As a way of saying "Sowwy"... I am posing the following personal take on an Internet tidbit. After a lengthy read, I'm sure your hunger for my abstract and twisted view on matters will be sated for the time being. Have no fear. As subject matter pops its little head to the surface, I'll be there to scoop it up... over-analyze it... and rant about it on here for your amusement. I entitle this entry...
= = = The Kasoa & St. Ives Paradox = = =
There are two riddles that have been circulating on the internet for several years, now. Both are similar in their makeup and in their supposed solution.
The first one deals with a man headed to Kasoa; (there are actually two versions of this one)...
Version 1--
A man was traveling to Kasoa
At the bus stop, he met a man with 7 wives
Each wife has 12 sons and 12 daughters
Each daughter of the man's wife had 4 sons and 7 daughters
Each son of the man's wife had 7 sons and 4 daughters
Each grand daughter had 4 friends
How many people got to kasoa?
Version 2--
A man traveling to Kasoa met man with 7 wives.
Each wife had 12 sons and 12 daughters.
Each daughter had 4 sons and 7 daughters.
Each son had 7 sons and 4 daughters.
Each granddaughter had 4 friends.
How many people are going to Kasoa?
The next one deals with a man who meets a traveler headed for St. Ives;
As I was going to St Ives
I met a man with seven wives
And every wife had seven sacks
And every sack had seven cats
And every cat had seven kits
Kits, cats, sacks, wives
How many were going to St Ives?
((SPOILER ALERT)) Traditionally, the answer is "1"… assuming that only the narrator is traveling either to Kasoa or St. Ives.
However, being the sort of person that I am, and never holding with popular Lemmingistic acceptances, (I came up with that term – don’t you love it?) I propose the following twist on the bus stop version of the Kasoa riddle.
Background:
- Kasoa is a small town in Ghana, a country in West Africa. Transportation within rural Africa typically consists of school buses for mass public transit. The average school bus has a maximum of 24 seats, each with the capacity of seating 2 persons. So, it could safely be assumed that (with all occupants seated) the total capacity of an average bus in the Kasoa region would be 49 (48 passengers + 1 driver).
- Africa, as a whole, has accepted the practice of Polygamy for centuries. So the premise behind the narrator meeting a gentleman with 7 wives is not unheard of.
If a large group of people is located at a bus stop, then it can easily be assumed (citing their obvious family relationship) that all of them are traveling to the same destination. So, due to the fact that we now need a complete tally of the man's family, we shall calculate his posterity.
A man was traveling to Kasoa
At the bus stop, he met a man with 7 wives
(husband + 7 wives = 8 adults)
Each wife has 12 sons and 12 daughters
(7 wives x 24 children each = 168 children)
Each daughter of the man's wife had 4 sons and 7 daughters
(12 daughters x 11 grandchildren = 132 grandchildren)
Each son of the man's wife had 7 sons and 4 daughters
(12 sons x 11 grandchildren = 132 grandchildren)
Each grand daughter had 4 friends
(12 daughters had 7 girls each = 84¡ and 12 sons had 4 girls each = 48
So, 84 + 48 = 132 granddaughters x 4 friends each = 528 friends)
How many people got to Kasoa?
Ok, let's make a tally:
8 adults
168 children
132 grandchildren + 132 grandchildren = 264 grandchildren (total)
528 friends
=========
968 people comprise this man's family at the bus stop.
Now, noting that each of the daughters and sons would need a corresponding spouse to produce their sons and daughters, one might wonder where these individuals have wandered off to? Perhaps they are all visiting the bathroom facilities? If we hypothetically toss a spouse in for each son and daughter of the multiply-married-man, then we arrive at an additional 168 spouses. (7 wives having 12 male and 12 female children -- each one needing a spouse)
968 "listed" people
168 "unlisted" spouses
=====
1,136 people total
Now, we can take this figure and these individuals and arrive at some very thought provoking observational hypotheses;
1) This man is obviously filthy rich, extremely well-endowed… or both.
2) The seven wives and husband are very fertile and enjoy a robust libido. This has obviously been passed down through their genes.
3) While procreation is not a stumbling block for this family¡ travel arrangements must be a nightmare!
4) Trying to utilize public transit to ferry 1,136 people at one time demonstrates a horrid lack of good judgment.
Remember the bus information from above? The average school bus can accommodate a maximum of 48 passengers and 1 driver (seated). Therefore, this family of 1,136 people divided by 48 passengers per bus = 23.67 (rounded up to 24) buses needed to haul this family.
So, I've ultimately arrived at the following conclusions...
1) A person who can support 1,135 family members does not need to take a bus...
2) The ACTUAL answer is 1,160 people headed to Kasoa…
((that’s 24 buses carrying 1,136 passengers + 24 drivers + one astounded man))
I hope you thoroughly enjoyed this evaluation of the facts and can now argue against the answer of "1" with more authority... now knowing what I know. ~chuckles~
Until next time, kiddos!!
1 comment:
Well, you completely tore apart the Kasoa riddle, but forgot about the St. Ives riddle.. hmm I think you're starting to slack off a bit!
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