Sometimes stories go viral because they’re interesting. Sometimes they go viral because they’re controversial. This one is both.
Reddit user JoeMamma45 posted a clever test question response under the headline “My student thought the tests logic was off.” Here it is:
“A coin is flipped and then a die is rolled, what is the probability of rolling an odd and then flipping a tails,” the question reads (with no question mark).
“0% because you flipped the coin first,” the clever response says.
And while the response is getting a lot of attention, what makes it even more interesting is that the “teacher” posted it. Except as Reddit users quickly found out, that was a lie.
As the post started going viral, users such as cmrn started connecting some dots and quickly found that “Apparently he’s the student not the teacher, which, given the handwriting and level of material in the post, makes those comments kinda inappropriate for his age.”
And cmrn would be right — and JoeMamma45 admitted it, saying he is a 12th grader who decided to answer the question and posted it under a misleading headline because he thought it would be funner.
Not surprisingly, he’s being heavily scrutinized and learning that it’s probably not the best idea to lie on the internet.






















































































































Comments (99)
pwatkins
Feb. 22, 2013 at 2:57amWhen I was in elementary school and we had to write stories using all of our spelling words I always wrote about someone taking a spelling test and let them write down all of the words on the spelling test in my story. My teacher told my mom she had never had a student to do that before but she actually liked it, though she wanted me to be her first and last. She couldn’t say I didn’t use all of the words.
Report this comment
Obama_In_Zee_PeePee_By_Glenn_Beck
Feb. 22, 2013 at 5:41am“Student’s Clever Response to Test Question Goes Viral … Not surprisingly, he’s being heavily scrutinized and learning that it’s probably not the best idea to lie on the internet.”
What is to be LEARNED from this is not to ASSUME that anything intelligent is on the Internet.
Because …
… if you ASSUME …
… you make an ASS
… out of U
… and ME !!
(and a lesson for us all)
Report this comment
Biddle
Feb. 22, 2013 at 9:20amyeah…you’re a real genius.
Report this comment
Larry Holmes
Feb. 22, 2013 at 9:53amDon’t worry about people like “BIDDLE” here. He/she is obviously a jerk.
Report this comment
armyofnibiru
Feb. 22, 2013 at 11:07amhello felix unger.it depends on how high you throw the coin?
Report this comment
Xyskalla
Feb. 22, 2013 at 11:29amWhen I was taking Introduction to Philosophy in college, the professor told us about a test given by another professor in a philosophy course. The exam consisted of one essay question. After the professor handed out the blue books, he pulled out a rock and set it on his desk, and he said, “Prove that this rock exists.”
If you haven’t studied philosophy, that sounds like a stupid question. But in philosophy, the question is actually problematic. One student wrote two words: “What rock?” He turned his blue book in, and left.
The professor gave him an A.
Report this comment
Miami
Feb. 22, 2013 at 12:36pmXyskalla
Which leads us to the problem created between Science and Philosophy. And how Liberals have conflated the two, one being an opinion and the other dealing in matter.
I for one would have thrown the rock through his window, It must be real as it just punched a hole in the glass… Oh and send the bill to the guy that said “What rock”
Report this comment
BuzzardSays
Feb. 22, 2013 at 3:33pmI would have answered the question the exact same way and have done very nearly such in my educational historical past. My assumption being that the teacher was attempting to determine if I was reading the question. The correct response to the question is 0% if we believe TRUE is TRUE and FALSE is FALSE. Logical order AND gates work in electronics and are based on logic of this and that in correct order of occurrence as required before a positive response becomes possible.
A person would like order of occurrence to work in every combination lock produced by MASTER LOCKS would they not. It would not leave the bicycle very secure if simply spinning the number face one way then the other to eventually cause a tumbler to fall simply because the demarcation marker and the prescribed security number matched up even momentarily.
Report this comment
BuzzardSays
Feb. 22, 2013 at 3:46pmThis is for Xyskalla,
That worthless POS professor was attempting to indoctrinate people into an idea that true and false have no meaning. His work is instrumental for Satan to destroy as many men and women as possible as a means of vengeance against God, and especially Jesus, who kicked Satan’s testical sack up between his shoulder blades at Calvary.
