A Simple Arithmetic Puzzler ...

Gifts for David

Solving mathematical and recreational puzzles have always been a fun pursuit to me, and scribbling solutions to puzzles  that I had come across was often a great way to keep myself busy.  Interestingly enough, I also realized that making puzzles is also a very fun pursuit.  There are some creative people , like Scott Kim, who have made a career out of simply that: creating puzzles for a living!  Cool!  So, here is a very simple and somewhat interesting puzzle that I came up with and shared with my 9-year-old son a short while ago.  It is pretty easy to solve.  So, I have a follow up question to make it a bit more challenging once you have solved the easier version.  It goes like this:

The Struggle for Truth ...

True or False by Scott Kim

What is the truth, and how do we distinguish truth from falsehood?  It is not easy to answer this question.  Some even argue that there is no such thing as objective truth.  Faced with such a dilemma, some settle for what they already believe in, while others keep seeking the truth.  Which camp we are in depends largely on how we are brought up.  I think that the journey is much more interesting than the destination, and hence I hope to be able to not settle and keep the sense of wonder alive.  Another related question is what is Justice? There is a very interesting course at Harvard University on this very subject, namely Justice.