Hey, everyone.
I'm here today with Elliot Morgan
from the channel "Elliot Morgan" and previously
of "SourceFed" and "Mental Floss."
Yes.
That is, that is accurate.
This is Steve Zaragoza from Comic-Con HQ's "Mostly
Homeless" and "SourceFed."
Yes, that's correct.
And this is Bree Essrig from "Nuclear Family."
and "SourceFed."
Mhm.
Hi.
So, your first question, Steve.
OK.
Which of these glasses has more water in it?
I think this one.
OK.
Just cause it's wider.
OK.
You know, that's probably an obvious answer.
I could test this.
Yes.
Using what's called the scientific method.
But I'm going to say that one does.
OK.
My temptation is to say that they're both the same.
Obviously, this is higher, because it's narrower.
This is lower, but it's wider.
So I would say that it's the same.
OK.
Good to know.
You.
Yeah.
Oh, the way you say OK is like-- it's, it is a, uh--
Hmm, hmm, interesting.
It's neutral enough that it makes
me feel wrong immediately.
Uncertain, and you second guessed yourself?
Yep, oh, yeah.
Uh, I'm going to say it's the same.
OK.
And I'm wrong, aren't I?
OK.
Yeah, see there it is again.
You should name your show just, OK, OK.
OK, OK.
OK.
Yeah.
OK.
I'm going to give you the answers
after the next question.
All right, second question-- which of these rows
has more coins?
It, they, I believe it has the same amount of coins.
Really?
I believe it does.
Uh-huh.
They're the same.
They are the same.
Yeah.
They're the same.
OK.
Yeah, yeah.
OK.
Yeah.
As far as, like, worth?
Just the-- no, just the number.
I think it's--
Of objects.
The exact same.
OK.
Well, they both have the same amount.
So are the glasses.
Yeah.
The glasses are the same!
It might comfort you to know that these two
tests are for children.
Oh, yes, it would.
So, so these two tests are from a series of tasks
called Piaget's conservation tasks.
They're for children.
Yeah.
OK.
How'd I do?
You did, you did great.
So Jean Piaget was this Swiss developmental psychologist.
And these are tests that are actually for children.
[LAUGHTER]
So I phrased the questions a little bit unfairly, also
a little bit differently to how they're asked with kids.
What is interesting about these is
that kids who are three to four years old get them wrong.
The test will start like this, right?
And then the researcher will get this cup
and do that and be like, is the amount of liquid the same?
Or does one have more?
OK.
Yeah.
They would say that the taller glass has the most water it it.
And they say that the longer row of coins has more coins.
Idiots.
Well, they're also three.
Absolute dummies.
They're also three--
No excuse.
They're three to four years old.
Yeah, nah.
So the coins test they master by five or six years old.
OK.
But they don't get the volume test until nine or 10 years old
usually.
But by get it--
So it's the same kind of concept,
except they-- once they learn this,
they can't apply it to something different.
OK, I see.
I see.
Yeah, yeah.
So Piaget made up a word for it, which is called decalage.
Such a good word.
It's based on the idea that some physical quantities
are unchanged or conserved.
Right.
During spatial changes.
OK.
So in this test, you have to repeat after me.
So I'm going to tap a sequence on my four cubes.
And you have to repeat the sequence on your four cubes.
OK.
Is this like Simon?
You know, I have no idea what Simon is.
I think this is a cultural difference.
Wow!
Yeah, because that's what Elliot said.
Is it called something different?
You know, I was always really bad at that Simon game.
I haven't even heard of it.
Why didn't that make it to you, I wonder?
But from what people-- the Pacific Ocean?
I don't know.
--[LAUGHTER] Just, they couldn't get it--
figure out a way to get them over the Pacific Ocean.
I was just too big.
That damn market out there that we can't tap.
Are you ready?
Mhm.
You're good at this.
This one's not going to go good.
I, I can tell already.
I know what this is.
[SOFT LAUGHTER]
Here we go.
Right.
OK.
Oh, no.
You went fast.
Oh, no!
Did I mess up already?
So that is called the Knox cube test.
[GROAN]
One, two, three, four.
I can't even remember.
[LAUGHTER]
What it was.
And it's an intelligence test, as you might have guessed.
Uh-huh.
OK.
For children.
OK, it's for children.
It's for children.
Do you go that fast when you're teaching children, you think?
I've never done it with kids before.
OK.
So maybe I'm not the best person to administer this test.
I think you were going very fast.
The last one, I just made up.
It wasn't even part of the test.
OK, OK.
I don't know.
It just, it went from A to Z so fast.
Like, it was so simple.
And then it just was like, da-da-da-da-da.
And I was like, oh, cool, no.
It's hard to administer intelligence tests to kids
sometimes if they don't have verbal abilities yet.
