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Ask Marilyn®
She likes hot, he likes cold...Who should control the thermostat?
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My son-in-law and I disagree on the best thermostat setting for a healthy person. He thinks 64°F is good because the cooler air is less drying, thus helping one resist colds. That’s too cool for me. I think 68°-70°F is better, so the body doesn’t have to struggle to keep warm. Please settle the issue.

—Lorion Korkosz, Schenectady, N.Y.

Lowering the temperature to 64°F is only slightly less drying. You would need a humidifier to make a meaningful difference. With 50% humidity (for the healthiest environment), most sedentary people feel comfortable at 72°F when the heat is on and 76°F when the air conditioner is on. The main reason for the difference is that people wear warm clothing in winter and cool clothing in summer.

You are on a game show with three doors. A car is behind one; goats are behind the others. You pick door No. 1. Suddenly, a worried look flashes across the host’s usually smiling face. He forgot which door hides the car! So he says a little prayer and opens No. 3. Much to his relief, a goat is revealed. He asks, “Do you want door No. 2?” Is it to your advantage to switch?
—W.R. Neuman, Ann Arbor, Mich.

Nope. If the host is clueless, it makes no difference whether you stay or switch. If he knows, switch.

I can’t read a newspaper without glasses, yet I passed the vision test for my driver’s license. How can they measure my distance vision using an enclosure only 1 foot deep?
—Ed Klein, St. Michaels, Md.

Testing distance vision for a driver’s license can be accomplished by foreshortening an image, which reduces its size. For example, to learn whether you can see a basketball far away, one might determine whether you can see a penny nearby.

Why is the perceived quality of so many food items commensurate with their scarcity—as in, the “best” wines are produced in rare vintage years; the “best” coffees are produced in mountainous regions? Do they really taste better than the more-common—and less-expensive—varieties?
—Steven Mason, San Leandro, Calif.

I think they usually do taste better. That’s why these more-expensive items can be sold at all. When scarce foods and beverages taste worse than average, you don’t see them for sale. There would be no buyers!



Solve This!


Say your two visiting cousins want to meet a couple of women who play chess. You know all of the weird Fischer sisters, some of whom fit this description. You tell your cousins that if they hang around the sisters’ favorite coffee house long enough to run into two of them, there is a 50-50 chance that both women will be chess-players. How many such sisters are in the family?

Click here for the answer.

READER COMMENTS | 31 Comments

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Goats and doors
By miick on 1/17/2007 2:30:PM

What difference does what the host knows in this question? I been mulling this for a month now and just can't see the difference. If the host opens the door with the car then obviously the game is over. So... what am I missing. An answer using simple sentences and short words may be my only chance. Maybe even photos with circles and arrows. Thanks!

funny
By doktorkev on 12/4/2006 2:56:PM

ya, maybe the car was actually a lemon : )

goat closure?
By kdeluca on 12/4/2006 1:41:PM

Sounds like we finally got it cleared up. Thanks for the discussions. Now, if only we knew what kind of car it was - maybe we'd WANT the goat!





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