Information collection & exchange

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Realizing that both the merchant and his daughter were horrified at the idea, the moneylender 
invited them both to walk with him along a grav
"I shall take two pebbles from this path, one black and one white," he said, bending down to pick 
up two stones. "I shall drop them both in this bag. And then, if your daughter agrees, she will pick 
one of the stones from the bag without looking. If she picks out the white one, I shall forgive all of 
your debts, and you a
black stone, your daughter is mine." 
 
The merchant's daughter was distraught. She did not trust the moneylender. She was almost sure 
that he had put two black stones in the bag. Her position seemed impossible. What should she 
do? 
At this point you can have a class or small-group dis

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(The "correct" answer is that the daughter put her hand in the bag, withdrew a stone, and dropped it 
"accidentally" on the gravel path. "I'm sorry," she cried, "but you can tell the color of the stone I chose by the 
color of the one remaining in the bag.") [This story is told by Edward de Bono as part of his work on lateral 
inking.] 
Th
ens and early twenties, 
since it gives them the opportunity to express their views on issues they often feel strongly about. In 
cho
you
xercise is found in Figure 4.5. You can adapt it as a 
listening exercise by reading the statements to your class. In exploiting this exercise you can go through the 
foll
ents. 
sk the members of each group to discuss among themselves the reasons for their 
responses.