Also, I take a remarkable amount of umbrage to the bible belt comment in the second or third paragraph, because I was raised in the bible belt and still live there. In the operating room, the surgeon looks at the boy and says, "I can't operate . All you need to do is watch the newest medical TV shows to know that things are changing. The son is rushed to the hospital; just as he's about to go under the knife, the surgeon says, "I can't operatethat boy is my son!" Explain. Since I was brought up by a single father, I totally forgot about the mother. Ive done a very similar informal experiment with my colleagues (we are all chemists a very male-dominated field). Stephanie Coontz, who teaches history and family studies at Evergreen State College in Washington state, cited the BU duos work in a New York Times column on the problems facing mothers in the workplace. RIDDLE TIME: A father and his son were in a car accident. I would say, regarding this last point about how the riddle should be presented (with the solution witheld) , that most of those who here have dismissed the riddle with such comments as that its so obvious only a stupid person would not see the solution, would not have seen it themselves had it been presented properly. Sometime down the road of the English language evolution (or even sooner than that), the decision was made for no words to have gender and for objects to be referred to as it and not he or she. The Backlot. Descriptions: A father and his son were in a car accident. The son is rushed to the hospital. He's my son." Yet the doctor was not the boy's father. 12:22 PM. While obviously bias clearly influences peoples responses I wonder how much the language primes people? Should Tech Companies Be Held Accountable for Letting Terrorists on Their Sites? The riddle is like a game, and is also built to show the reader that there is a sore spot in society (like an old fracture), and one way to illustrate it is to make the reader put its finger on it, and press hard without a warning. All the view points were very interesting. I assume that also the reversed nurse question, 100% would get this one right: >A father is killed, his son sent to the hospital, and a nurse declines to attend to the patient because that boy is my son. The doctor is the boy . A father and his son are in a car accident. This father could have seen his child (or even just pictures of him)on a regular enough basis to recognize him when he saw him. The man's son was in the operating room and the doctor said, "I can't operate on you. 2. Here's an old riddle. The son was taken to the hospital. The moment they arrived at the hospital, he was wheeled into an emergency operating room, and the surgeon came in, expecting a routine case. I think the brain is wired to automatically think that the surgeon is male, hence it became confusing that the one who died is the father. They got into an accident and were in critical condition. Why take an unnecessary dig at the Bible Belt in an otherwise useful column, a column about bias, no less? He is my SON!" And I look at that course of history that . The vampire thinks the darkness is night, goes out for a drink and gets caught in sunlight a few minutes later which kills him. You're my son.". Yes, a control group would be a good idea; however, the study is easily replicated. I've heard this one too. My initial thought was: what is going through the surgeons mind? . Maybe yiu should consider your own ignornace. The emergency room surgeon said "I can't operate, that's my son!" How is this possible? What I think is the more valuable information gained from this study is that the majority of respondents were more likely to accept that the parents were a same sex couple than break gender norms. see the operator is the sons mother. I thought right away the surgeon was a woman! Ask a subgroup of people the following question and see if they are more likely to solve the riddle: A mother and daughter are in a horrible car crash that kills the mother. The genesis of the research was Belles 10-year-old granddaughter. The doctor enters the emergency room, looks at the boy, and says. You are spot on. https://discord.gg/EBchq82. That was my thought too, about the male pronouns. This has nothing to do with competence. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns. This is supposed to help people? We are still very far in terms of parity in the minds of people in general Just like with Why did the chicken cross the road? People do know its to get to the other sidethey just expected the answer to be something really clever. Is this possible or impossible? These things come out of otherwise very intelligent people. Two fathers and two sons went hunting and shot three ducks. What made imagining a surgeon mom so difficult? If you think like, surgeons father and surgeons son then I think answer is different. You're my son.". It is hypocritical because it approves of the clear bias by the author. The parenthetical remark about the results reversing when the genders are changed proves, without doubt, that it is the wording of the riddle and not gender bias that influences the results. At whose portrait was Harsh was looking? This is a clever article, and I agree completely with the sentiment. I must honestly say. I dont. Try this riddle out but change the gender of the child. You may ask one question, to one guard, to help you decide which door is the correct one. my first though was, The father is gay and one of the parents die in the crash and the other parent was the surgent! Although the riddle is very good and entertaining, it is