How a Mathematician's Son Outsmarted the Village: A Story About Choosing Your Battles

HI friend one good story to share with……


There once lived a great mathematician in a village outside Ujjain. He was often called by the local king to advice on matters related to the economy. His reputation had spread as far as Taxila in the North and Kanchi in the South. So it hurt him very much when the village headman told him, "You may be a great mathematician who advises the king on economic matters but your son does not know the value of gold or silver."

The mathematician called his son and asked, "What is more valuable - gold or silver?" "Gold," said the son. "That is correct. Why is it then that the village headman makes fun of you, claims you do not know the value of gold or silver? He teases me every day. He mocks me before other village elders as a father who neglects his son. This hurts me. I feel everyone in the village is laughing behind my back because you do not know what is more valuable, gold or silver. Explain this to me, son."

So the son of the mathematician told his father the reason why the village headman carried this impression. "Every day on my way to school, the village headman calls me to his house. There, in front of all village elders, he holds out a silver coin in one hand and a gold coin in other. He asks me to pick up the more valuable coin. I pick the silver coin. He laughs, the elders jeer, everyone makes fun of me. And then I go to school. This happens every day. That is why they tell you I do not know the value of gold or silver."

The father was confused. His son knew the value of gold and silver, and yet when asked to choose between a gold coin and silver coin always picked the silver coin. "Why don't you pick up the gold coin?" he asked. In response, the son took the father to his room and showed him a box. In the box were at least a hundred silver coins. Turning to his father, the mathematician's son said, "The day I pick up the gold coin the game will stop. They will stop having fun and I will stop making money."

The bottom line is
Sometimes in life, we have to play the fool because our seniors and our peers, and sometimes even our juniors like it. That does not mean we lose in the game of life. It just means allowing others to win in one arena of the game, while we win in the other arena of the game. We have to choose which arena matters to us and which arenas do not.

Hi Mukesh,

I am a bit confused about this story although it's very good. But I didn't get what's the logic to keep a silver coin instead of a gold one.

Thanks,
Yogita

Hi Mukesh,

Nice story. It gives insight that if we go for more valuable things, then we might not get enough which we can earn by other less valuable things. It can prove to be a lesson for those who are planning to start their venture with less capital.

Shipra

Hi Yogita,

The logic of the story is that if he had taken the gold coin, they would have stopped at that, as they would have thought that he knows the value of gold. Since he had taken the silver coin, they thought that he did not know the value of gold, and thus they showed him both coins daily, and he started collecting the silver coins. Thus, he was able to collect lots of silver coins instead of just one gold coin.

Suresh

Very good story. To me, the management lesson conveyed appears to be that for fools who think themselves to be wise men, the really wise man who is not one in the crowd always looks like a fool!

Moral of the story: Do not underestimate anyone merely because he is not matching your standards.

Dear Mukesh,

This is a really inspiring management lesson, and I have truly liked it. In the future, please keep posting as I genuinely appreciate your value-added contribution. This story teaches us a lesson that we should decide which opportunities to gain or lose for long-term benefits, and we should develop a habit of giving up some opportunities for long-term gain.

Once again, thank you.

It's a good one. Can you suggest some examples where we can implement this in our lives?

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I have corrected the spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors in the text while maintaining the original meaning. I have also added a single line break between the paragraphs for proper formatting.