Mind Reading 101
In this post, I will be explaining a fun mathematics trick that you can try on your unsuspecting 10–12 year old cousin and claim to read his mind.
Here is the trick.
- Think of a single digit number (1 to 9)
- Multiply it by 10
- Subtract the original number from this.
- Add the digits of the number he got.
- Subtract 5 and think of its corresponding alphabet(A-1, B-2…)
- Think of a country name starting with that alphabet.
- Think of an animal name starting with that country’s second letter.
I cannot help it if you were thinking of …..
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this cute Elephant from Denmark!!!
Don’t worry. This will be the same exact answer that your cousin will also give.
Surprised right? Well you won’t be, after knowing what actually happens behind the scenes. This is another example of skillful deception like I mentioned in one of my previous post on Whatsapp forwards.
How Does It Work
The first rule in these tricks is to complicate things. Even if it is a simple multiplication, it will be twisted so that nobody smells a rat.
If you observe Steps 2 & 3, I ask you to multiply by 10 and subtract the original number from this.
This is the same as multiplying the original number by 9. But why did I twist it around? This is the most important step in the trick and if I had told you to directly “Multiply by 9”, some of you might have guessed the trick.
Now, I ask you to add the digits. What will be the result? 9. Yes. Whatever single digit number you thought of, if you multiply by 9 and add the digits, it will result in 9.
Why? If you recall from your school days, adding the digits of a number that is divisible by 9, will result in 9. That is what happened here. Since the number in your mind will be a single/double digit number, adding its digits directly gives 9.
Now, I have brought all of you to a common base. All of you will have only one number in your mind i.e 9. This is where psychology takes over.
Subtracting 5 from 9 leads to 4. 4 leads to D. What is the first country that instantly comes to your mind? Of course Denmark (If you think of some other country, either you are really good with countries or you already know of this trick). What is the second letter in Denmark? E. An animal starting with E. Do I really need to spell it out to you?
This is pure psychology. Why do we instantly think Denmark? A quick Google search will tell you that there are only 5 countries that start with D.
- Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Denmark
- Djibouti
- Dominica
- Dominican Republic
And which is the most common country? There you have your answer.
Coming to E. Right from our kindergarden days, we have been taught A for Apple, B for Ball ….. E for Elephant. How will you think of any other animal? (By the way, if you know any other animal starting with E, do let me know.)
Become the Favourite Cousin
The best place to try this trick out would be at your cousin’s birthday party. Huddle your cousin(s) and their friends together during the party and follow the above steps. Ask all of them to shout the answer(Elephants in Denmark) at the count of 3. Imagine a bunch of 10–12yr old’s shouting “Elephants in Denmark” in unison and the expression of surprise when they find out that all of them have the same answer. Enough to make you the favourite cousin at the party.
Using This To Battle COVID-19
At present, the whole world is in the grip of the Corona virus. The government and the police are constantly urging people to maintain social distancing and to avoid venturing outside unless really necessary and are trying various means to achieve the same. Towards this, the Bangalore City Police came up with a creative idea. Last month, they put out a post via their Instagram handle, which you can find below:
(You can also find it in this link: https://www.instagram.com/p/B_7WmksF8jI/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_mid=0B7A42E7-3796-457F-A179-9A2D1E5C508D)
They have used the same concept I have discussed above. Whatever number you start with, you will eventually land up in 9, meaning you have to stay at home. Creativity at its peak right?? If you have understood the Elephants in Denmark trick, you can easily figure out why the answer will always be 9.
Will be back with more such interesting tricks in my future posts.
Thanks for reading!!!