You should have asked for your money to be returned for having been subjected to that profs diseased brain.
Report this comment
puravida56
Feb. 23, 2013 at 1:23am@ buzzard….. that is about as backwards and ignorant of a statement as you could make. Is this your mom?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlWgF8dqneg
Report this comment
PoleSitter
Feb. 25, 2013 at 5:05amThe “What Rock?” comment left out one crucial detail. The Student was supposed to pick up the rock and place it in his pocket before leaving… thus leaving the Professor without anything substantive to prove wrong. Alter the game — change the outcome.
The brilliance of the “What Rock?” (with removal) is that the actions and words show a mastery of the material. I’ve studied enough philosophy over the years to see the insight such a play would demonstrate… However… and in philosophy there is always a however…
Brilliance and laziness are close cousins. I would have most likely failed this student for such actions… but then again, the whole exam being “Prove this rock…” is absurd. So I think this is one of those little stories Grad Students/Professors tell to make a point — cause thought — wonder — and not actually prove anything.
[And frankly, am I the only one who doesn't see a controversy here? A kid posting something under someone else name? Hello... 2013... internet... Don't trust anything you read - even this.]
Report this comment
Xyskalla
Feb. 27, 2013 at 11:23amActually, the philosophy behind whether the rock existed or not had more to do with whether you can trust your sensory input.
At this moment, I’m typing on a computer keyboard. I can see the keyboard. I can feel the keys. I hear the sound of the keyboard as I type (don’t ask me to try tasting my keyboard :P). But does that mean that there really is a keyboard? Sight, sound and feel are just sensory input that I’m receiving, and we’ve all had instances where our senses have deceived us.
What’s more, there was no way for the professor to prove that the student even existed, let alone that the student actually saw the same rock that the professor saw.
Believe it or not, philosophy does actually deal with silly issues like that. It was interesting, but I was disappointed that the class wasted time on nonsense like that when there were issues of actual substance we would have been talking about.
Report this comment
Miami
Feb. 21, 2013 at 11:00pmChances are the “teacher” posted it as an example of stupid but if fact the kid will be working for a thought agency or one of the alphabet soup agencies. While she is still grading papers on the weekends.
What’s even more amazing that no one caught this error in the word problem, with all the executives school systems have cashing a check for just such a reason. More big government at work…with other peoples’ money
Report this comment
1proudAmerican
Feb. 22, 2013 at 10:21amI’ve worked with students like this. Their brain doesn’t comprehend probability, so they come up with an answer that’s not just unexpected but actually makes sense. Many people have problems with probability and it’s even harder when you have 2 items in the problem (coin and die). I never understood the reasoning for word problems in math like this. Who cares what the chances are?
Report this comment
Miami
Feb. 22, 2013 at 10:44amIt’s called problem solving and from his answer he comprehended the problem perfectly, the problem was poorly worded. Note the order of events…the objects are irrelevant, it’s the relationship to each other.
Report this comment
avlmac
Feb. 21, 2013 at 9:26pmSlow news day at TheBlaze.com?
Report this comment
Quiata
Feb. 21, 2013 at 10:29pmClever student. Too bad that as a senior in high school his handwriting skills aren’t on par with his wit.
Report this comment
Miami
Feb. 21, 2013 at 11:04pmQuiata
In today’s world hand writing skills are as useful as great spelling.
Hello the keyboard will soon be obsolete
wordweaver
Feb. 22, 2013 at 12:24amThis is about average handwriting for a high schooler today, but boy can they type with just their thumbs.
Report this comment
SilentRunner
Feb. 22, 2013 at 9:15amWhat you see is NOT handwriting. It’s hand printing and it’s not too bad. They don’t teach children the necessary skills anymore…like cursive writing, history, reading and writing.
You think an ignorant electorate electing Bananabama was terrible, just wait a few more elections and we’ll have an illegal alien as president (if we don’t already have one) and a Congress full of nut jobs…oh, wait, we already do.
