I think you are spot on here. When I read the Linda question and the two possible options, my first gut instinct is to compare the answers against each other, so she's a bank teller in either case and the only question is whether or not she is a feminist. In other words, the way the answers are intended to be read is "A: Linda is possibl…
I think you are spot on here. When I read the Linda question and the two possible options, my first gut instinct is to compare the answers against each other, so she's a bank teller in either case and the only question is whether or not she is a feminist. In other words, the way the answers are intended to be read is "A: Linda is possibly a bank teller, or B: Linda is possibly a bank teller and possibly a feminist." but how my not so normal brain parses the answers are "A: Linda is ONLY a bank teller, or B: Linda is a bank teller and a feminist." Since the question strongly hints that Linda is almost certainly a feminist, and in fact I think it is more likely that she is a feminist than a bank teller, that answer seems more likely. In a sense, my brain is asking which answer is more likely correct, given that apparently bank teller is a given and the only question is whether she is a feminist.
Now, if I stop and think I recognize that it is a conjunction question, but it takes stopping because the answers provided give information about what the question meant. The specifics get in the way because we forget "we don't know whether or not she is a bank teller" when we are given two possible states of the world that both contain bank teller, making it feel like a True/False or other dichotomy. I wonder how many people would get it right if there was a third option "C: Linda is a bank teller, a feminist and a world class pastry chef", or something similar.
I think you are spot on here. When I read the Linda question and the two possible options, my first gut instinct is to compare the answers against each other, so she's a bank teller in either case and the only question is whether or not she is a feminist. In other words, the way the answers are intended to be read is "A: Linda is possibly a bank teller, or B: Linda is possibly a bank teller and possibly a feminist." but how my not so normal brain parses the answers are "A: Linda is ONLY a bank teller, or B: Linda is a bank teller and a feminist." Since the question strongly hints that Linda is almost certainly a feminist, and in fact I think it is more likely that she is a feminist than a bank teller, that answer seems more likely. In a sense, my brain is asking which answer is more likely correct, given that apparently bank teller is a given and the only question is whether she is a feminist.
Now, if I stop and think I recognize that it is a conjunction question, but it takes stopping because the answers provided give information about what the question meant. The specifics get in the way because we forget "we don't know whether or not she is a bank teller" when we are given two possible states of the world that both contain bank teller, making it feel like a True/False or other dichotomy. I wonder how many people would get it right if there was a third option "C: Linda is a bank teller, a feminist and a world class pastry chef", or something similar.