Note: Please make sure you have read the thread covering the actual
"creativity test" questions first before reading this page with the answers that
go with that test. Again, those questions, and these answers, are bogus.
The actual text for the answers from that 1978 issue of National Lampoon
magazine follow immediately below the bold horizontal line.
______________________________________________________________________
Answers
1. One key element of creativity is in the definition of the problem. In this case,
there is no rule that says you cannot go out and buy another copy of this magazine,
cut out two more matches from the other copy of this test, and place them beside
the original five. And if somebody calls you a cheater, you just look them in the eye
and say, "Well, I didn't pick my pencil up off the paper, did I?" And you didn't!
2. The answer is none. You're a creative person. You can't be bothered with the
petty demands of so-called "friends" who have nothing better to do than order you
about and insist that you serve as their lackey, bringing them marbles of this or that
color. You take the whole bag of marbles over to this "friend's" house, shove it into
his or her hands, and say, "Here. Select your own marbles, pal."
3. If there is one thing creative people know how to do well, it is delegate authority.
Thus, in this problem, the creative solution would be to hire somebody to read the
numeral back to you -- as slowly as necessary, until you are able to repeat it.
4. Obviously the old man is senile, and his entire speech should be discounted.
Therefore the matter of who is chopping down the tree is moot, so long as
somebody is chopping it down.
5. The answer is:
\(\displaystyle \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ 3 \ 5 \ 7 \ 8 \ 9\)
\(\displaystyle \ \ + \ 2 \ 4 \ 4 \ 1 \ 8\)
____________
\(\displaystyle \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ 1 \ 5 \ 7 \ 5 \ 3\)
You may say, "But that is incorrect arithmetically!" Yes, it is, but from the standpoint of
creativity, tough. No one said it had to be arithmetically correct, and anyway stop whining.
It isn't creative.
6. Perhaps the keenest pleasure of being a creative person is the ability to spin forth tiny
gems of imaginative fabrication almost at will. It surely has not escaped the reader's notice
that I am a fairly creative person myself. Therefore I decided to omit a seventh problem,
and instead let my fancy roam free, the result of which is the touching and even meaningful
story you have just read.
7. Creative people know when to address problems and when to recognize that a problem
may be insoluble, or, at least, not worth the time and effort it may take to solve it. This
particular case is one in which it simply isn't worth the trouble. What do you have to gain
by connecting these stupid dots? In such an instance, the truly creative person knows that
the best course of action is to go have a beer and watch television.
In sum, then, creativity is elusive and evanescent, yet each of us has the capacity to have
it and use it. Today, more than ever, old ways of thinking can be harmful and stilting;
more and more our daily lives demand us to be creative. So next time you have a problem,
don't just think about it in the old ways. Be creative! And see if it doesn't make a difference.
"creativity test" questions first before reading this page with the answers that
go with that test. Again, those questions, and these answers, are bogus.
The actual text for the answers from that 1978 issue of National Lampoon
magazine follow immediately below the bold horizontal line.
______________________________________________________________________
Answers
1. One key element of creativity is in the definition of the problem. In this case,
there is no rule that says you cannot go out and buy another copy of this magazine,
cut out two more matches from the other copy of this test, and place them beside
the original five. And if somebody calls you a cheater, you just look them in the eye
and say, "Well, I didn't pick my pencil up off the paper, did I?" And you didn't!
2. The answer is none. You're a creative person. You can't be bothered with the
petty demands of so-called "friends" who have nothing better to do than order you
about and insist that you serve as their lackey, bringing them marbles of this or that
color. You take the whole bag of marbles over to this "friend's" house, shove it into
his or her hands, and say, "Here. Select your own marbles, pal."
3. If there is one thing creative people know how to do well, it is delegate authority.
Thus, in this problem, the creative solution would be to hire somebody to read the
numeral back to you -- as slowly as necessary, until you are able to repeat it.
4. Obviously the old man is senile, and his entire speech should be discounted.
Therefore the matter of who is chopping down the tree is moot, so long as
somebody is chopping it down.
5. The answer is:
\(\displaystyle \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ 3 \ 5 \ 7 \ 8 \ 9\)
\(\displaystyle \ \ + \ 2 \ 4 \ 4 \ 1 \ 8\)
____________
\(\displaystyle \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ 1 \ 5 \ 7 \ 5 \ 3\)
You may say, "But that is incorrect arithmetically!" Yes, it is, but from the standpoint of
creativity, tough. No one said it had to be arithmetically correct, and anyway stop whining.
It isn't creative.
6. Perhaps the keenest pleasure of being a creative person is the ability to spin forth tiny
gems of imaginative fabrication almost at will. It surely has not escaped the reader's notice
that I am a fairly creative person myself. Therefore I decided to omit a seventh problem,
and instead let my fancy roam free, the result of which is the touching and even meaningful
story you have just read.
7. Creative people know when to address problems and when to recognize that a problem
may be insoluble, or, at least, not worth the time and effort it may take to solve it. This
particular case is one in which it simply isn't worth the trouble. What do you have to gain
by connecting these stupid dots? In such an instance, the truly creative person knows that
the best course of action is to go have a beer and watch television.
In sum, then, creativity is elusive and evanescent, yet each of us has the capacity to have
it and use it. Today, more than ever, old ways of thinking can be harmful and stilting;
more and more our daily lives demand us to be creative. So next time you have a problem,
don't just think about it in the old ways. Be creative! And see if it doesn't make a difference.