Report this comment
Larry Holmes
Feb. 22, 2013 at 9:51amDear “MIAMI”: I disagree. I have great handwriting skills and also great spelling skills. Perhaps that is why many postings on the internet drive me crazy! In the first place, I have been led to make mistakes by extremely poor spelling on more than one occasion, when the posting contained spelling errors that the author did not bother to correct. Practically every computer used on the internet has some sort of spelling checker, but apparently, it is too much work to actually use the checker, from the torrents of misspelled words on almost every site on the web. And these spelling errors are not always from individuals. It is not unusual to find numerous spelling problems on sites representing businesses and other larger entities. I used to believe that such errors would give the company a bad name, however, once I realized how few people actually knew how to spell in the first place, and then, how many of them cared about spelling, I quit worrying. Bad spelling still drives me crazy, though.
I have garnered numerous benefits because I have good handwriting. In one case, I was hired over many others who were actually more experienced than me, because the hiring supervisor was fed up with trying to read the daily reports his subordinates were required to send him at the end of every work day, which were required to be hand written. I know that is a bit unusual, but, it does illustrate that handwriting is not dead.
And don’t get me started on bad grammar..its just to
Report this comment
angelcat
Feb. 22, 2013 at 10:18amQuits, many schools no longer teach handwriting. They have to make time for the politically correct stuff, and they don’t want to make those who have trouble with it feel bad. I had my students use cursive frequently, and was criticized for it until they came back and thanked me when they were older. Cursive hand writing actually helps develop parts of the brain needed for other skills. A study showed that students who used cursive on the essay section of SATs did better than those who printed, though it could be that cursive is faster , and they thus had more time to think, revise.
Report this comment
dustbunnieskill
Feb. 22, 2013 at 12:23pmNo,Just wating for Obama to Fup again
Report this comment
msjoe43
Feb. 21, 2013 at 8:29pmThinking Puzzlers:
For its brevity, its simplicity, and its difficulty, this problem has some claims to be the best lateral thinking problem ever.
The Man In The Bar I:
A man walked into a bar and asked the barman for a glass of water. They had never met before. The barman pulled a gun from under the counter and pointed it at the man. The man said “Thank-you’ and walked out. Why should that be so?
The Man In The Bar II:
A man walked into a bar and asked for a drink. The man behind the bar pulled out a gun and shot the man. Why should that be so?
The Man In The Bar III:
A man who wanted a drink walked into a bar. Before he could say a word, he was knocked unconscious. Why?
The Hold-Up:
A man parked his car outside a bank and rushed in. He held up twenty-five people and ran out with $200. A policeman who saw that whole incident stopped the man. He told him off and then let him go. Why?
The Coal, Carrot, and Scarf:
Five pieces of coal, a carrot, and a scarf were lying on the lawn. Nobody put them on the lawn, but there is a perfectly logical reason for their being there. What is it?
Lateral Thinking Puzzlers
By Paul Sloane
ISBN: 0-8069-8227-6
Report this comment
SendTheMeteors
Feb. 21, 2013 at 9:25pmThe Man In The Bar I: the guy had hiccups. Still working on the others…
Report this comment
JasonC2
Feb. 21, 2013 at 10:07pmThose are easy.
Hiccups
A water gun
A steel bar not a drinking establishment.
He was double parked outside the bank and held up traffic.
A snowman melted.
As fast as I could read them…
Report this comment
JasonC2
Feb. 21, 2013 at 10:13pmHere is a different sort of lateral thinking test.
This is a two part quiz to determine whether you have the makings of a mathematician, or instead display engineering thinking.
Part one – you are in a small room with a half open window in the southwest corner. There is a gas stove under the window. The right front burner on the stove is on, high. There is a wooden table in the middle of the room. On the center of the table there is a teakettle half full of water. You want to boil the water. What do you do?
(An acceptable answer is – pick up the kettle and set it on the right front burner of the stove).
Part two – Part one – you are in a small room with a half open window in the southwest corner. There is a gas stove under the window. The right front burner on the stove is on, high. There is a wooden table in the middle of the room. On the floor directly under the table there is a teakettle half full of water. You want to boil the water. What do you do?
(If you answer as in part one you are a potential engineer, but do not have the makings of a mathematician).
