This week's New Scientist "New Questions" column poses two unrelated puzzles. The first is a practical one: is it faster to jog up stairs one at a time, or to take them two at a time? The second is more philosophical: if the world we observe is just our brain's interpretation of electro-chemical signals from our eyes, what is the world actually like?
The source offers no answers, only the questions themselves. The two topics are distinct, with no connection drawn between them in the original text. The column appears to invite readers to consider both everyday physical trade-offs and deeper questions about perception and reality.
As with many such Q&A features, the value lies in the asking. The stair question could be settled by experiment or biomechanics, while the reality question touches on longstanding debates in philosophy and neuroscience. The source does not indicate which, if either, is considered more important.