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anjali2005
3rd May 2005, 02:12 PM
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?

anjali2005
3rd May 2005, 02:13 PM
I want yr feedback i will post the answer later...

arsenicblue
3rd May 2005, 02:27 PM
pathil sollalama.....?

rajasaranam
5th May 2005, 03:15 AM
anjali2005,

logical deduction leads me into a solution like this :arrow:

The girl should pick up a pebble from the bag and throw or hide it and ask the moneylender to look into the bag for the remaining pebble. when looked upon, the bag will contain a black pebble leading to a deduction that the girl had picked up a white pebble :arrow: she need not marry him and her fathers debt would be forgiven :D

pavalamani pragasam
5th May 2005, 07:14 AM
Wow, rajasaranam! :D The best solution- to save the girl, her father & to teach a lesson to the cunning, scheming moneylender!

anjali2005
5th May 2005, 07:29 AM
anjali2005,

logical deduction leads me into a solution like this :arrow:

The girl should pick up a pebble from the bag and throw or hide it and ask the moneylender to look into the bag for the remaining pebble. when looked upon, the bag will contain a black pebble leading to a deduction that the girl had picked up a white pebble :arrow: she need not marry him and her fathers debt would be forgiven :D

:clap: wow answer is correct

rajasaranam
5th May 2005, 04:44 PM
thanks PP and Anjali :)

anjali awaiting your next question :?

j.chenkalvarayan
29th May 2005, 10:40 PM
something on similar lines.

you are riding a car on a quite tempestuous night. suddenly you come across three persons. one is a young, beautiful damsel. another is your friend who has helped you a lot and whom you are meeting after quite some time. the third person is an old, frail woman . you are in a dilemma now . your car can just accomodate 2 persons . whom would you offer a seat in your car?

pavalamani pragasam
30th May 2005, 05:52 PM
Already heard this story :D Send the old woman & friend in your car, stay back to give company to the girl :wink:

j.chenkalvarayan
30th May 2005, 06:40 PM
i don't know if you people have heard this before. this was a question posed to one of the iim aspirants in his interview. this person was given a choice to choose between many easy questions and 1 difficult question.he chose the second option. the interviewer wanted to know which came before ,the day or the night. this guy thought for a moment and replied that the night came before the day. the interviewer was surprised and wanted to know the reason behind the answer.our smart friend replied that he is supposed to answer not more than one question.this piece of news was circulated some time ago in emails and it was also mentioned in the mail that the smart guy made it to some iim.

Surya
10th June 2005, 04:47 AM
Nice one JC!

pooja.shankar
3rd February 2006, 08:10 AM
HEY ANJALI .....THIS IS A COMMON STORY ..HEARD OF IT OFTEN...

THE GUL PICS ONE STONE AND PRETENDS TO TRIP AND DROPS THE PEBBLE AND THEN SHE SAYS ...NO PROBS....THT STONE SHUD HAVE BEEN OF THE OTHER COLOR AND SHE PUTS HER HAND INTO THE BAG AND TAKES OUT THE OTHER PEBBLE
SINCE THE GUY PUTS BOTH AS BLACK.....
AND HE CANT CONFESS EITHER .....
SHES SMART AND GETS AWAY FRM THE DEBT AND WRECK MARRIAGE

pooja.shankar
3rd February 2006, 08:11 AM
HEY ANJALI .....THIS IS A COMMON STORY ..HEARD OF IT OFTEN...

THE GUL PICS ONE STONE AND PRETENDS TO TRIP AND DROPS THE PEBBLE AND THEN SHE SAYS ...NO PROBS....THT STONE SHUD HAVE BEEN OF THE OTHER COLOR AND SHE PUTS HER HAND INTO THE BAG AND TAKES OUT THE OTHER PEBBLE
SINCE THE GUY PUTS BOTH AS BLACK.....
AND HE CANT CONFESS EITHER .....
SHES SMART AND GETS AWAY FRM THE DEBT AND WRECK MARRIAGE

Lambretta
5th February 2006, 11:33 PM
Jus came across this thread! :)

Already heard this story :D Send the old woman & friend in your car, stay back to give company to the girl :wink:
PP ma'm, wat if ur too fond of ur car to give it to ur friend &/or ur friend doesn't know how to drive this particular car? (my father for eg. never knew how to drive a Fiat/Ambassador, which had column gearshift as he'd learnt driving only in a car w/ a floor shift!) :)

pavalamani pragasam
6th February 2006, 08:39 AM
Lambretta, what you cite is an exceptional case. Normally assumed fact is in my answer.

Lambretta
6th February 2006, 09:53 AM
Lambretta, what you cite is an exceptional case. Normally assumed fact is in my answer.
Hmm.....agreed!
Just happens to be my habit to assume an 'exceptional' case too in most issues! :D

Poppoy
28th March 2006, 11:01 PM
something on similar lines.

you are riding a car on a quite tempestuous night. suddenly you come across three persons. one is a young, beautiful damsel. another is your friend who has helped you a lot and whom you are meeting after quite some time. the third person is an old, frail woman . you are in a dilemma now . your car can just accomodate 2 persons . whom would you offer a seat in your car?

Last edited by j.chenkalvarayan on Mon May 30, 2005 8:59 am; edited 1 time in total

This same story has been used in the recent hollywood moview 16 Blocks. Just for ur info..
Bruce willis woud give this answer at the end of the moive
Nice one....

bingleguy
29th March 2006, 08:55 AM
hehe

Give the car to ur friend to take the old frail women n walk with ur damsel ;-)

Shakthiprabha.
29th March 2006, 05:44 PM
I ve heard of all these stories before .

Answrers known.

Arthi
29th March 2006, 05:51 PM
I know this story B4 & Answer :)

Nice one.