Problem and Solution

Problem and Solution

  Many hundreds of years ago in a small Italian town, a merchant had the
misfortune of owing a large sum of money to a 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's debt if he
could
 marry his daughter. Both the merchant and his daughter were horrified
by
the proposal. So the cunning moneylender 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 moneybag. Then the girl would have to pick
one
                           pebble from the bag.
If she picked the black pebble, she would become his 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 a
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 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 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 above
                             logical answers.
                What would you recommend to the Girl to do?
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      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 it is
only
                      that we don't attempt to think




Have a nice day !!