What do cows drink?

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Obviously the correct answer is water (unless they are calves)... but that isn't what this really about. So read carefully!

On the radio a week or two ago I was listening to a neurologist (I think) discussing how the brain works... I think he was discussing a book he published. Anyway, he asked this question "What do cows drink?" he said that impulsively people think 'milk' first, but then the analytical part of the brain kicks in and realizes that the real answer is water. So when people are asked this question the first answer that comes to mind is 'milk' for most people. What was the first answer you came up with?

Personally I came up with water first and it sort of surprised me that people would think milk, though I suppose I kind of get why that is. I am guessing there are people that would, if asked, even answer milk. The idea of 'impulse' thinking is kind of foreign to me, if I am asked a question or presented with a problem I can't come up with an answer (like milk) instantly... I think I go straight to analyzing the question/problem. On the other hand if something were falling I would impulsively try to catch it without really 'thinking' about it, which I would assume is the same sort brain function as coming up with the milk answer to the 'What do cows drink?' question.

I started to wonder though, maybe this is a reason why I have difficultly keeping conversations going, I use the analytical part of my brain in conversation while others impulsively know what to say. I end up with many more pauses and such in my conversations because I am trying to figure out what to say.

PS: If anyone knows the radio program I am talking about speak up! It was on my local NPR station on 14-July around 12:30 in the afternoon.

I voted for water, that is what cows drink

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Health is a state of physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity I am not a jigsaw, I am a free man !

Diagnosed under the DSM5 rules with autism spectrum disorder, under DSM4 psychologist said would have been AS (299.80) but I suspect that I am somewhere between 299.80 and 299.00 (Autism) under DSM4.

Well, I immediately came up with water, and thought it was a stupid question. I can see why many people that don't think would answer with milk though.

I saw the words cow and drink and immediately milk came to my mind. All of this happened within a second though, as I was clicking to view the topic. Had I have given myself time before I started reading, I probably would have realized that this thinking was flawed.

Didn't catch me out. I just thought 'water' as soon as I read the question. I then thought that calves drink milk, but that's irrelevant.

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I have HFA, ADHD, OCD & Tourette syndrome. I love animals, especially my bunnies and hamster. I skate in a roller derby team (but I'll try not to bite )

I thought milk at first, then I thought "No, wait, calves drink milk. Cows drink water."

I immediately thought "what a strange question to see in the main forum about Autism," but then I thought "water" and recalled a field trip to a family farm where I once attended a lecture on dairy cows and how much water they need to produce milk.

I too thought it was a stupid question when I read it.
I only popped in here to see if "water" wasn't the only correct answer!
(and yes I immediately thought of cold, clear liquid, quickly identifiable as water.)

I thought water fairly immediately. I knew "milk" was false.

Milk, but I think it's because I've heard this kind of question so many times I've started second-guessing the wrong answers.

I never considered milk.

My first thought was to wonder whether cows actually drink anything and then I thought that yes, they drink water.

My first thought was "water," but then I was uncertain.

Did we mean "cow" to mean an adult bovine, an adult bovine of the female species, or just a bovine in general? In all cases, the answer remains water.

However, juvenile bovines drink their mothers' milk, so that answer is also correct in those specific circumstances.

And, of course, ill bovines could be fed by liquids that do not fit either category.

I was torn. None of the answers represented my immediate thoughts.

Although I suppose "cows" could imply adult females. But it was not specified.

I'd actually be curious to see what the first thing that pops into peoples' heads is when they simply see the one word


Cow.



I actually noticed that I come across the word and identify what I consider a cow to be. I assume the people who answer milk by default when they read the "what do cows drink?" question are people who naturally did word association when they read the word "cow" and are already thinking about milk before getting to the end of the question... Word association overriding word logic.



Mouse.



Did you think of the animal or did you instead think of cheese? Did you think of both?

When I very first saw it, as an impulse it was "MILK!" split second later "no, water".

The first thing that comes to mind is water.