90% of People Can’t Solve This Simple Math Problem Continued in the first comment 👇

You’ve probably seen the headline before. It pops up on social media, in videos, or in casual conversation:

“90% of people can’t solve this simple math problem.”

At first, it sounds exaggerated—clickbait, even. Surely a simple math problem can’t stump nearly everyone. We learn math in school. We use numbers every day. How hard could it be?

And yet, time and time again, people get it wrong.

Not because they’re unintelligent.
Not because they’re bad at math.
But because the problem isn’t really testing math at all.

It’s testing how we think.

The Illusion of Simplicity
The phrase “simple math problem” creates a powerful assumption. It lowers our guard. We rush to answer because we believe the solution should be obvious.

That confidence is precisely the trap.

Most of these viral math problems involve:

Basic arithmetic
Small numbers
Familiar symbols
No advanced formulas
On the surface, they look easy. But underneath, they rely on order of operations, hidden assumptions, or cognitive shortcuts that our brains are prone to taking.