Lateral Thinking V/S Logical Thinking

 

                 Many years ago in a small Indian Village, a farmer had the misfortune of owing a large sum of mone to a village moneylender. The Moneylender, who was old and ugly, fancied the former's beautiful daughter. So he proposed a bargain. He said

he would forgo the farmer's debt if he could marry the farmer's daughter. Both the farmer and his daughter were horrified by the proposal. So the cunning moneylender suggested that they let providence 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 written off. If she picked the white pebble she need not marry him and her father's debt would still be written off. 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 you were standing in the field. What would you have done if you had been 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 debt and imprisonment.

                    Take a moment to ponder over the story. The above story is used with the hope that it will make as appreciate the difference between lateral thinking 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 the girl to do...?
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This is what the girl actually 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 sinche the money-lender dared not admit his dishonesty, the girl changed what seemed an impossible situation into an extreamly advantageous one.
         What does this story Teach us? It is that most complex problems do have a solution. It is only that we don't attempt to think in that direction. It teaches us to think 'out of the box' or think laterally.
                                           Here is another story That illustrates the use of lateral thinking:
             A millionaire named Thomas walked into a popular bank in the middle of the New York Ciry and requested to speak to a loan officer. He did not inform the staff of his immense riches but he simply said that he was going away on business for a few weeks , to another country, and needed to borrow a small sum money - 5000 Dollars. Banks being banks, they immediately asked for securuity on the loan. Thomas pointed out of the windowto the shiny new Ferrari parked right in front of the bank. He took the title, paperwork and keys out of his pocket and slapped them down on the counter like a man on a mission. The staff went to work checking out the validity of his ownership and sure enough, everything checked out. And of course, which bank was going to turn down a quarter of a million dollars in collateral for a measly 5000 Dollars Loan ?
         Thomas left the bank with his 5000 Dollars and the bank employee took Thomas's Keys and drove the brand new Ferrari down into the Bank's underground garage. He assured Thomas that it would be perfectly safe down there. Thomas then left the bank and caught his flight to his faraway land.
     Any way, two weeks went by and sure enough the bank opened Monday morning to see Thomas stroll in and slap the 5000 Dollars he had borrowed back on the counter, plus the interest which was arround 15 Dollars. The Loan officer asked for the car to be brought round to the front of the bank and then asked Thomas a question. " Our Bank prides itself in details and customer care service " he said "and while you are actually one of the wealthiest men in America. Why on earth would you need to borrow 5000 Dollars, it just doesn't make sense."
 Thomas smiled, picked up the keys from the counter and said " Can you tell me another way I could have parked my new Ferrari in the middle of New York For two weaks , for Just 15 Dollars, and still expect to get it back in top Condition?" With that, Thomas walked out of the door and the loan officer smiled a bigger smile.
    Lateral Thinking can save your life, as illustrated in the following story. Two men were on a jungle safari in Africa. Suddenly, they came across a tiger that started roaring. Both men Were frightened and one of them started wearing his shoes. The Other one said : " How is this going to help? We can't outrun the tiger." The First man replied " I don't have to outrun tiger, I only have to outrun You." :-)

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