Many years ago in a small Indian
village, a farmer had the misfortune of owing a large sum of money to a
village moneylender. The moneylender, 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 in the farmer's field. 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 that 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 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? 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 picked the white one. And since the
money-lender dared not admit his dishonesty, the girl changed what
seemed an impossible situation into an extremely advantageous one.
MORAL OF THE STORY:
At times, complex problems do have simple solutions. Think out of the box.
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