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Can you Solve a Zen Problem?
A buddhist monk got an errand from his teacher: to meditate for exactly 45 minutes. He has no watch; instead he is given 2 inscent sticks, and he is told that each of those sticks would completely burn in 1 hour. The sticks are not identical, and they burn with variant yet unknown rates (they are handmade). So he has these 2 inscents and some matches; can he arrange for exactly 45 minutes of meditation?
Explain your answer! This question is from Vlad Mitlin.
3 Answers
- ?Lv 61 decade agoFavorite Answer
If you light both ends of a stick, it'll take half as long to burn.
Light one end of one stick at the same time as you light both ends of the other stick.
The stick burning on both ends will burn out after half an hour (30 minutes).
When that happens, the stick burning on one end will have 30 minutes left to burn.
Light the other end of that stick.
When that stick burns out, 15 minutes will have elapsed, and a total of 45 minutes will have passed since you originally lit the three sticks.
- ?Lv 41 decade ago
A nice brain teaser -- but not a Zen question.
No decent Zen Master would ever assign such a "mind-y" problem to a monk. S/he would say, go and sit and watch your thoughts. But do not get involved with them.