Report this comment
mayancalendar2012
Feb. 22, 2013 at 9:37amThe coal, carrot and scarf were from a melted snowman last winter
Report this comment
Larry Holmes
Feb. 22, 2013 at 10:00amJasonc2: even though you are unforgivably bragadocious, I am impressed if you found the answers “as fast as you read them”. I didn’t; in fact, it took me several minutes for each one, and I didn’t figure the snowman out at all. Just to satisfy my curiosity, how old are you? I am doing informal research to decide if I believe in the old tale that our mental capacities dramatically decrease due to the effects of aging exclusively, or, if they diminish from disuse. Its just to satisfy my curiosity, as I mentioned, and has no other purpose. I used to know why I was doing this, but now I can’t remember. Its been this way ever since my 60th birthday. That was the one I really noticed. By the way, why did you ask me this?
Report this comment
castuslonginus
Feb. 22, 2013 at 12:15pmWhat color is red,true or false?
Report this comment
mrmarkjohnson
Feb. 21, 2013 at 8:13pmAs a test taker, you have to see through the faults of the person who wrote the question. This kid was able to explain his answer. He can’t do that with multiple choice.
I had a question that asked what was quieter, an acoustic guitar or an electric guitar. As a guitar player, I know that an electric guitar not plugged in is very quiet. I also knew the question wasn’t written by a guitar player so I just selected acoustic guitar and got the question right. Tests are about giving the teacher the answer they want even if its not logical.
Report this comment
vendingdude
Feb. 22, 2013 at 10:29pmAs in the posted question, and with this question, I would have struggled how to “answer” because I’ve been told “I read into the question too much”. Hmmph.
Report this comment
Big Media Bias
Feb. 21, 2013 at 6:57pmReminds me of LSAT exam questions which have numerous possibilities from the open ended and poorly worded questions, but the morons who write the tests believe there shall be one answer of their choosing.
Report this comment
knowurhistory
Feb. 21, 2013 at 6:38pmI’m not sure why everyone here is giving this kid kudos. If the question were ” if I flip a coin and then roll a die, then what is the probability of you having tails then an odd” then his answer would be brilliant. Look at the question, other than improper punctuation its really a pretty legitimate question for a math test.
Report this comment
one.dakine.howlie
Feb. 21, 2013 at 7:39pmIf that was the real question being asked here, not only would the punctuation be bad but also the spelling. There’s a big difference between the words “then” and “than”. “Then” refers to chronology while “Than” is suggesting relationship. His response is right on for the words being used.
Report this comment
BelieveMe
Feb. 21, 2013 at 6:24pmOf course, IF YOU ARE GOING TO LIE, you have to become PRESIDENT, first. The other correct answer to the question is still 25% or 1 in 4. The unwritten sequence follows: FLIP COIN, ROLL DIE, FLIP COIN, … Thus, the DIE can still be rolled BEFORE the COIN is flipped. As a teacher, I would be ashamed to have written such an ambiguous question which has 2 correct answers.
Report this comment
KyleD
Feb. 21, 2013 at 6:36pmI had these sort of questions all the time when I was in school. I didn’t perceive them as ambiguous but trick questions. It really jaded me towards school…seemed like teachers were out to trick me, not teach me.
Report this comment
NewCreationDave
Feb. 21, 2013 at 7:03pm@Kyled
I quickly discovered that the teacher wasn’t trying to trick me. He/she just wasn’t smart enough to realize he/she hadn’t constructed the question properly. When I would point this out, they would get irritated and go on the offensive and dismiss me since the other students had no problem with it.
As an example, they might ask, “Which of the following numbers are divisible by 2. 2 5 6 9 12 16
Do you know the right answer? (make me proud of ya)
Report this comment
Mahdi Al-Dajjal
Feb. 21, 2013 at 7:39pmThey all are divisible by 2. Some evenly divisible and some not.
Report this comment
NewCreationDave
Feb. 21, 2013 at 10:37pm@Mahdi:
Go to the head of the class! :-)
Report this comment
proantisocialist
Feb. 21, 2013 at 6:23pmWhat all the smart people here couldn’t figure out that it would be 25%…
Report this comment
SgtB
Feb. 21, 2013 at 6:51pmapparently you have no concept of the progression of time. The question clearly stated a single set of events to take place, a coin would be flipped, then a die would be rolled. It then asked how many times would a die roll and then a coin flip. The rest of the question is ancillary and doesn’t matter because the progression of events as stated will never happen. So the chance that it will happen is zero. There are teachers who will put questions like this on a test and expect you to answer CORRECTLY, not blindly and mechanically.
