A Problem And A Solution {Insp}

"A Problem And A Solution"

Many hundreds of years ago in a small Italian town,
a merchant had the misfortune of owing a large sum
of money to the moneylender. The moneylender, who
was old and ugly, fancied the merchant's beautiful
daughter so he proposed a bargain. He said he would
forgo the merchant' debt if he could marry the merchant's
  daughter. Both the merchant and his daughter were
horrified by the proposal. The cunning money lender
suggested that they let providence decide the matter.

The moneylender told them that he would put a black
pebble and a white pebble into an empty bag. The girl
would then have to pick one pebble from the bag. If
she picked the black pebble, she would become the
moneylender's wife and her father's debt would be
forgiven. If she picked the white pebble she need not
marry him and her father's debt would still be forgiven.
But if she refused to pick a pebble, her father would
be thrown into jail.

They were standing on a pebble strewn path in the
merchant's garden. As they talked, the moneylender
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 her pebble from the bag.

Now, imagine you were standing in the merchant's
garden. What would you have done if you were the girl?
If you had to advise her, what would you have told 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 moneylender
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 above
story is used with the hope that it will make us
appreciate the difference between lateral and logical
thinking. The girl's dilemma cannot be solved with
traditional logical thinking.

Think of the consequences if she chooses the
logical answers.

What would you recommend the girl do?

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 picked the white one. And since the
moneylender dared not admit his dishonesty, the girl
changed what seemed an impossible situation into
an extremely advantageous one.

MORAL OF THE STORY: Most complex problems do
have a solution, sometimes we have to think about
them in a different way.
Received on Sun Sep 19 20:29:06 2004