A Way of Thinking

A few years ago, a topic of after-dinner conversation was the concept of the two ‘cultures’ existing within the world of higher education: the liberal arts culture and the science culture.

There were many pages written to define what was meant by ‘culture’ and to distinguish between these two particular types. One area which came under scrutiny was how each approached problems and solved them. Of all the explanations, I think none exceeded the following for simple charm as well as depth of insight.

A college, it was said, wished to track incoming students to either the sciences or the liberal arts. To achieve this as quickly and efficiently as possible, the following two-step test was developed.

Step A.

A student to be tested is shown into a room. There is a sink with a cold water faucet [turned off], a gas stove [unlit], a table with a box of matches on it and, on the floor, an empty kettle. The student is asked to boil water.

All of the students tested pick up the kettle, go to the sink, open the tap, put water in the kettle, turn off the tap and place the kettle on the stove. They then go to the table, get the matches, turn on and light the gas and wait until the water in the kettle boils.

Step B

A student who had completed Step A is again shown into the same room. Now, the kettle already contains water and is already in position on the stove. The stove is unlit and the box of matches is sitting on the table. The student is again asked to boil water.

The students best suited to the liberal arts go to the table, get the matches, turn on and light the gas and wait until the water in the kettle boils.

The students best suited to the sciences take the kettle from the stove, go to the sink, empty the kettle and place it on the floor.

The science types solve the Step B problem by reducing it to the Step A problem, which they've already solved.