The Internet is often our first port of call when we’re stuck on a question, but the world wide web strikes back with a seemingly impossible riddle.
In a math 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 letterhead bearing the Harvard University logo.
But the unlikely origin of the riddle appears to be a 2021 Instagram post from rapper Ja Rule, who claimed it was sent to him by a friend as part of a college “interview” process.
In a math 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 letterhead bearing the Harvard University logo (pictured).
Doubts about the true origin of the question may arise from the fact that different interpretations of its ambiguous formulation can give rise to several answers, at least four, according to Internet users.
The wording of the question implies that there is apparently no definitive answer, although the viral image of the puzzle includes the handwritten claim that “90 percent (of those interviewed) were eliminated.”
Even Ja Rule, a Harvard Business School alumnus who completed an online course, said he was stumped.
The rapper, who has collaborated with artists including Jennifer Lopez and Ashanti, posted to his one million Instagram followers: ‘The answers are everywhere lol… Solve this problem… What is the correct answer?’