Tricky true-or-false question goes viral, stumps social media

TORONTO – One simple-sounding exam question has stumped over a million people online, and your own answer could reveal something about the way you think.

A Sheridan college student snapped a picture of this tricky true-or-false question on the exam for a sound recording class and posted it on imgur, where it’s become a viral sensation.

“What is a microphone?” it asks. And while many of us might struggle to describe the device in technical detail, the possible answers seem strange in their simplicity.

Over 1.6 million people have viewed the photo, and with many commenters attempting to supply an answer of their own.

Some commenters figured it’s just a mistake, but film studies Professor David Gray emphasizes that to think so is to underestimate the question.
It’s not a flub or a prank, but a real experiment in philosopical thought, he says.

Gray explains that the question is part of a running joke that’s been included on every quiz this semester. It’s meant to encourage students to think creatively and break out of the sort of regurgitative style of learning he says is too common in most schools.

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The student who took the photo hasn’t identified themselves publicly, but Gray says he’s “excited” to find out who it was. Not to discipline them – he says there won’t be repercussions – but to find out whether the student was simply confused or actually looking for outside perspective on a philosophical question.

He figures the student in question most likely missed a lot of classes this semester and genuinely missed the point.

For the record, it’s a bonus question and there’s no wrong answer.