Question

An old man dies, leaving behind two sons. In his will, he orders his sons to race with their horses, and one with the slower horse will receive his inheritance. The sons race but since they are both holding their horses back, they go to a wise man and ask him what they should do. After that, the brothers race again—this time at full speed. What did the wise man tell them?

a) The wise man told them to swap horses.
b) The wise man told them to race in the dark.
c) The wise man told them to race barefoot.
d) The wise man told them to race backwards.

Answer 1

The wise man told the sons to swap horses so that they would both try to win the race, thus ensuring the slower horse would earn the inheritance for its owner.

Step-by-step explanation:

The wise man in the story gave the sons an advice that would solve their dilemma in a clever and indirect way. He knew that if they continued to race with their own horses, they would each try to slow down to lose, as the father's will stated that the one with the slower horse would receive the inheritance. To ensure that both sons would race at full speed, the wise man suggested that they swap horses. This way, each brother would be incentivized to race as fast as possible since by winning the race on the other's horse, they would effectively be ensuring their own horse lost, and thus, they would be the one to inherit.