No, this title does not indicate this is a post about palindromes<\/a> (even though it is one).<\/p>\n

Rather, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the first post in a new category: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Counter Intuitive\u00e2\u20ac\u009d.<\/p>\n

I had a long list of counter intuitive answers, situations, solutions, information and phenomena. A list of questions that you are absolutely certain to know the right answer to. The ones you would bet a LOT of money on. And then you would lose that money!<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t find that list anymore, but I remember the following question from that list, one that tests geographic knowledge:<\/p>\n

Suppose you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re on a boat on the Atlantic ocean. You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re on your way to the Pacific ocean, which you will reach by traversing the Panama canal.<\/p>\n

When you enter the Panama canal, you mark your position on a map and call it A. When you exit the canal, you again mark your position on a map and call it B.<\/p>\n

The question now is: <\/p>\n

B is:<\/p>\n

1. West of A<\/p>\n

or<\/p>\n

2. East of A<\/p>\n

If you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know where the Panama canal is, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll probably just have to guess, look up the answer, and learn something new today.<\/p>\n

But most people know where the Panama canal is and thus they also know that going from the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean through the Panama canal takes you on an east to west journey! (The Panama canal will take you from the Caribbean Sea to the Gulf of Panama)<\/p>\n

So the answer is simple!<\/p>\n

Mesdames et Monsieurs: Faites vos jeux!<\/p>\n

(For those of you who visit Vegas more that Monte Carlo: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Ladies and Gentlemen: Place your bets\u00e2\u20ac\u009d)<\/p>\n

This is a \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcself grading\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 test: After having answered the question and placed your bet, you look up a map of Panama<\/a> and verify your answer: if you were wrong you mail me a check for the amount of your bet. If you were correct, you get to keep that money and may pat yourself on the shoulder for being such a smarty pants.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

No, this title does not indicate this is a post about palindromes (even though it is one). Rather, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the first post in a new category: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Counter Intuitive\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. I had a long list of counter intuitive answers, situations, solutions, information and phenomena. A list of questions that you are absolutely certain to know the right […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-counter-intuitive"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/claessen.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/claessen.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/claessen.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/claessen.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/claessen.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=145"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/claessen.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/claessen.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/claessen.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/claessen.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}