Sitting in his bath-tub, Archimedes had a problem. Besides the fact that the once relaxing water was now a room temperature pool of yesterday’s dirt, Archie was charged with a seemingly impossible task. Regarded as an intelligent mathematician, physicist, engineer, and inventor, his bearded brilliance made him a perfect candidate for a request from King Hiero II of Syracuse. Hiero had recently commissioned a votive crown be made by a local goldsmith. Hiero himself had supplied the gold to be used. However, like a Celiac at a Gluten free pasta bar, Hiero was suspicious.
Hiero believed the dishonest goldsmith substituted small amounts of silver and pocketed the gold – and he wanted Archimedes to prove it. The catch was that he didn’t want the crown destroyed. It was the mystery-filled donut that sits in solitude in the box. Unless you are one of those crazy “I cut my donut in half” people, the only way to know its filling is to take a bite and determine if your bravery has been rewarded or your donut hurbis has been punished.
As the story goes, while Archie was in between blowing bubbles and reenacting a battle with his miniature flotilla, he realized something. The water level in the tub changed when he entered and once more when he exited. Legend has it, this is how the phrase “Eureka!” was made famous. One minute, Archie was perplexed on how to solve this rubix cube in a mirror type of problem – and then it hit him. If he knew the weight of the gold that was used to make the crown, he could compare the crown’s water displacement with a comparable amount of gold. If the same amount of water was displaced, the goldsmith was honest. If not, Hiero had indeed been swindled.
Although the story is considered to be more of a legend instead of a factual account, it highlights what I hope will be the purpose of this blog – documenting and sharing moments of insight. And Then It Hit Me… is written for the truth seeker, the curmudgeon, and the self-deprecator in all of us who tinker in the details, live in the data, and nourish the truth. It’s that moment when a simple question, thought, or idea can turn a whole notion on its head.
Problem solving. Critical thinking. Logical reasoning. Curiosity. I’m not just naming competencies your next employer may be searching for, I’m naming things we should all strive to practice in our day-to-day lives. I hope to share with you examples of everyday scenarios, common metrics, popular press headlines, and personal experiences with the hopes of highlighting alternative explanations – not for sake of persuading you, but in the hopes that you expand your understanding. Simple questions can lead to great ideas. And asking “why” and “how” to the most basic of facts can reveal that what seemed straight forward, may in fact not be. From shark attacks, to hospital wait times, and back to the increasingly popular “I found it on the Internet” argument, we will discuss it all – and do so with an open mind and a sense of humor…and perhaps a donut.
