In law school, I took a class called Wills, Trusts and Estates. A couple of weeks before the final, the professor explained the format of the exam. It was simple. Thirty multiple choice questions worth one point each. There was a catch, however — one full point off for each question answered incorrectly.
The professor then warned the entire class about students in the past who wound up with negative raw scores because they answered more questions wrong than right. Dismayed by the draconian format, one of my classmates raised her hand and asked the professor why there was such a harsh penalty for each wrong answer. His response went something like this: (more…)