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If a car can travel at 50mph, how many miles will it cover in 10 hours
The answer appears to be 500miles. Anyone answering this has applied the rules of simple mathematics. This answer seems to be a logical answer, but if we thinking laterally our answers may differ.
1) A tyre may burst after being in constant use for few hours which will force the driver to take a break.
2) The car won’t run at the same speed if moves uphill or on a zigzag road.
3) The road conditions do not allow the car to run at the similar speed for 10 hours. At some places it may run at 50mph and some places it may run at 30mph.
4) If stuck in a traffic jam the car will take a longer time to cover the same distance which otherwise could be covered on a clear road.
5) The driver may feel tired & take a break if he feels.
6) The engine may fail causing a delay.
7) The car will have to be refueled if it does not carry enough petrol to run for 500 miles.
8) During the drive it may rain or perhaps there may be snowfall, so the driver has to move slowly or he may meet with an accident.
9) Certain roads lawfully do not allow driving beyond Xmph (say 40 approx).
10) The car runs faster down the hill slope.
The ideas listed above are outside simple mathematics. Here lateral thinking method has been applied.
De Bono proposes five ways to help one to think laterally:
- avoid a cliche
- challenge the assumptions
- generate the alternatives
- jump to new ideas
- then follow them and conclude
- enter the problem from a new direction.
By applying lateral thinking you may solve a problem in the ways which you didn’t think before. It may turn the problem into an opportunity. It can help you to build a solid concept around an idea.
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