Report this comment
ShyMan
Feb. 21, 2013 at 6:22pmIt all depends on when the coin flipper’s train left Chicago and how many miles it traveled in 5 hours minus the time spent at a station picking up a load of grain weighing 2 tons each minus a bushell and a half plus how many passengers were wearing coon skin hats and how many were wearing pocket watches set to eastern standard time dived by 3 times as many telephone poles as there are between San Antonio and Bakersfield.
Report this comment
NewCreationDave
Feb. 21, 2013 at 7:21pmNice try, but you forgot that you have to know if it’s a Thursday on an odd-numbered day in an even-numbered month and whether it’s partly sunny or partly cloudy. But I’m not telling you which means what cuz it’s a secret and only us really smart people know.
Report this comment
Advection
Feb. 21, 2013 at 5:59pmIt drove me crazy when professors would write unintelligible “questions”. I knew the material, but I could only guess at the answer because the prof was lazy.
Less common, but just as infuriating was the math problem that hadn’t been covered in class or in the books.
Report this comment
stumpy68
Feb. 21, 2013 at 8:38pmI had one teacher who wrote questions on reading material
that included answers not in the book answers that required pure guesswork i/e
how did so and so feel and answers in sections of the book
we hadn’t been assigned to read yet those i answered correctly as i read the
whole book the first or second day i had it but out of 5 classes she had a day
with 10 -25 kids in each class she passed only 6 or 7 kids in her advanced class.
Report this comment
BlackTalonAmmo
Feb. 21, 2013 at 5:55pmThey flipped a quarter and not a condom? The liberals are losing it.
Report this comment
OniKaze
Feb. 21, 2013 at 4:43pmJust like an I.Q. test question…
This kid has his head on straight, and I like his answer… If I was his teacher, I would give him a few bonus points for that (and maybe consider docking points from any other student who didn’t catch it…) as the answer was obvious…
Maybe I just catch it because I took an I.Q. test recently and it had many questions like this, mayhap the kid did as well… Who knows… But I am sure all of us adults here know, its not always the what the question was, as opposed to HOW it was asked…
Report this comment
FlagWavingPatriot
Feb. 21, 2013 at 4:36pmI don’t see that as a smart-ass answer at all. He read something, applied some critical thinking to what he’d read and actually came to a correct solution/conclusion. Had my son done this, I would have gave him a pat on the back. The kid is smarter than the idiot who wrote the question.
It’s too bad our schools don’t focus more on reading comprehension and critical thinking. Based on the drivel I read on the net, even from “professionals”, we sorely need those skills. I guess schools are too busy indoctrinating kids with multiculturalism and global warming to teach them anything useful.
Report this comment
gbgreta
Feb. 21, 2013 at 4:27pmThe student’s answer to the test question is correct. If the teacher intended otherwise, he’s an idiot.
I couldn’t make heads or tails of Mr. Jonathon M. Seidl’s writing though. WTH?
Report this comment
thorkyl
Feb. 21, 2013 at 5:02pmActually it was incorrect.
There was no question mark, thus it was ant a question but an incomplete sentence.
The correct answer should be….
Is this a question, or is this a statement? I am unable to determine due to the improper structure of the sentence.
Report this comment
BlackTalonAmmo
Feb. 21, 2013 at 5:43pmIt was a question with the improper punctuation mark at the end. The kid is right, the teacher was wrong. Twice.
Report this comment
00100111
Feb. 21, 2013 at 4:16pmLying on the internet is so “chat room”. Lying to the American people, however, will eventually get you elected president.
Report this comment
GhostOfJefferson
Feb. 21, 2013 at 5:14pma/s/l?
Report this comment
sligresda
Feb. 21, 2013 at 6:24pmlol @ ghost. no really, i laughed….out loud.
Report this comment
SimpleTruths
Feb. 21, 2013 at 9:18pmIn the words of one your hero’s – YOU LIE!
Report this comment
GhostOfJefferson
Feb. 22, 2013 at 11:41am@Simple
“In the words of one of your hero’s- YOU LIE”
What does that mean precisely? What does the hero posses as indicated by the apostrophe? Or were you saying “Hero Is”? In which case, hero is what?
Report this comment
perry1980
Feb. 21, 2013 at 4:13pmGenius answer
Report this comment
Leslie Anne
Feb. 21, 2013 at 4:26pmGood analytical skills.
Report this comment
myptofvu
Feb. 21, 2013 at 4:09pmI think the answer is 25% not 50 as you would think since you start with 4 possible outcomes.
