Overshot — find the TikToks breaking out, and what they're selling

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IF YOU'RE SEEING THIS VIDEO...

@distilledscience

562.2K followers · usually 16.7K views a post

Views

145.7K

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8.0K

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Why it worked

The video leverages a well-known cognitive riddle that challenges common assumptions, creating an engaging hook. It then provides a satisfying explanation and connects the riddle's solution to desirable traits like rational decision-making, making the content relatable and shareable.

Summary

This video explains the bat and ball riddle, a cognitive reflection task, and how it reveals a person's ability to suppress impulsive responses and make rational decisions. It highlights that those who correctly solved the riddle were more likely to make better financial choices, contrasting the results from a Princeton study with the video's audience.

Structure

1Introduction to the bat and ball riddle
2Revealing the common incorrect answer and the correct answer
3Explaining the riddle as a measure of cognitive reflection
4Showing how correct answers correlate with better decision-making
5Comparing past results with current audience performance
6Concluding with praise for the audience's improved performance

On-screen text

IF YOU'RE SEEING THIS VIDEO... IT MEANS YOU'RE PROBABLY SMARTER THAN THE AVERAGE PERSON ON THIS PLATFORM AND I CAN PROVE IT. I ANALYZED 25,000 COMMENTS FROM MY RECENT "WORLD'S SHORTEST IQ TEST" SERIES, WHERE I ASKED 3 QUESTIONS, 1 2 3 PULLED FROM A RESEARCH STUDY. THE FIRST WAS: BAT + BALL $1.10 "A BAT AND A BALL COST $1.10. THE BAT COSTS A DOLLAR MORE THAN THE BALL. HOW MUCH IS THE BALL?" I'LL GIVE YOU A SECOND. IF YOUR GUT SCREAMED TEN CENTS! WELCOME TO THE CLUB. IT'S WRONG. THE ANSWER IS 5¢ WHEN THIS WAS ASKED AS PART OF A "COGNITIVE REFLECTION TASK" EVEN 3/4 OF PRINCETON STUDENTS GOT IT WRONG. AND THOSE WHO GOT IT WRONG WERE MORE LIKELY TO R ATE THE QUESTION AS FEELING THAN THOSE WHO GOT IT RIGHT. BECAUSE REALLY, IT'S MEASURING YOUR BRAIN'S ABILITY TO SUPPRESS ITS IMPULSIVE RESPONSE AND STOP AND THINK. BUT THIS TEST PREDICTS MORE THAN ARITHMETIC. THE ORIGINAL RESEARCHERS FOUND THAT PEOPLE WHO RESIST THE GUT ANSWER... ALSO MAKE MORE RATIONAL DECISIONS WITH MONEY — $$$ AND YOUR ANSWERS MATCHED, PERFECTLY. THE HIGH SCORERS AMONG YOU: WERE MORE PATIENT $3800 NEXT MONTH > $3400 THIS MONTH ACCEPT THE RISKY BUT SMART BET — 15% CHANCE OF $1,000,000 > $500 FOR SURE AND LESS LIKELY TO GAMBLE FOR AVOIDING A SMALL LOSS. 3% CHANCE TO LOSE $7,000 TO AVOID LOSING $100 FOR SURE BUT THE KEY IS... THEY WERE GIVEN IT AS PART OF A LARGER TEST, AND TOLD: "BELOW ARE SEVERAL PROBLEMS THAT VARY IN DIFFICULTY. TRY TO ANSWER AS MANY AS YOU CAN." WHEREAS WITH YOU GUYS, I WARNED YOU IT WOULD BE TRICKY. STILL, WHEN I FIRST POSTED THIS FOUR YEARS AGO, 2021 BEFORE THE ALGORITHM REALLY KNEW MY AUDIENCE AS NERDY SCIENCE LOVERS, 1 IN 4 GOT IT WRONG. THIS TIME, 1 IN 8 WELL DONE, SCI-TRIBE. FREDERICK 2005 EVEN PRINCETON MISSED THIS Did you? TRAP RATE 1 IN 4 got it wrong People who missed it often rated it easier.

Original caption

Replying to @Avisha |🧬Scientist Mythbuster Do you agree with the initial premise, or do you think it’s more what I said at the end? I scored 25,000 of your comments across my "world's shortest IQ test" series (TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook) against the original research: Frederick, S. (2005), "Cognitive Reflection and Decision Making," Journal of Economic Perspectives 19(4). DOI: 10.1257/089533005775196732 What the study found: only about a third of people get the bat and ball right, the average score was 1.24 out of 3, and MIT students managed 2.18. People who miss don't miss randomly, they almost all give the same "intuitive" wrong answer. Strangest of all, the people who got it wrong rated the question as EASIER than the people who got it right. What you did: 🦇 Bat and ball: 85% correct this round, with only 12% saying ten cents. When I first posted this series to a colder, broader audience, it was 71% correct and 24% fell for the gut answer (n = 15,448). Same question, twice the trap rate. Audience is everything. ⚙️ Widgets: 88% correct (study samples ranged from roughly 25 to 48%) 🌱 Lily pads: 92% correct (about 32% in the study) 📊 Your average: 2.74 out of 3. You beat MIT. (Self-reported, and I warned you it would be tricky. The study handed it over cold: "Below are several problems that vary in difficulty.") 🎭 The weird part replicated too: commenters who answered wrong called it easy, commenters who answered right called it hard. The money predictions also held. Across 1,392 "would you rather" answers, perfect scorers were more patient (83% waited for $3,800 next month instead of taking $3,400 now), more willing to take the smart gamble (68% took the 15% shot at a million over a sure $500, versus 57% of low scorers), and less likely to take the dumb one (only 29% risked a 3% chance of losing $7,000 to dodge a certain $100 loss, versus 50% of low scorers). Exactly the pattern Frederick measured two decades ago. Platform bragging rights on the bat and ball: Instagram 87%, Facebook 86%, TikTok 83%. Nerds everywhere. Which one caught you? Be honest about the ten cents. 👇 #Science #psychology #iqtest #EduTok #LearnOnTikTok