Book Description

There is an inherent stratification in the way we process data in our daily lives. Many simple data inputs, for example, in a question asking whether a person is hungry or not, the answer is binary and usually simple to process. More complex questions of a certain type would require the answering person to search for a term in the memory. These types of questions are commonplace in day to day work and in interviews or questions in examinations. Specific advantages of these questions, in a competitive setting, includes the payoff of diligent preparations when the syllabus is not too big. Some disadvantages also remain. The disadvantages include the inability to have a reasonable guess, with the help of logic or experience, for questions which has no leads in any direction. Who was the first man to climb Mount Everest? If we do not know about Norgay and Hillary, it is impossible to guess (even with that 'hill'' in the name, no disrespect). These two types lead us to another strata of questions. The questions involving abstraction and big-picture thinking. The term may sound too broad or even mystical, but it is a word fit for this type of question. The process of abstraction involves taking away the inessential parts of an object so that only essential parts remain. It can be simple, as in choosing the legible part of a multi-language menu card in a restaurant. Or it can be complex, as in answering a (hard) puzzle from this book. Big-picture thinking stresses on association of different topics in our head and pondering on them so that a solution can emerge. It is common in the IQ tests which measure a specific kind of intelligence. It is common in aptitude questions in a large number of tests for job or academics. It is also common in interviews, for example in the Physics department of one of the most reputed universities of Britain, where a question was asked along the lines of- "You are in a prison cell. There is a pipe in the wall through which water is flowing. Using a light bulb, how would you determine the direction of the flow?" As we can see, this question requires us to think in a big-picture way and also use abstract thinking. It is not a case of plugging in the formulae and getting the answer. This final type of question can be easier to attempt if we have a lot of practice, and it will be even better if we can call the practice 'fun' . This book is a small step in that direction. You have to identify a single word, when being provided with a one or two sentence clue. It is simple. Yet it can also be complex at times. Better yet, if you can pinpoint another word which makes it more apt in the question, it would be fabulous. If you practice (and play!) with a partner, it will be better yet.