But despite what you say, Elliot, kids can be very smart.
I know you don't, I know you don't believe that.
I believe it now.
Today is a good developmental psychology day.
I'm learning a lot about myself.
--[LAUGHTER] So when kids are about five,
they tend to get the first one.
I didn't do well, so what, what, what age does well?
And then by the time that they're 11,
they can do all of them.
Like perfectly?
Yeah.
Yep.
But it's interesting, because with kids, their performance
on these tests early in life actually
is positively correlated with how well they do on IQ tests
later in life.
Ew.
Wow, that science is so important, so important.
I just, I'm realizing that now, more than ever.
Yeah, yeah.
Next question-- is red heavier than yellow?
Heavier?
Mhm.
Uh, yes?
Yeah.
Maybe?
Huh?
Yeah.
Yeah?
Yeah.
I would have to say yes.
OK.
No.
I think they're both the same.
Ha, ha.
I think they're both just as heavy.
I was going off, based off of ROYGBIV.
OK, OK.
Red, orange, yellow-- and I figured that, you know,
red would be the extreme end of, of it.
And now, I feel like I've just said all of the wrong things.
I, I would say-- I would only say yes,
because it feels like a brighter,
like, more like intense color.
I guess the idea would be that, well, colors don't have weight
that I know of, unless they do.
They do, don't they?
I can tell by-- she's, she's looking at me like they
have-- they definitely do.
So maybe not.
I don't think they-- I don't think colors weigh anything.
Are they items, or are they colors?
No, they're colors-- like, is the color
red heavier than the color yellow?
Maybe like a rust red.
I don't know.
Getting very specific.
I have no idea.
I think they're the same.
I feel like I have become so wrong
that I'm going to start questioning very basic things.
It's such a weird question.
OK, one more question-- is a sweater or a jumper,
as I would say, angrier than a tree?
What?
I'm going to be thinking about these all day
today and tomorrow.
For the rest of time.
It a sweater angrier than a tree?
--[LAUGHTER] Do they ask children these questions, too?
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah, because when you cross your arms, it's angry.
Oh, that's interesting.
If you're wearing a sweater and you cross your arms,
yeah, that could be angry.
But is the sweater angry, or are you angry
and you're forcing--
You're angry.
And you're forcing the sweater.
To also be angry.
Well, yes, I think trees are very happy.
You think trees are happy?
Maybe.
Yeah.
Do you, do you think happiness is something
that we've imposed on trees, though?
Yes.
Yeah.
Yes.
How do we know that they're really happy?
It's like the eco-movement has made
them a symbol of happiness.
Yeah.
I don't like when people--
Our tree escape is a symbol of happiness.
Right?
I don't like it.
Our wanderlust, you know?
Yeah.
You're right.
You know?
Yeah.
We impose our feelings and what we know on everything.
I don't like when people, like, anthropomorphize,
like, dogs, to the point where it's like--
Excuse me.
I think a, I think a tree might be angrier.
Why is that?
Because a tree is an actual life form.
OK.
Right?
But I guess sweater is also made from nature.
Plants.
Yeah.
I don't know.
I think maybe they're both inanimate objects that
can't feel.
A tree has been allowed to just live its life the way
it wanted to live its life.
A sweater used to be all sorts of things.
It used to be a plant.
It used to be another type of plant.
And now, it's being used and abused
for somebody else's convenience.
I don't know.
Anyway, the last two questions that I asked you, there's
no answer to them.
Is a sweater angrier than a tree?
Who knows.
Is one color heavier than another?
That's absurd.
Yeah.
But people try and come up with answers.
They have been asked in studies before to see
how many people will say, I don't know,
which you actually said a couple of times.
There's been studies done where, like, 3/4 of kids
will make up an answer to something
where researchers know there is not an answer to the question.
But kids will just try and answer it.
And it's a habit that we continue into adulthood, where
we don't like to say, I don't know.
The guys who run "Freakonomics" think that I don't know
are the hardest three words in the English language
for someone to say.
Because people won't admit when they don't--
They don't want to, yeah.
Know something.
True, yeah.
I certainly don't.
Yeah, so the research looks at how you ask questions and how
that causes people to speculate when the questions are
unanswerable, because--
So they maybe think, like, something, like they're
being tricked or something, or?
Yeah, yeah.
Or, like, I, I think just-- it looks at the way
that you ask questions in research
and how that affects people's responses.
Steve and Elliot never said, I don't know.
They tried to make up answers.
Ha, ha, ha.
That does not surprise me.
Anyway, that's it.
That was wonderful.
Oh.
I love it.
I like that stuff.
Yeah, yeah.
These are fun.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
Yes.
Awkward hug from the couch-- couch hugs!
couchhugs.com.