booby-trapped to unconsciously take the reader through a one way tunnel, and scream AHAAAA!!! The doctor looks at the boy and exclaims "I can't operate on this boy, he's my son!" How could this be? Brian Stuy, who runs the service DNAConnect, estimates there's . Activity 1: Riddles. A lot of people jump to conclusions before realizing! I asked the mother-daughter question to a unique set of individuals from my department, and 100% of them got it right. Who was the doctor? The doctor says "There is no way i can operate on this boy, he is my son". A man and his son were rock climbing on a particularly dangerous mountain when they slipped and fell. Basically I want to know if they thought that it might be the wording of the riddles that made you think this way? One out of every ten graduate students and professors that I asked were able to answer the original riddle correctly most people say some variation of second father. >A mother and daughter are in a horrible car crash that kills the mother. Thus, an interesting piece on at least three kinds of bias: gender, geographic, and religious. Ali, thats quite an astute observation there. I thought it could be the boys birth parent, thinking that with the accident and the death of the mother that he could have been adopted and now the parent discovered this was her child, perhaps she knew the adopted parent all the time. Answer (1 of 91): I have collection of some really awesome riddles. The following question was also set up, but with the occupation being nurse not surgeon. The man is killed instantly. It really forces us to think again and again before taking any decision based on our perception about gender which we have build unconsciously over the period. In the operating room, a doctor came in and looked at the little boy and said I can't operate on him he is my son. The researchers addressed this; its covered in the fourth paragraph: (The results were no different for an alternate version of the riddle: a mother is killed, her daughter sent to the hospital, and a nurse declines to attend to the patient because that girl is my daughter; few people guessed that the nurse might be the childs father.). Deborah Belle, a CAS psychology professor, helped with research showing the staying power of gender stereotypes. The doctor may be the boys uncle from the paternal or maternal side. The riddle sounds much lot like a Resolve or . Youre my son.. * Female nurse: enfermeira. The riddle is like a game, and is also built to show the reader there is a sore spot in society (like an old fracture), and one way to illustrate it is to make the reader it self puts the finger on it, and press hard without warning. 40-75% of people can't solve this riddle because they're unable to imagine the surgeon is a woman. Given that more than 140,000 Chinese children were adopted internationally between 1999 and 2016, that's not encouraging news. I have good long time friends who are black but I dont look at them like that. One leads to the castle; the other, to certain death. Flying out of paradise. We sometimes forget that women/mothers can also be surgeons. The man was killed, but the son lived and was rushed to a hospital. A man and his son had a terrible car accident and were rushed to the hospital. The son was taken to the hospital. If you guessed that the surgeon is the boys gay, second father, you get a point for enlightenment, at least outside the Bible Belt. How condescending! I have seen this before but thanks for the reminder of Gender Bias. This inspires critical thinking. I wonder if they do the following control. Answer: Heroine. Nearly forty years ago on a famous episode of All in the Family called "Gloria and the Riddle," Gloria posed a riddle to Archie, Edith and Meathead. :D. It didnt cross my mind that it could be the childs mother. I would like to know if all participants in research were native English speaker and if English was there only language. the fourth son of my father is an obedient servant in the hands of men but when he losses his master he becomes an unmercifully god, the fifth son of my father is the center of our lives, This is an example of the unconscious bias that can exist in the minds of people when it comes to women in medicine. Let this ignorance be a lubricant to slide in new ideas to shape the landscape viewed with our differed perspectives. Perhaps, when a person is confronted with something confusing, they fall back on not sure what term to use here older knowledge maybe? How is this possible? If you haven't heard it, give yourself time to answer before reading past this paragraph: a father and son are in a horrible car crash that kills the dad. But when the child arrived at the hospital and was rushed into the operating theatre, the surgeon pulled away and said: "I can't operate on this boy, he's my son". The surgeon walks into the operating room and says "No. Chicago Med and The Good Doctor both have female surgeons and male nurses. That is bias and an assumption. It is important to be okay wit feeling ignorant to such things, to pick up the pace. What makes an old riddle a riddle? A dad and his son were riding their bikes and crashed. If not, youre part of a surprising majority. I made the assumption that the surgeon was male. The ambulance brought the son to the hospital. To avoid this verification in future, please, Riddle: The doctor said I cant operate on you. It is still difficult in our society to put forward the women in their work and their success, as great and important as the men. It is possible for the boy's father to be killed, and yet the boy can still be the doctor's son.