A brief lesson in...

...Logic!

I'm going to have to start giving these "A brief lesson in..." posts more often I think. And pass them around to certain individuals I will not be mentioning here.

So. Let's get started. Of course the following situation is completely hypothetical. Any similarities to a real situation is unintended.

Person #1: Have you seen my calculator? It is no longer in or on my desk.

Person #2: What does it look like? Was it the blue and grey one I found yesterday on my desk?

Person #1: Yep! That's my calculator. Do you still have it?

Person #2: No, I didn't know who's it was so I put it over there.

Person #1: After looking "over there" for the calculator and not finding it, asks Person #3 Have you seen my blue and grey calculator?

Person #3: Oh yeah, I saw it there and asked Person #4 if it was hers. You might want to ask her.

Person #1: sigh Thanks. Hey, Person #4, have YOU seen my blue and grey calculator?

Person #4: Yeah! It's in my desk drawer. We didn't know who it belonged to so I just held on to it.

Person #1: Gee Thanks.

Ok. There is one more little piece of the puzzle you will need to solve this terribly difficult logic puzzle. There are a total of 5 people in the office. Person #5 (not mentioned in above scenario) has a very special calculator that can not be removed from her desk.

Now this would have saved Person #1 a good deal of time if the other three people could have figured this out.

Let's work this out. So, Person #1 is gone. Person #2 finds the calculator and realizes it isn't hers. Person #2 places calculator in an area that would suggest it does not belong to her. Persons #3 and #4 discuss amongst themselves whether or not the calculator is either of theirs. The calculator has now come in contact with three out of five office workers, none of whom the calculator belongs to.

Since the calculator does not belong to Persons #2, #3, #4, or #5 (as we know from the above statement), who does the calculator belong to?

I know it's difficult, but I'm certain with just a slight amount of brain power you can come to the correct conclusion. I have faith in you! And now that you have solved this puzzle, lets see how often we can ALL use logic in our day to day lives.

What a different place this world would be!

Tune in next time for "A brief lesson in Customer Service!"