I Turn Polar Bears White?

The answer to the riddle is "no i cant...."
Thats because the question was 'can you guess the riddle?'

alright onion compound guy, do you REALLY think a child is going to guess that?!? sure the statistic may be bogus, but they're giving you a thinking reference. in other words, don't over complicate the situation. some mystery compound is about as complicated as you can get. this goes for all you that think it's pressure too. if you're working on something like this the first thing you should think when you come up with any kind of an answer is would a kid think of this. stop trying to make it more than it is. "no i can't" makes sense. kids don't understand everything, they're aware of it. the statement said it took kids about 6 minutes to figure out the answer. that's probably about enough time for a kid to say duck kitten baseball playground etc. finally settling on "i don't know" or "no i can't" when they're shut down on all their other answers. as we grow and become more and more educated, we tend to think we know all the answers, or at least can figure out all the answers. a "harvard grad", in my opinion, would refuse to be bested by some silly little riddle and, since all the statements leading up to "can you guess the riddle?" have little to do with the actual answer, they would get wrapped up in researching those rather than simply answering "i don't know". the other possiblilty, which is a good one. is some guy made this up, like so much other crap on the internet, to see how riled up he could make people with his answerless riddle. believe it or not, not everything in life has an answer.

Obviously the answer is time, according to this riddle.

I turn polar bears white - Their coats are not always pure white.
and I will make you cry. - When someone gets old and dies. When evbents occur
I make guys have to pee - He can't wait forever.
and girls comb their hair. - They comb it because it gets long over time.
I make celebrities look stupid. - There is always propaganda and rumors as people become well known over time.
and normal people look like celebrities. - Events in their lives can be amazing over time. And when everyone's old they basically look the same.

etc, etc.

And with the popping. Time goes by fast, especialyl when you try to hold on to it. If you watch it go by you eventually die (pop).

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Click here to see the answer (Page 1)
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I think Its air

I turn polar bears white (cold air)
and I will make you cry. (cold air)
I make guys have to pee (cold air)
and girls comb their hair. (air)
I make celebrities look stupid (cold air)
and normal people look like celebrities. (air)
I turn pancakes brown (hot air)
and make your champane bubble. (air in the bubbles)
If you squeeze me, I'll pop. (air in like a balloon)
If you look at me, you'll pop. (im not sure about this one maybe your ears pop)
Can you guess the riddle?

the answer is- no

this is because at the end of the question it says "Can you guess the riddle?" at the end and when u were young u would just say "no" but smart harvard students would over think it and not be answering the right thing

I was actually asked this riddle like an hour ago. I answered water, since it made the most sense to me. But, after thinking a bit, I changed to my answer to "YES, WATER". Now I'm googling it and just came across this thread and thought I'd add my own thoughts.

It IS NOT "I can't" or "No"....because the last line is "CAN you GUESS the riddle?" not "CAN you SOLVE the riddle"...if anything the answer would be "Yes, I can" since anyone can take a GUESS as to what the answer is, I mean I did, so the answer obviously isn't NO.

Oh, and to why I thought water, reasons similar to someone else here:

I turn polar bears white (to camo with snow, which is water)
and I will make you cry. (I cry when it rains, haha)
I make guys have to pee (duh)
and girls comb their hair. (after a shower)
I make celebrities look stupid (make-up running)
and normal people look like celebrities. (wet hair does wonders)
I turn pancakes brown (When the water evaporates the sugar will burn turning the pancakes brown)
and make your champane bubble. (CO2 won't make bubbles in champane if there is no water, don't believe me, just stick some CO2 with salt in bottle and see for yourself)
If you squeeze me, I'll pop. (bubbles)
If you look at me, you'll pop. (bubbles, reflection of one's self)

The time has come,
winter is here
and those yellow bears disapear.

The time has past
as man looks back with a sigh
and a tear in his eye.

As time is held
boys cross their legs
but of course the toilet begs

As time marches on
Girls loose their blush
and swap a comb for their brush

As time passes
For those held high
their end is nigh

As time catches up
Everyone is equal
when we get to the final sequal

As time turns
Without it we have flour and water
With it we have breakfast for my daughter

As time revolves
How does one turn water and wine
into something so fine

As time runs out
The more in a minute you try and squeeze
the less you can do with ease.
As time ticks
All the time that has past
man cannot comprehand something so vast.


some of you people are just plain rediculous . TIME is the true answer. it is the answer that the writer intended. how could you guys be so ignorant to say that a kindergardener could not concieve of such idea's? This is a well known poem, and anyone with half a brain should be able to realize that it is the one and only answer to this riddle. you people have obviously not done any research to figure out the history behind this famous riddle.

Polar bears are white because their fur is clear, and acts as a prism to pass light down to their skin, which is actually Black, to absorb it. The filaments of fur are not hollow - do not contain air. There is air trapped in the pile, but the air does not cause the white-ness. The only 'pressure' that acts on polar bears being white is evolutionary pressure, which is a very long bow...

As for the Harvard grads not working it out, the statistic is obviously invented. 67% of you already realise that, and 29% suspected it. The rest are a bit slow.

This 'riddle' is akin to the familiar instructions lists you give you children, with "read all the instructions before beginning" as the first instruction, and "only do number 4 number and 9" right down near the bottom of the list. It's a trick which relies on you seeing complexity where there is none, on trying to complete a difficult puzzle when you are only asked to comment on it.

The question is quite clearly stated: can you solve this riddle. Asked to a kindergarten class, I'm sure you would get a few odd answers, but most would simply say NO. An adult is more likely to try hard to think around the riddle and find something that fits almost all of the propositions, and submit that, thinking it must also somehow apply to the last one (which is doesn't).

