where in one early version Booty was an unscrupulous contractor who had supplied the navy with adulterated beer — and his damnation was “a matter of just retribution for the sin he had committed.”
(Jeremy Harte, “Into the Burning Mountain: Legend, Literature, and Law in Booty v. Barnaby,” Folklore 125:3 [December 2014], 322-338.)