LATERAL vs. LOGICAL THINKING

Sorry for my absence from the blog world. Grand mom's death has left a deep chasm in our lives and i guess it will take a while for us to recover from the loss. Anyways, i don't think i have much to write, but i am putting up an interesting write up which i had got on mail. Hope all of u like it. Its mid-week already so i wish u all a gr8 week ahead!!

Many years ago in a small Indian village, a farmer had the misfortune of owing a large sum of money to a village money lender. The money lender, who was old and ugly, fancied the farmer�s beautiful daughter. So he proposed a bargain.

He said he would forgo the farmer�s debt if he could marry his daughter. Both the farmer and his daughter were horrified by the proposal. So the cunning money lender suggested that they let providence decide the matter.

He told them that he would put a black pebble and a white pebble into an empty money bag. Then the girl would have to pick one pebble from the bag.

1) If she picked the black pebble, she would become his wife and her father�s debt would be forgiven.
2) If she picked the white pebble she need not marry him and her father�s debt would still be forgiven.
3) But if she refused to pick a pebble, her father would be thrown into jail.

They were standing on a pebble strewn path near the farmer�s field. As they talked, the money lender bent over to pick up two pebbles. As he picked them up, the sharp-eyed girl noticed that he had picked up two Black pebbles and put them into the bag.

He then asked the girl to pick a pebble from the bag. Now, imagine if you were standing in the field. What would you have done if you were the girl? If you had to advise her, what would you tell her?

Careful analysis would produce three possibilities:

1. The girl should refuse to take a pebble.
2. The girl should show that there were two black pebbles in the bag and expose the money lender as a cheat.
3. The girl should pick a black pebble and sacrifice herself in order to save her father from his debt and imprisonment.

Take a moment to ponder over the story. The girl�s dilemma cannot be solved with traditional logical thinking. Think of the consequences if she chooses the above logical answers.

What would you recommend to the girl? Well, here is what she did....
The girl put her hand into the moneybag and drew out a pebble. Without Looking at it, she fumbled and let it fall onto the pebble strewn path where it immediately became lost among all the other pebbles.

�Oh, how clumsy of me,� she said. �But never mind, if you look into the bag for the one that is left, you will be able to tell which pebble I picked.�

Since the remaining pebble is black, it must be assumed that she had earlier picked the white one, which was accidentally dropped. And since the money lender dared not to admit his dishonesty, the girl transformed what seemed an impossible situation into an extremely advantageous one.

MORAL OF THE STORY: The most complex of the problems do have a solution. It's only that we don�t attempt to think.