A mathematician and an engineer are sitting next to
each other on a long flight. The mathematician leans over to the
engineer and asks if he would like to play a fun game. The engineer just
wants to take a nap, so he politely declines and rolls over to the
window to catch a few winks.
The mathematician persists and explains that the game is real easy and lots of fun. He explains, "I ask you a question, and if you don't know the answer, you pay me $5. Then you ask me a question, and if I don't know the answer, I'll pay you $5."
Again, the engineer politely declines and
tries to get to sleep. The mathematician, now somewhat agitated, says,
"Okay, if you don't know the answer, you pay me $5, and if I don't know
the answer, I'll pay you $50!"
This catches the engineer's attention, and
he sees no end to this torment unless he plays, so he agrees to the
game. The mathematician asks the first question. "What's the distance
from the earth to the moon?"
The engineer doesn't say a word, but
reaches into his wallet, pulls out a five-dollar bill and hands it to
the mathematician Now, it's the engineer's turn. He asks the
mathematician "What goes up a hill with three legs and comes down on
four?"
The mathematician looks up at him with a
puzzled look. He takes out his laptop computer and searches all of his
references. He taps into the air phone with his modem and searches the
net and the Library of Congress. Frustrated, he sends e-mail to his
co-workers all to no avail.
After about an hour, he wakes the engineer
and hands him $50. The engineer politely takes the $50 and turns away to
try to get back to sleep.
The mathematician then hits the engineer, saying, "What
goes up a hill with three legs, and comes down on four?" The engineer
calmly pulls out his wallet, hands the mathematician five bucks, and
goes back to sleep.
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