Stella Tse:        This is one of the test questions for the> kindergarten's entrance examination in Hong Kong. Most of the kids (average> age 5) got it correctly.> > > If you do not know the answer, just ignore this email and pretend you never> receive this email. LOL.> > > 1111 = 0> > > 2222 = 0> > > 7662 = 2> > > 9313 = 1> > > 0000 = 4> > > 6666 = 4> > > 2172 = 0> > > 5555 = 0> > > 8193 = 3> > > 8096 = 5> > > 4398 = 3> > > 9038 = 4> > > Then what is 2889 = ?

 Peter

Cheung:           I cannot think of anything---all zero, nothing. What these kids will become? 

Sue Tang:        I can't figure it out but Peter got it right away.  He said it's '5'.  He explained to me how he derives it and it sounds right. So is it correct?

Stella Tse:        It looks like 5 is the answer.  Here is what a couple of my friends say:

Well,  5-year old kids do not have the concept of hundred or thousand yet. So this is not a mathematics nor a numerical analysis question. I say the kids treat those numbers as pictures and they are simply counting the circles in them. Therefore 2889 = 5. 

Also, see the attached code table.

Conry Tsang:   Sue and Peter, you can't expect an untrained 5 yrs old or a 65 yrs old to spend any considerable amount of time in working out a nonsensical problem! So the obvious answer in a glance is "0"! Any other answer reflects that the child is either a genius with unknown potential or an idiot with psychological problem! 

Metis Hon:      Peter is right, the correct answer is 5.  Remember the kids are only 5 years old, so, don't think in a complex way.

Sue Tang:        Turns out I was looking at solving this in the same manner as Peter ie trying to thinking of an algorithm. But I wasn't smart enough to look at the number assumption/substitution. I came to conclude that people who are used to playing games (which I don't )or those who are used to solving technical algorithm problems in IT which I did years ago would look at it in the way it can be solved. 

I must say those who play games or puzzles like the kids (Peter loves them he is a big kid) would get it faster. So for the real seniors like us who are too busy to use our brain would struggle with this kind of thinking game.  

Conry Tsang:   I often say that sometimes in order to solve a new problem, we have to go back to the basics:" to think like a monkey"! I also looked at the numbers as pictures, but I came up with a different picture for the answer! This old monkey has impaired eye-sight; he doesn't see things others expect him to see! 

Stella Tse:        There is no right or wrong monkeys, your answer is probably a good one too. 

Conry Tsang:   Sue, if you play the same game long enough, you have to be better than the novice because you know what is required to beat your opponent, and the game! I suspect that this question can be a psycho-analytical question. If you ask the kids how they derived their answers, it can help to map their psychological profile!? :-)