About These Lateral Thinking Questions

Lateral Thinking: The ability to test your powers of questioning, deduction and persistence. If at first the direct approach leads nowhere, try coming at the problem from the side; in other words, lateral thinking.

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These Lateral Thinking Questions were started by the Support Centre in the Information Services Division (ISD) where Mike Jourard used to work. As the activity for our monthly "Zoo," we took several questions from the MindTrap game and presented them to help get our colleagues' brains working.

Following the Zoo, Mike sent an e-mail message on Monday, May 01, 1995, to all ISD users, and asked about "Lateral Thinking - To Be Continued??":

Did you enjoy the Lateral Thinking questions that we at the ISD Support Centre sent out last
 week as teasers for our Zoo last Friday? Did you enjoy them enough to want to continue the agony, perhaps
 on a weekly or semi-weekly basis? If you did, send me a reply to have your name put on the mailing
 list for future postings.

You asked for it... You got it!
(Trivia question: which product used that phrase in their advertisements?)

As a sample, here are a few for you to ponder...

1. How far can a dog run into the woods?

2. How high is Up?

3. If a chicken and a half can lay an egg and a half in a day and a half, how long would it take a grasshopper with a wooden leg to kick the seeds out of a dill pickle?

Have fun!

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Answers to the sample questions

You asked for it... You got it!
(Trivia question: which product used that phrase in their advertisements?)
Answer: Toyota, just like the little gold 1986 Tercel (aka My Toy Auto) that I drive!

Question 1: How far can a dog run into the woods?
Answer: Halfway. Since we have no idea how large the woods are, the distance in actual measurement becomes irrelevant. At (technically after) the halfway point the dog will be running "out" of the woods. (repeated from an earlier posting.)

Question 2: How high is Up?
Answer: Twice as high as "Halfway Up."
This question actually appeared on my astronomy final exam in first year university. Originally it was a multiple choice question, but I've forgotten all but the correct answer. I suppose it makes more sense with the options. What do you expect from a perfesser who always wore the same gold blazer, except on Einstein's Birthday, and then he wore a blue blazer?

Question 3: If a chicken and a half can lay an egg and a half in a day and a half, how long would it take a grasshopper with a wooden leg to kick the seeds out of a dill pickle?
Answer: Ah, Zen and the Art of Humour! Gotcha!

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