Mind Games, Part Two: Love Triangles

Part Two: Love Triangles

 

Eye see you.

I’m not really upset about this one. I just wanted to get it out of the way. It’s a pretty straight puzzle taken at face value (even though it’s virtually lying to your face). Below I’ve spelled out the answer that is expected in a very systematic fashion. After that we’ll get into the lie. 

 

Don’t let color influence your perceptions. A valuable life lesson regardless of the puzzle’s merits.

The Sticky Note version.

We begin with the barebones puzzle. I apologize for some of the quality of the diagrams that follow; they were produced relatively quickly using the Draw features of Word.

“For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit.” And he asked him, “What is thy name?” And he answered, saying, “My name is Legion: for we are many.” Mark 5:8

Beginning from the top down of the diagram, we find there are six triangles represented.

Moving down the diagram, we find there are another six triangles represented.

Reaching the bottom of the diagram, we find there are yet another six triangles represented.

 

That makes 3 levels times 6 triangles each for a total of 18 triangles. Case closed.

Now You See It, Now You Don't

The first law of magic: Misdirection [paraphrase of Donna Tartt in The Goldfinch]

“What if there was only one choice and all the other ones were wrong? And there were signs along the way to pay attention to.” — Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), The X-Files, Season 7: All things

“All we can do, Scully, is pull the thread, see what it unravels.” — Fox Mulder (David Duchovny), The X-Files, Season 10: Founder's Mutation

No shit, Sherlock?

Almost. There is the matter of the lie. That might be putting it a little strongly. But there is a bit of deception afoot. Look at the original question again. It doesn’t say “How many triangles are there?”, it says “How many triangles do you see?” It turns out this isn’t even a puzzle at all. It is a loose test of your perception ability. (The Post-it Note version, however, restates as “How many triangles” and is therefore an actual puzzle.) By asking how many do you see, it is making the entire exercise a subjective one meaning there is no one “right” answer, only one right answer for you. I might see a different number of triangles and will be just as right as you are (assuming we are both being honest): you saw nine, and I saw six. The question doesn’t care about how many there really are.

Next-Part Three: Math is Hard

Back-Prologue and Part One: The Abridged Version of Noah’s Ark