Piping

One of Einstein’s students asked him: “What does logic mean?” Einstein said: “I will answer you with a question.” “Suppose two workers enter a chimney to clean it. One comes out with a dirty face and the other with a clean face. Who will go wash their face?” The student immediately and without hesitation replied, “Of course, the one with the dirty face.” Einstein said: “Your answer is incorrect. The one who will wash their face is the one with the clean face, because he looked at his colleague’s face and assumed that his own face was as dirty as his colleague’s. The one with the dirty face will not wash his face, thinking it is clean like his colleague’s.” The student said: “That is correct and logical.” Einstein replied: “No, it is not correct, because the question itself is illogical. It is not logical for two men to enter the same chimney at the same time and for one to come out clean and the other dirty.” In a few words, logic itself can collapse, so sometimes the problem is not in the answer but in the flawed question itself.