Lateral Thinking

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 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?
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  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.