Even-Heads…Even-Tails…Odd-Heads,,,Odd-Tails
Report this comment
Leslie Anne
Feb. 21, 2013 at 4:24pmNo. As the question is written in the article above, the correct answer is 0%.
Report this comment
PAUL GULLO
Feb. 21, 2013 at 3:55pmI’m so glad I’m not in school.
Report this comment
wasam
Feb. 21, 2013 at 3:52pmThe person writing the story above is employing the skills of a 10 year old. Just look at all the grammar and spelling errors.
Report this comment
GhostOfJefferson
Feb. 21, 2013 at 4:00pmI agree, it was rather difficult to muddle through the story. In fact, I’m rather at a loss, still, as to who precisely wrote this and why it isn’t “what it seems”.
Report this comment
IndyGuy
Feb. 21, 2013 at 3:51pmPretty bright kid…I’d hire him just for his ability to pay attention…
Report this comment
Cavallo
Feb. 21, 2013 at 3:43pm“…and learning that it’s probably not the best idea to lie on the internet.”
Leftists lie all the time on the internet. For instance, “No one is talking about taking away your guns.” is one of the more recent whoppers they spew.
Report this comment
GhostOfJefferson
Feb. 21, 2013 at 3:54pmIn a Leftist’s mind, he cannot lie, since there is no such thing as truth and lies, or good and evil. A lie isn’t a lie so much as it is a perspective that is different than your perspective, and since perception is reality, one need simply adjust one’s perception to better fit the reality that the Leftist wishes you to believe in.
I wish I were kidding.
Report this comment
Max jones
Feb. 21, 2013 at 4:46pmGHOST…So do I.
Report this comment
GhostOfJefferson
Feb. 21, 2013 at 3:39pmGood kid. And it’s not a smart ass answer, it’s a simple application of logic.
This is the answer my son put on a test last month (a practice test). The teacher gave him a thumbs up and an “attaboy”.
http://www.patriotsdonotcomply.com/images/SonsCustomAnswer.jpg
Report this comment
GhostOfJefferson
Feb. 21, 2013 at 3:47pmAh, need to read closer, this wasn’t a kid but an adult? Did I read that correctly?
The logic is still sound.
Report this comment
IndyGuy
Feb. 21, 2013 at 4:24pmLove it Ghost…e. was the obvious choice…
Report this comment
GhostOfJefferson
Feb. 21, 2013 at 4:31pm@Indy
Heh, yeah, I know. I love it when the kids step up.
Report this comment
Max jones
Feb. 21, 2013 at 4:48pmI think I love your son, GHOST….
Report this comment
pwatkins
Feb. 22, 2013 at 2:49amAwesome kid you have. Is he interested in politics in the future…hope so?
Report this comment
VoteRightDammit
Feb. 21, 2013 at 3:38pmWHEW!
At least he didn’t make the fatal mistake of saying something that disagrees with the gay gestapo!
Might still be allowed to graduate.
Report this comment
chips1
Feb. 21, 2013 at 4:33pmSince when do gays like tails?
Report this comment
Max jones
Feb. 21, 2013 at 4:50pmTime available?
Report this comment
Saving_the_Republic.com
Feb. 21, 2013 at 3:31pmCareful with the smarta** answers on tests. I did that when I took college placement test and because I of my answer I was put in a serious brainiac English/Lit class. Ill never forget the meeting I had with my advisor when I had to pick my classes “You scored very well on the essay”.
I questioned the question!
Can’t remember what it was, just remember thinking “this is stupid, who is the rocket scientist that wrote it!”
Report this comment
BikerMickAG
Feb. 21, 2013 at 3:56pmSomething similar happened to me in junior year high school history class. I was lucky that the teacher had a sense of humor. He gave all of us a history-related essay, requesting that we write no less than one thousand words. Smart-a** that I am, I drew a picture putting in as much detail as I could, stating, “A picture is worth a thousand words, right?” He accepted it telling me that I had used up every grace he had ever given to students & he announced to the rest of the class that he would not again accept a picture in place of any essay. Mr. Zsarinsky was his name. Good guy!
Report this comment
PAUL GULLO
Feb. 21, 2013 at 3:57pmThat’s funny
Report this comment
Max jones
Feb. 21, 2013 at 4:51pmI believe it….smart***!
Report this comment