An American farmer died, leaving his 17 horses to his three sons.<\/p>\n
When his sons opened up the Will it read:<\/p>\n
My eldest son should get 1\/2 (half) of total horses;<\/p>\n
My middle son should be given 1\/3rd (one-third) of the total horses;<\/p>\n
My youngest son should be given 1\/9th (one-ninth) of the total horses.<\/p>\n
Since it’s impossible to divide 17 into half or 17 by 3 or 17 by 9, the three sons started to fight with each other.<\/p>\n
So, they decided to go to an Australian farmer who lived next door that they considered quite smart, to see if he could work it out for them.<\/p>\n
The Australian read the Will patiently;<\/p>\n
after giving due thought, he brought one of his own horses over, increasing the total to 18 horses.<\/p>\n
Now, he divided the horses according to their father\u2019s Will.<\/p>\n
Half of 18 = 9. So he gave the eldest son 9 horses.
\n1\/3rd of 18 = 6. So he gave the middle son 6 horses.
\n1\/9th of 18 = 2. So he gave the youngest son 2 horses.<\/p>\n
Now add up the number of horses they have:<\/p>\n
Eldest son 9<\/p>\n
Middle son 6<\/p>\n
Youngest son 2<\/p>\n
TOTAL: 17<\/p>\n
Now this leaves one horse over, so the Australian takes his horse back to his farm.<\/p>\n
Problem Solved!<\/p>\n
Moral:<\/p>\n
The attitude of negotiation and problem solving is to find the 18th horse i.e. the common ground. Once a person is able to find the 18th horse, the issue is resolved. It is difficult at times; however, to reach a solution, the first step is to believe that there is a solution. If we think that there is no solution, we won’t be able to reach any!<\/p>\n
That’s what I call clever Mathematics and if in doubt always ask an Australian!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
An American farmer died, leaving his 17 horses to his three sons. When his sons opened up the Will it read: My eldest son should get 1\/2 (half) of total horses; My middle son should be given 1\/3rd (one-third) of the total horses; My youngest son should be given 1\/9th (one-ninth) of the total horses. … <\/p>\n