#12. Challenge your brain with this visual logic brain teaser
In which direction is the bus pictured below traveling?
Do you know the answer?
The only possible answers are “left” or “right.”
Still don’t know?
Keep reading for the answer and explanation…
When pre-school children in the US are shown this brain teaser, they often answer “left.”
Why? “Because you can’t see the door.”
(This works in countries where you drive on the right side of the road, like the US and continental Europe; it would be the reverse in countries where you drive on the left side, such as the UK)
Feel pretty dumb now, don’t you? I did too!
This teaser illustrates a good concept about how our memory works (and also our cognitive flexibility). Imagine if our memories were absolutely perfect. On the one hand, you might have been able to answer this puzzle correctly, since you could compare this image to all the school bus images you have in your mind, and only the ones going left would match.
On the other hand, imagine truly remembering every single detail of every single day of your life. It would be insurmountable to filter through all that data retrieve useful information…you probably wouldn’t have been able to answer the question in hours or even days, trying to retrieve and process every single bus-related memory.
Think about that next time you complain about your memory…
Other brain teasers for kids and adults in SharpBrains’ top 25 series:
PS: Enjoy these 50 brain teasers and games to test your cognitive ability. Free, and fun for children and adults of any age!
Lee: Thanks :-)
I can see that the bus is not traveling now!
Left or right? It will depend on what country you are from. Even to a bliind person ( I am) here is no windshield so it possibily could be a trailor.
i thought it was coming straight at me
i had never seen a bus
with three windows in my life!
Mahindra: remember, novelty is good for the brain :-)
I’ve been looking at the bus for a long time now and it is not moving at all.
I say.…..“everybody OFF the bus!”
The bus could be backing up or from England. Then the given answer would be incorrect. The question should state that the bus is moving forward in the U.S.
Based on the simplicity of the drawing, I answered “straight towards me.” The wheels look like headlights and the part with the windows looks like the top of the bus. Can you see it?
Fools! It is falling, because there is no ground under it!
Hows that for logic?
I tried this with several preschoolers, too. Guess what? Pre-school kids DON’T RIDE ON A BUS! Your logic is skewed, simply because only inner-city and metropolitan children can relate, since they use busses. Here in our town, children’s parents drive them to pre-school…and all over, for that matter. Ugh. Just like the other intelligence tests, this one is cute, but not valid.
That bus looks so simple in that it is basically a box on wheels I wouldn’t even have assumed it would have a door. If it was a photograph had more detail I think the responses but be different.…
Another fine example of americans thinking that they are the only country in the world.
From here we can see how complicated being an adult here, our mind just think too much. Though it just a very simple solution sometimes our mind just make the situation worst. Do you agree?
Could the bus not be traveling in reverse?
Paul, another fine example of a Brit having a reflex and blaming Americans. Frankly, 72% of the world’s roadways are right driving oriented. Left handed driving remains a quaint feature of Britain and a handful of their former colonies.
Wow, what a running debate, perhaps more (or less) stimulating than the puzzle itself.
I am surprised no one has yet challenged whether a bus could really fit into the size of your computer screen, or how come a bus doesn’t have an exhaust.
Further, the puzzle lacks credibility since there is no BIG lateral ad. And where is the road? perhaps the bus is moving at the bottom of the ocean?
Or is it a new top-secret non-manned vehicle to travel to Mars, devised by the American military in such an innocent manner not to raise extraterrestrial suspicions?
In any case, this is being pretty good brain exercise, either trying to solve the puzzle or to find a creative objection. So, let me ask…what are other creative objections you can find to the puzzle itself? please don’t repeat anything that has been already said…
There is a MAJOR PRIZE for the most creative response… 10 buses like that one, sent (at our expense) to your favorite email address!
Uh, well unlike everyone else (apparently) I didn’t find fault in the teaser. It’s quite obviously open to interpretation. After looking at the — yes, highly simplified — picture of the bus, I noticed that the only things shown were windows, so the windshield should be pictured. But since it’s not seen, I assumed the bus was moving RIGHT and the windshield was on the opposite side. (Yes, because I’m an American, and drive on the right side of the road and sit in the left side of the car.)
Even though my last post was whisked away, I would like to reiterate that this drawing looks like a UFO, and could, therefore, be moving in any direction.
to me it looks like i’m looking at the front of the bus with three square headed individuals in the windshield and round headlights … or the back with TV screens for the passengers’ entertainment, or again, three square headed passengers in the back seat.
Wow! I didn’t even think of thinking about the door lol. The picture seems so simple I just assumed you missed the door, but really the drawing was perfect, it makes sense it’s going left.
Bus is moving to left. At right, there’s my home’s window: very dangerous to get this way!
XD
I thought it was moving towards Denver.
Paul: finally someone got the right answer. It was Denver :-)