Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs
In honor of April Fools’ Day, I offer the puzzling case of the Lesser Fool.
In a fictional town, there lived an odd wanderer. People would present him with two amounts of money or goods and ask which is greater. Even though they offered to give him whichever amount he chose, the Fool would always select the smaller one.
People came from afar just to test him. Whatever the currency, whatever the quantities, whatever convoluted form the question took, he picked the amount worth less — and then strolled away cheerfully.
The following are some of the questions the Lesser Fool was asked. Can you get them right?
“Which is greater,” asked a business tycoon, “twelve thousand and twelve dollars, or eleven thousand eleven hundred and eleven dollars?”
“Which is greater,” asked a grandmother, holding up a pie sliced finely enough to feed all of her grandchildren, “19/200 of this pie, or 29/300 of it?”
“Which is worth more,” asked a bank teller, “1 kilogram of quarters, or 25 kilograms of pennies?”
“Which is greater,” asked a clockmaker, “a penny for every second in a month, or a penny for every hour in a century?” (The Fool answered with mental math alone.)
“Which is greater,” asked an engineer, “the tenth root of $10, or the cube root of $2?” (The Fool used pencil and paper for this one.)
“Consider these two envelopes,” said a lawyer. “The first contains $10 plus half of what’s in the second. The second contains $20 minus half of what’s in the first. Which envelope contains more money?”
“I’ve got an exciting but volatile fund,” said a hedge fund manager. “In our first year, we gained 90 percent. In our second year, we lost 50 percent. Would you rather have the amount we originally invested, or our current value?”
BONUS: One day, a child approached the Fool. “To answer so reliably, you must know which amount is larger. So why do you always take the smaller?” the child asked. “And if you’re called the Lesser Fool, who’s the Greater Fool?” The Fool only smiled. Can you answer the child’s questions?
Looking for answers? Go to sciencenews.org/puzzle-answers. We’ll publish science-themed crosswords and math puzzles on alternating months. We’d love to hear your thoughts. Email us at [email protected].
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Ben Orlin is the author of Math with Bad Drawings.
