Riddles of the Unwritten Kind

By: Tre Brock (author, Zablocki Bros. LLC) on August 18th, 2013 12:00 AM.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/6760135001/sizes/n/in/photostream/

Usually when you think of a riddle you think of a few lines of text leading to an answer. These traditional riddles have their place, but riddles in a broader sense have a lot more meaning to our day-to-day lives. Riddles are everywhere, and with each one solved we understand more about the world around us. A riddle is a list of clues of some form that lead to a solution. Outside of literature, riddles are intriging because they have answers that relate to our lives. Riddles like this range from "What should I wear today?" to "Does god exist?".

Although it may seem like it, a riddle is not just a question. A riddle must contain several peices of information that lead to the answer. If I ask you how old you are you implicitly know your age. But if I ask black and white and red all over? You have to first recognize the various parts of the question. First that the thing is black and white. Then that it is red all over. Finally you must realize all aspect of the puzzle and connect them to figure out the answer, in this case it is a newspaper.

If you can solve riddles you are probably a great problem solver. Most great people solve their fair share of riddles / problems. Steve Jobs helped solved the riddle of computing on a personal level while Thomas Edison solved the riddle of the light bulb. In many ways success is based on someones ability to solve problems / riddles. The ability to problem / riddle solve is one of the most valued skills you can have. This skill is not to simply produce an answer you already know like many people do throughout the many blogs and forums of the internet, but rather, think critically and uniquely. Many people can get by just by knowing things, but innovation is key to improvment. So solve world hunger, solve the energy crisis, or cure cancer. But above all, solve riddles.