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| Image source: raykliu.wordpress.com. |
Now there was in that
same country a shepherd abiding in the fields, keeping watch over his
flock one day. Suddenly a stranger appeared unto him, driving up the road
toward him in a brand-new BMW. The stranger stopped his car and stepped out of
it carrying an iPad, which he began to play with.
The shepherd approached and said, “Say, that’s a nice car. And
a nice gadget.”
The stranger replied, “Yep. And I’m a whiz with this iPad,
my friend. In fact, I’ll make a bet with you. If I can tell you how many sheep
you have on this hillside, will you give me one of them?”
A little bemused, the shepherd said, “Okay, I guess.”
So the stranger manipulated his iPad, causing a satellite to
take a picture of the hillside. The satellite sent an image to an office near
the Washington, DC Beltway, where analysts numbered the sheep and sent their
results to the stranger, a process which took about half an hour. And the
stranger announced the result: “You have three hundred seventy-six sheep.”
“Why, that’s correct,” affirmed the shepherd.
The stranger put away his iPad, picked up an animal, and
began with some effort to load it into the BMW. The shepherd watched the
stranger with some amusement for a few minutes, then asked, “If I can guess
what your occupation is, will you return that critter to me?”
The stranger said, “Okay, give it your best shot.”
The stranger, astonished, stammered, “But how did you know
that?”
The shepherd smiled. “It’s simple. One, you came to my place
of business without being asked. Two, you charged me to tell me something I
already knew. Three, it’s obvious you don’t know the first thing about my
business.
“Now, please, will you give me back my dog?”