The answer is "NO".

The lesson is don't overcomplicate things.

Howdy all, the answer to this riddle is "NO" you guys should focus on the correct part of the riddle it NEVER asks "What am I"? or "Who am I?" as would a normal riddle. Every riddle is designed to pose a question. And the question this one poses is "Can you guess the riddle" and the answer is NO!!!!

Pressure is NOT THE RIGHT ANSWER. THE lower pressure DOES NOT turn polar bears fur white because of altitude (how do you then explain the white polar bears at the san diego zoo which are at sea level) and Pressure does NOT make pancakes brown. IT IS NOT PRESSURE

This is an old one the answer is "the Weather"

I turn polar bears white (When the sun is up you can see that they are white)

I make guys have to pee ( well i hae to go when i get really cold due to the fact that as the temperature lowers the amount of urine per minute gathered increases by 25 to 50 percent)

and girls comb their hair (the heat causes split ends in the hair and makes it go up and be sticky etc theirfore you must brush it back down)

I make celebrities look stupid ( rain and wind)

and normal people look like celebrities ( ie the rain and wind again ie maralyn monroe with the wind blowing up her skirt when doing photo shoots you generally use the weather and different lighting to get the correct picture results)

i turn pancakes brown ( heat)

and make your champane bubble ( due to the results of correct temperature durring fermentation)

If you squeeze me, i'll pop ( when squeezing a fire the fire goes out due to lack of oxygen therefore the fire goes out when squeezing)

If you look at me, you'll pop ( fire extreme heat)

Hmm i'm probably wrong but i might not be, then again i'm a hardvard student so there's only a 3% chance of my success lol

So if you've even glanced at your myspace bulletins in the past month, i can guarantee that you've seen this riddle:

I turn polar bears white
and I will make you cry.
I make guys have to pee
and girls comb their hair.
I make celebrities look stupid
and normal people look like celebrities.
I turn pancakes brown
and make your champane bubble.
If you sqeeze me, I'll pop.
If you look at me, you'll pop.
Can you guess the riddle?

and then, you just haaaad to know the answer, so you you reposted it and waited for the answer to miraculously appear in your inbox. or, if you're like me... you sat around for a minute trying to figure out what in the hell boys with tiny bladders had to do with champagne and polar bears. well, my friends, let the madness end here... the answer is:

p r e s s u r e.

and now, for an explanation.
- polar bears are white because the atmospheric pressure where they live is so high, it slows down their melanin production (i googled it).
- peer pressure can make you cry-- if you're an insecure vagina, anyway.
- pressure on your bladder, undoubtedly from that last round of beer pong, will make a guy have to pee.
- girls comb their hair, besides because of a general acceptance of basic personal hygeine needs, because of the pressure from peers/family/the media to look lovely at all times.
- pressure also makes celebrities look stupid-- see Britney fleeing the paparazzi in her car with baby sean on lap.
- pressure from society (and every cover of cosmo) also makes normal people work to look like celebrities. come on now, ladies, we all you weren't born with pamela anderson's tits.
- pancakes turn brown because they're cooking. you cook pancakes with heat. and heat, boys and girls, is generated by pressure.
- and champagne bubbles? i think you're catching on by now...
- okay so blow up a balloon. then squeeze it. hard. while you're trying to coax your cat off the ceiling, think about what made the balloon pop. you guessed it. pressure.
- now for this one, you're gonna have to stretch a bit... it's a little out there. the only think i can think of is that if you face pressure on a day to day basis, sooner or later you're gonna explode. maybe not like that balloon, but you get the idea.

anyway, something tells me that 97% of kindergarteners were NOT tremendously aware of atmospheric pressure in the arctic and/or insightful enough to note the pressure of the media on women world over.... OR that there's some rogue scholar out there dead set on proving just how stupid harvard students really are with series of thought provoking riddles and posting the findings all over myspace--- but either way, i thought you'd like to know. because i'm good like that.

* g'head and repost if you appreciate the incredible amount of time i just wasted on your enlightentment. *

with love and brilliance,
alex

The answer is "NO" the last line of the riddle usually includes that 84% of Harvard Graduates can't answer the riddle while the average Kindergardner answers the riddle in under 6 minutes. the child answers so quickly and says "NO" i can't answer it, making it the answer to the riddle. There is no real answer that applies to the things above they are just random phrases again making the correct asnwer NO.

hope everyone sleeps better.

I think that everyone who posted that the answer is no, has a very good point. Many kindergartners would say no to this riddle. Unless they had heard the poem associated with it. And seeing as how the poem is one that is often read to kindergartners, maybe the author of the riddle left the clue to point, not to humility, but to the fact that many kindergartners would remember the poem if it had been recently read to them. However, many Harvard grads probably have either, never heard the poem or, don't remember it. But since I don't know many kindergartners who could make the connection between the poem and the riddle even if they were read together....I would say the answer is no....and that many people (unfortunately, including myself) have spent too much time, both thinking about it, and arguing with others that the answer isn't no.

I turn polar bears white (fur is white because they adapt to the altitude. higher atmospheric pressure slower melinin)
and I will make you cry. (peer pressure)
I make guys have to pee (pressure in bladder)
and girls comb their hair. (peer pressure)
I make celebrities look stupid (stress = pressure)
and normal people look like celebrities. (again peer pressure makes u wanna look nice)
I turn pancakes brown (pressure causes heat. heat makes pancakes brown)
and make your champane bubble. (bubbles are the release of air and aire pressure)
If you sqeeze me, I'll pop. (if you somehow squeeze a container of pressurized gas, it explodes)
If you look at me, you'll pop. (could refer to peer pressure. u snap under the pressure, every body staring at you.)

i think its pressure..