In a small Russian village, there were 32 bachelors and 32 unmarried women. Through tireless efforts, the village matchmaker succeeded in arranging 32 highly satisfactory marriages. The village was proud and happy. Then one drunken night, two bachelors, in a test of strength, stuffed each other with pierogis and both of the bachelors died. Can the matchmaker, through some quick arrangements, come up with 31 heterosexual marriages among the 62 survivors?
One who may read this problem could see the impossibility this represents. There is simply no way to pair the remaining survivors into 31 heterosexual marriages. Or is there? The answer is actually quite simple but we might not see it due to the problem solving concept of incomplete or incorrect representations. This is when the problem solver may focus on the wrong information or misunderstands the goal.
A strategy approach I use often is the Means-End Analysis. This approach to solving a problem involves comparing the desired end goal with the starting point and choosing the best path to a satisfactory solution. By defining the “problem space” or boundaries of the problem, the problem becomes easier to solve. This method provides a way to create hard-stop boundaries; sub-goals. The integrity of these sub-goals must be maintained throughout the problem solving process:
Russian Marriage Problem –
- Create 31 heterosexual marriages
- Use only the remaining 61 survivors; 30 male and 32 female
The incorrect representation here is monogamy. However, in breaking the solution down into sub-goals, this concept is not represented anywhere in the solution. This is a concept that we generally imply to this type of situation. Why? Polygamy is a known and practiced custom in many cultures. As a matter of fact, it is not uncommon for Russian men to father children with multiple women. This has resulted in households that are openly polygamous. Several Russian politicians and religious leaders have recently advocated legal recognition to polygamous marriages.
So you see, it never explicitly states that some of the bachelors can’t be used twice. Once identified, the solution to the problem is actually very simple. The polygamous marriages solution meets both sub-goals, solves the final solution and is even a recognized practice within the country of Russia. I don’t envy the matchmaker’s job of convincing these two women to share a husband but once again this is all based on concepts that I am currently unfamiliar with. Who knows, maybe they would find the situation more satisfactory than the previous one.
“Russians beating demographics with polygamy”. RT. 26 July 2011. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
Mira Katbamna (26 October 2009). “‘Half a good man is better than none at all'”. The Guardian. Retrieved 6 August 2012