> what is the next number kind of thing

I've seen this too in a similar aptitude test I bought at a garage sale back in the 90s. I think it was an air traffic controller prep test. But in addition to the number sequence tests, it extended the concept to shapes and lines series. After a certain point, it definitely becomes subjective and debatable what the next sequence is.

Curiously, I also noticed this ambiguity in the humanities classes in college. I took the class thinking it was open and accepting of all points of view, only to find that there is one correct interpretation and conclusion you must reach from the classic fiction you were assigned to read. I didn't learn that until after I graduated.