fwded email ... THE PEBBLE STORY

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. 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.

All the villagers 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 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 can not 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, what she did was :

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

Nothing is Impossible.