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 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.
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?
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: Most complex problems do have a solution it is only that we don't attempt to think.
