Crazy vs Stupid

[Joiseygirl]

Nice distinction between the two states of mind!.....

A truck driver was doing his usual delivery to IMH (Institute of Mental Health).
He discovered a flat tire when he was about to go home.
He jacked up the truck and took the flat tire down.

When he was about to fix the tire, he accidentally dropped all the Bolts into the drain.
As he could not fish the bolts out, he started to panic.

A mental patient happened to walk past and asked the driver what Happened.
Helpless, the driver told the patient the whole incident.

The patient laughed at him and said, "You can't even fix such a simple Problem, no wonder you are destined to be a truck driver."

"Here's what you can do, take one bolt each from the other 3 tires and Fix it to this tire. Then drive to the nearest workshop and replace The missing ones. Easy as that"

The driver was very impressed and asked, "You're so smart ...so why are You here in the Mental Institute?"

The Patient replied, "Hellooo, I’m here because I'm crazy, not STUPID!"

[tz375]

That's an interesting one and was a question in Edward deBono's first book on lateral thinking. I was asked that in an interview many years ago.
Funny that it's now morphed into a joke.

[H2RICK]

TZ, that's a LOT older than that. That trick goes back to the first guy who, while changing a tire on a dark night, stepped on his hubcap full of wheel nuts and shot them off into a ditch, never to be seen again.
"Lateral thinking" hadn't been invented yet....but "necessity has always been the mother of invention".

[Joiseygirl]

Lateral? How about just plain ingenuity and common sense!

[tz375]

That was the point deBono was making that it isn't a logical normal serial way to think. It requires the thinker to step back form all the conventional wisdom about 5 (or 4) evenly spaced and tightened nuts.

I don't think deBono was claiming ownership of the idea, he just used it - and this was back in about 1972 or so. I'm sure that osmeone had that problem to solve in the real world straight after bolt on wheels were invented.

And of course most trucks have way more than 4 or 5 lug nuts, but who's counting?

[Joiseygirl]

“Fuggedaboutit” (the de Bono’s system). Back in “’72 or so”, I would have used the "damsel in distress' method and let a “MAN” figure it out.

In 2011, I no longer have the patience to let him figure out. (I’d call AAA)