Mind Matters News is pleased to offer a new series, “Monday Micro Softies,” from our director, Robert J. Marks, a series of puzzles that illustrate the ways of thinking needed in the computer industry today. – Eds.

Here’s today’s puzzle, in honor of Claude King, followed by the solution to last Monday’s puzzle, The Dead Presidents Club.

In 1962, King recorded the song Wolverton Mountain. It’s the story of Claude’s love of Clifton Clowers’ daughter — we’ll call her Chloe — who lives on the top of Wolverton Mountain. (Listen here.) It’s a catchy tune. Here’s a puzzle augmenting the song’s story:

Claude starts climbing to the top of Wolverton Mountain at 6 AM. There is only one road, and it takes him three hours. Sometimes he jogs. Sometimes he walks. After arriving at 9 AM, behind the back of Clifton Clowers, he spends the day with his love. When Chloe goes home, Claude sneaks into the barn and sleeps. He gets up early and, after pilfering some breakfast veggies from  Clowers’ garden, starts his trip down the mountain 6 AM. He gets to the bottom of the mountain at 9 AM. Both his trips up the mountain and down the mountain occur during the same time interval, one day apart.

So here’s the question. Is Claude ever at the same place on the road at the same time on both trips? For example, might Claude be at the same place on the road at 7:10 AM on the up trip as he is at 7:10 AM on the down trip?

We’ll give the answer in the Micro Softy column next Monday here at Mind Matters News.

Solution to Micro Softy 2: The Dead Presidents Club   

Last Monday’s Micro Softy featured a young Russian, Ola, who heard the following on the radio about the first five US Presidents:

Here is an incredible fact about America’s founding fathers. Americans celebrate July 4^th every year as Independence Day. It was that day in 1776 where the United States declared their independence from England. The names of the first five US Presidents, in order, were Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison and Monroe. Here is what is remarkable. Of the first five US Presidents, three of them died on July 4^th!

Even though she knew nothing about US history, Ola immediately knew with certainty, not with a probability of three out of five, the name of one of the three US Presidents who died on July 4^th.  She received no help from anyone.

The question: who was that President and how did Ola know?

STEM people often cannot get the correct answer

Puzzles like this illustrate the general decay of creativity with age and education. Most encrusted STEM people I present this puzzle to can’t get their minds off the 3/5 probability of choosing one of the US Presidents who died July 4^th. But I once gave this puzzle to a missionary in Japan who had no technical background. With no formal experience in probability, he solved it immediately.

Great ideas come from the young before their minds are not furrowed with ruts they can’t see out of. Einstein and Kurt Gödel were both in their 20’s when they published their world-changing papers.  Alan Turing conceived of the modern computer and Isaac Newton invented calculus in their 20’s too. The answer to the Presidents puzzle has nothing to do with probability. It has to do with psychology. The key phrases in the puzzle are “Here is an incredible fact…” and “Here is what is remarkable.”  The first five US Presidents were Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison and Monroe. The fifth President, Monroe, died on July 4^th. If he didn’t, it would even be more “incredible” and more “remarkable” if three July 4^th deaths occurred from the first four US Presidents. But the broadcast had explicitly said five. For this reason, Ola knew with certainty that James Monroe, the fifth President of the United States, died on July 4^th.

Here are Micro Softies from earlier Mondays:

Monday Micro Softy 1: Microsoft: What did you need to work there in the early days? They asked questions that were not about the details of computer technology. The questions made you think. Hard. For example, they would ask questions like, why are manhole covers round? Also, here’s the Round Trip puzzle.

Monday Micro Softy 2: The Dead Presidents’ Club The answer to Monday Micro Softy 1: The Round Trip puzzle is here too. Today’s puzzle: How would a girl who knew nothing of American history immediately know the name of at least one of three early Presidents who died on July 4?