Many years ago in a small Russian village, a
farmer had the
misfortune of owing a large sum of money to the
village money lender.
The money lender, who was old and horrible,
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.
The cunning money lender suggested that they
decide the matter this
way: 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.
But if she refused to pick a pebble, her father
would be thrown
into jail.
Standing on a pebble-strewn path in the farmer's
field, 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 that you were standing in the field
that day. 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. But
he will not
forgive the loan.
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 this story.
Experts use it to make people 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 chose
any of the
logical choices. What would you recommend the
girl do?
Do not look at the answer yet, give your advice
after a few minute
of your own lateral thinking................
Well, here is what she did.
She 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 was black, they had to
assume 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, which
you can find if you
stretch your mind. If logic isn't working, try
lateral thinking. Lateral
thinking is a creative exercise.
