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A man is very depressed because he has lost all his money. He went to the river to commit suicide. But he didn’t. Why?

a) He remembered he had an important appointment

b) Somebody persuaded him not to

c) He received news that he had not lost all his money and changed his mind

d) He was taken ill

Had this question on the Cattell III B test for Mensa and I can’t work it out for the life of me.

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    $\begingroup$ Why isn't it (c) which removed the actual reason? $\endgroup$
    – Weather Vane
    Commented Oct 14, 2023 at 17:12
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    $\begingroup$ MENSA questions evoke more the sense of a verbal inkblot test than a psychometrically validated test of fluid intelligence... $\endgroup$
    – Feryll
    Commented Oct 14, 2023 at 18:59

3 Answers 3

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I'm not 100% sure I have the full solution, but I would say that

neither an important appointment nor an illness are going to stop someone from commiting suicide if they're already there at the river.

That leaves us with

b) and c).

However

it can't be c) because "he is very depressed" (not "was").

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    $\begingroup$ Outside of a heartwarming piece of fiction, it's also not very likely that he would receive individually specific news, right at that moment, that his fortune was restored. With an eye toward realism and statistics, it's most likely that a generic talking-down occurred, if we're restricted to these four options. $\endgroup$
    – Feryll
    Commented Oct 14, 2023 at 19:03
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This sounds like

the plot of the movie It's a Wonderful Life

so the answer could be

B) Clarence the angel persuades George Bailey not to end his own life

Not a particularly good "intelligence" test in my opinion...

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  • $\begingroup$ But rot13(Trbetr qvqa'g ybfr uvf zbarl: uvf hapyr Ovyyl ybfg gur onax'f zbarl). Was his decision challenged in the plot by the other 3 reasons given, without avail? $\endgroup$
    – Weather Vane
    Commented Oct 14, 2023 at 17:45
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Asked a friend of mine and this is his opinion.

The river is the last card in a game of poker. The man gambled everything on the final card. He had gone "all in". When the river card was turned over, the last card turned his high card into a winning hand and he retrieved his money. Therefore the answer is c.

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    $\begingroup$ You really should probably wait longer to self-answer. It hasn't even been an hour! $\endgroup$
    – CDR
    Commented Oct 14, 2023 at 17:59
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    $\begingroup$ Your post says you could not work it out and the answer makes no sense. The man has already lost all his money, before going to the river. $\endgroup$
    – Weather Vane
    Commented Oct 14, 2023 at 18:13

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