The internet is often our first port of call when we’re stumped by a question – but the worldwide web is fighting back with a seemingly impossible brainteaser of its own.
In a maths problem that has divided readers, they are told: Seven men have seven wives. Each man and each wife have seven children. What is the total number of people?
The question in its original form appears handwritten on a piece of headed notepaper bearing the logo of Harvard University.
But the riddle’s unlikely provenance appears to be a 2021 Instagram post by rapper Ja Rule, who claimed it was sent to him by a friend as part of a university ‘interview’ process.
In a maths problem that has divided readers, they are told: Seven men have seven wives. Each man and each wife have seven children. What is the total number of people?
The question in its original form appears handwritten on a piece of headed notepaper bearing the logo of Harvard University (pictured)
The doubts over the question’s actual origin may come from the fact that different interpretations of its ambiguous wording can result in various answers – at least four, according to internet users.
The wording of the question means there appears to be no definitive answer – although the viral image of the brainteaser includes the handwritten claim that ’90 per cent [of interviewees] were eliminated’.
Even Ja Rule – a Harvard Business School alumnus after completing an online course – claimed to be stumped.
The rapper, who has collaborated with the likes of Jennifer Lopez and Ashanti, posted to his one million Instagram followers: ‘The answers are all over the place lol… solve this problem… What’s the right answer?’
