Notte's Long Trial - A Set of...Cards!

"Notte Inazuma." The boy's name was called and hopefully he would stand up and come towards the black door. With a glance, Akihiro could tell this Genin was rather inexperienced. Or at least he appeared to be so. Could it be because he was hiding some sort of secret technique, or a trump card? The Uchiha didn't know. But if Notte was coming to these exams without proper training he was either very brave or very stupid. Then again, he could be some sort of genius and surprise everyone. Only time would tell, but for now what awaited Notte was nothing more than a black door. Akihiro motioned for him to go through and just like it did for the others the Black Door closed behind Notte as soon as he'd step in. The Door didn't care for age, gender or experience. It tested everyone who entered its territory, and Notte's trial was about to begin.

He would step inside to find a room a lot different than everyone else had found so far. His room was one of the most...pleasant ones. Especially for a young boy his age! It was a small toy workshop. But it wasn't pleasant because of the toys, rather...


"Hey, hey! What are you doing you little lazy elf! Get to work, we have a lot of things to do! It's almost christmas and we're really short on tiiiime!" A girl in rather modest clothes would put a christmas hat on Notte's head and drag him through the workshop, sitting him on one of the wood benches behind a workstation. All around him, also sat on benches and working, were many little elves happily doing their job.

"Okay, you're going to help me by being a quality control technician working for our Workshop. I have a card game here, and I need you to make sure that cards have been produced in accordance with the following rule:

If a card has a circle on one side, then it has the colour yellow on the other side.

We already know for certain that every card has a shape on one side and a colour on the other side. So please tell me, considering this, which card or cards we definitely need to turn over in order to determine whether the rule is broken in the case of each of these four cards. But please, we have very little time and we can't waste any time flipping cards that we don't need to!"

She would place four cards on the table and wait for his reply.

Spoiler:

She would, while waiting for his reply, approach him and thus making the task infinitely harder for the young boy. This because not only did he need to focus on the task at hand and provide a quick reply but also because he needed to avoid being distracted by something else that was really close to his face:

"Okay, I'm going to trust you on this one so you better have gotten it right!" The girl flipped over the card number two and there was indeed a yellow side to it. Then she picked up all the other cards without checking their sides and placed them inside the box, ready for shipping it to children somewhere in the world! Ah, christmas was ama-wWOOOOOOSHHHHH The box of cards went up in flames.

"NOOO! What have you done?! You ruined this game! The RED CARD HAD A CIRCLE BEHIND IT, AND YOU DIDN'T CHECK IT! You just ruined some poor kid's christmas, and threw away hours of elf work! Geeeeesh. " The girl was glaring at him, and her eyes weren't the only things that seemed to be doing that. "I'm going to give you one more chance! Here's another set of cards.

The rule this time is:

If a card has the letter S on one side, then it has the number 3 on the other side.

Here are the cards. Learn from your previous mistakes and don't screw this up! Which cards do you need t flip?"

Spoiler:

The cards were once again laid on the table and it was up to Notte to make his choice.

"Mmmm.... I think you may have gotten it right this time!

Card 1 - Letter S. It is necessary to turn this card over. Since the card has the letter S on one side, it is necessary to turn it over to ensure that it has the number 3 on the other side. If it does not, the rule is broken. Well done!

Card 2 - Letter Q. There is no need to turn this card over. The rule says nothing about what number must appear on the other side of a card with a letter Q on it.

Card 3 - Number 3. It is not necessary to turn this card over. The card is showing the number 3, therefore, we already know that the rule is upheld. The rule only requires that when the letter S appears it is paired with the number 3. We already have the requisite number 3, so there's no problem even if there's a letter S on the other side of the card.

Card 4 - Number 7. It is necessary to turn this card over. It is possible that there is a letter S on the other side. If there is, then the rule is broken, since a letter S has to be paired with number 3 and the number on this side of the card is 7.

Alas, you have done well! Now, a final test... four more cards! This time you won't be testing our toys...instead you will be working as a bouncer for our elf bar!"


The woman would once again drag Notte around the small workshop, until he landed on a small bar behind a counter.

"This time the rule is:

If an elf drinks an alcoholic drink, then they must be over the age of 21 years old.

The cards below represent the drink of choice and age of four elf customers at our bar. Each card represents one elf: one side shows what they're drinking - note one of the cards on the counter shows beer,  the alcoholic kind! - the other side their age.) Please indicate which card or cards you definitely need to turn over, and only that or those cards, in order to determine whether the rule is broken in the case of each of the four elves.
"

Cards on the counter:

"Mmmm. So you pick card 17 and the card with the beer? Hmm..." The elf stopped. Looking at him, as if she was pondering something. And indeed, she was.

"Woah! It seems that you correctly identified that it is necessary to turn over the Drinks Beer and the 17 Years Old cards. Well done!

I shall explain the process of the decision either way, since you didn't. There's always a chance you were simply lucky....but luck is also part of being a shinobi, I suppose!

Card 1 - Drinks Beer. It is necessary to turn this card over. The card shows the customer drinking beer, therefore we need to check that they are over the age of 21. The rule is broken if the other side of the card shows that they are not.

Card 2 - Drinks Coke. There is no need to turn this card over. The rule says nothing about what age a person must be to drink coke, so there is no need to check.

Card 3 - 22 Years Old. It is not necessary to turn this card over. The card shows that the customer is 22 years old, therefore, we already know that the rule is upheld. The rule only requires that when a customer drinks an alcoholic drink they are over the age of 21. We already know the customer is over 21, so there's no problem here even if the other side of the card shows that they are drinking alcohol.

Card 4 - 17 Years Old. It is necessary to turn this card over. It is possible that this customer is drinking beer. We need to check because they are only 17 years old.


Well, Notte. You got 2 out 3 answers right. It's not a perfect score, but you pass the test. You may advance towards the next phase of the exam. Take the door towards the outside of the workshop, and good luck to your next phase!"


OOC Information:
Notte Inazuma passes the test and advances towards the next round of the Chuunin Exams.

Your test was the Wason Selection Task, as it is called, which is one of the most often repeated tests of logical reasoning in the world of experimental psychology. I hope you enjoyed it!

Wish you luck on the next phase of the exam. Cheers ^_^