Are you a Psychopath

This is of course ridiculous because the context of the story leads you to only one answer.

And it's BS to boot.

snopes.com: Psych Test Reveals Psychopaths

 

No TV and no beer make sister ... something something

 

i thought it was her brother in law whom she had never met. i'm a bit concerned about politbureau,

 

I got it right, only because I've raised 6 teens, and at some point, every single one of them came home with this story and asked it!

*sigh*

 

Go crazy?

 

Pms

 

It seems her single sister whom she hadn't seen in 20 years, hated the widow because the single sister had also been in love with the dead man. In fact, the single sister believed the dead man would have been her rightful husband but for her now widowed, evil sister.

Suspecting her widowed sister of having poisoned the dead husband, the single sister, a theater wardrobe and costume director, had disguised herself as a man to attend the funeral. Sad to say, it was a perfect disguise except for one small detail, genetic sexual attraction.

. . . Must stop now and return the X-rated video.

Bob Wilson

 

To me the 'facts' of the case are setup so that there is only one simple explanation.

There are four sentences in the question. Three of them make reference to the mystery guy. So it's only logical that you'd consider the mystery guy to be related to the motive for killing the sister, since that is the only data you have to work with. Any other explanation requires more-or-less inventing a new fact or making some kind of assumption.

The idea that the man is a brother-in-law doesn't make much sense imo. Even if they had never met, the question says that she "could not find" him. Obviously she was able to find her sister (to kill her), so she should have been able to find this hypothetical brother-in-law.

 

Thank you for the Snopes link!

But I disagree with the assertion that there is only one obvious answer. I came up with several, and it was clear to me there could be an unlimited number of answers:

She always hated her sister, but concern for her mother prevented her from killing the sister while the mother was alive. The stranger was a red herring.

The man whispered to her that he'd come back to her only if she killed her sister (for any of a million possible reasons).

She heard voices in her head telling her to kill her sister. Both the funeral and the stranger were red herrings.

Out of curiosity, after having watched a zombie movie, she dug up her dead mother and ate her brains to find out what they tasted like. She liked the taste and so killed her sister so she could eat her brains as well. The stranger was a red herring.

She really was a zombie. She killed her sister to eat her brains.

The sister was a CIA agent. The stranger was a KGB agent. He cleverly used the woman, making her fall in love with him using skills he was taught in KGB school, and told her that if she killed her sister he would make love with her.

She killed her sister by accident. The funeral and the stranger were red herrings.

I never thought of the supposed "right" (psychopath) answer because it makes very little sense: Why would a man who attended the mother's funeral be expected to attend the daughter's funeral? He was probably an old friend of the mother who had never met either of the daughters, and so probably would not attend the sister's funeral. Or else he was a casual visitor, and for that reason could not be expected to show up again.

The problem with these sorts of riddles is that, even if the "correct" answer is clever, it is always just one of a million possible answers. And anyway, it's just plain stupid to fall in love with someone on such short acquaintance. And as we all know, being crazy does not mean you are stupid.

 

Yes, but see my previous post. All of your other scenarios, and your counter to the "right" answer, require you assuming some additional piece of information.

To give the "right" answer does not require that you personally would expect the man to attend the daughter's funeral. All that matters is what the killer is thinking, and as I discussed above, the "facts" that are given really only discuss one thing, the man.

 

I got the appropriate psychopathic answer.

I had a couple of tenants who were psychopaths. I spent almost year in court being sued by them.

I think a true psychopath would recognize the question as a "test" and not answer it "correctly" unless they thought it would benefit them in some way.

If they did by chance get "tricked" into answering it, they would easily convince you why they answered a certain way with a made up believable explanation.

 

Uh oh.. the jig is up!

 

You are assuming that the riddle follows certain rules. I am offering possible legitimate answers to the question.