If three astronauts are in a canoe…

Because I almost majored in psychology back in college, I thought I’d dedicate today’s edition of WikiAnswers Wednesday to my talents in analysis. I make no guarantee that you will be cured, however.

If three astronauts are in a canoe flying over the Gobi desert and they crash how many pancakes does it take to shingle a dog house?

Here are a few of the actual answers given,along with my psychological commentary.

It depends on how fast they were flying and the size of the dog.

This answer reflects a diversion tactic often used on questioners when the answerer has no freakin’ clue, so they essentially ask to clarify the question. Seen very often in middle and high schools.

73 because a motorcycle has no doors.

Ah, yes. Drawing attention away from the issue at hand. A confusion-diversion tactic.

0 because Dairy Queen don’t deliver on Wednesday.

Too true, and possibly the best answer of the bunch. I’ve been a victim of that Dairy Queen problem for years.

63 because John Lennon isn’t from Scandinavia

This is a guilt tactic. John Lennon is dead, and therefore when hearing his name in the response, the questioner becomes saddened and forgets the initial question. Works extremely when using Martin Luther King, Jr.

Where is Ted Kennedy on this day? Double the pancakes. Size of the dog house could also affect the hysteresis loop, propagating a negative slew rate, possibly causing the pancake effect. This is remedied by all pancake “roofers”, no pun intended, to eat said pancakes prior to “roofing”. The slew rate will get through the hysteresis loop, validating good shingles. That is all the clarification you need.

Verbose ranting. Indeed.

Ice Cream has no bones

Thank goodness.

42

A classic response to any question, and quite a cliche I might add.

There you have it, a display of psychological genius. Care to share your own?

8 thoughts on “If three astronauts are in a canoe…”

  1. QUOTE “comment number 7 by: Lee
    November 23rd, 2008 at 4:57 am

    I first used this type of question nearly 45years ago. then it was “if it takes a chicken and a half, a day and a half, to lay an egg and a half, how many pancakes does it take to cover a dog house? None, because ice cream doesn’t have any bones.
    Where does this stuff come from?”

    acid

    Like

  2. I first used this type of question nearly 45years ago. then it was “if it takes a chicken and a half, a day and a half, to lay an egg and a half, how many pancakes does it take to cover a dog house? None, because ice cream doesn’t have any bones.
    Where does this stuff come from?

    Like

  3. The number of pancakes is not relevant to covering the roof of the dog house. What is relevant is the amount of pancake mix on hand. Assuming (yikes!) you have enough pancake mix, it would be wise to make one large pancake sufficient to cover the entire roof and just hope the hell it doesn’t rain, of course reinforcing the middle of the pancake that would be bent at the peak of the roof. Of course, before you get started with this endeavor, you might want to head to Dairy Queen to see if they’ve got a spatula large enough to pick up such a pancake. And while you’re there, get me a chili dog and fries.

    Like

  4. First of all the astronauts’s can’tfly in a canoe and second where did a dog house and pancakes come from in the middle on no where?

    Like

  5. Disregarding the distractors, and assuming the standard size of a pancake is 6″ in diameter, the doghouse is for a medium to large dog and has a roof area of 24 sqare feet (or 3456 sq in), and a 30 % overlap on the top and one side, then 24sq ft divided by the usable area of a pancake (pi x 9 sq in = about 28 sq in x 40% or about 11 sq in) gives a value of about 315 pancakes. Add in an additional 40 pancakes to cover the roof ridge and a 10% wastage for the edges that adds up to just under 400 pancakes not icluding what the roofers and dog eat. Call it 500 to be safe, and be sure to include syrup to glue it together.

    Like

Your comments are welcome!