Logic puzzles and brain teasers have long been used to challenge our minds and encourage critical thinking. Sometimes the most intriguing puzzles are the ones that seem the simplest. For instance, a teacher in India, Raviraj Master, posted a seemingly simple yet seemingly impossible problem for his students: “Draw a square with three lines.” That’s it. Could they do it? Student after student came up to the board to make an attempt. One by one, they drew three lines, which of course did not add up to a square. One student cleverly drew three sides of a square with lines and the fourth side with a dotted line. That move demonstrated creative thinking, but it was not the solution. Finally, a student walked up to the board, drew a square with all four sides, and then drew three lines inside it. That was it. She had drawn a square with three lines. Problem solved. Thinking critically about wording The solution is so straightforward that most people miss it. It’s not that it’s hard; it’s that our brains interpret the prompt a certain way and go full speed ahead with that interpretation. It’s an excellent lesson in thinking critically about how something is worded and what is being asked. For instance, “Draw a square using three lines” would be a totally different ask than “Draw a square with three lines.” Just that one-word difference changes the possible meaning of the prompt. What if the teacher had asked, “Is there another way these words can be interpreted?” Proactively looking at each word to see if it could have a different meaning makes puzzles like this one a little easier. However, the lesson extends far beyond silly brain teasers. Advertisers, politicians, and others who exploit the power of persuasion sometimes use words in ways that confuse or mislead. The logical fallacy of equivocation or ambiguity For instance, let’s look at the logical fallacy of equivocation, also known as the fallacy of ambiguity. Using words that have more than one meaning makes it easy to be vague and leave statements open to interpretation. In our brain teaser, the word “with” could mean “using,” which is the way most students interpreted it. But “with” can also mean “accompanying,” which is how it’s used in the actual solution. Politicians use ambiguity a lot. Philosopher Justin D’Ambrosio called it “manipulative under-specification.” Using terms that are open to multiple interpretations gives politicians plausible deniability if you disagree with them. They can simply say they meant something different. Even important concepts like justice, fairness, and democracy are underspecified terms, making it easy for politicians to use them in slogans or soundbites without detailing what they mean. View this post on Instagram Ambiguity can be used to manipulate people via the media as well. Sharon Haigler and C. Anneke Snyder’s “Propaganda Techniques in Media” handout at Texas A&M University lists 12 media propaganda techniques. Check out number 10: “Obfuscation: Intentionally confusing the issue with vague, non-specific language. By avoiding clarity, propagandists create uncertainty and prevent critical analysis. Complex legal jargon or ambiguous statements serve this purpose.” Understanding ambiguity may help us understand each other It’s wise to think critically when it comes to wording, whether we’re trying to solve a silly logic puzzle or serious social and political problems. Pay attention to words that are vague. Ask what various definitions or interpretations there might be for ambiguous terms. On the positive side, staying aware of words with multiple meanings can sometimes help us see where others are coming from. Sometimes disagreements are due to defining a word differently, rather than an actual issue. So many words in our social and political discourse require definitions before we engage. Otherwise, we risk talking past one another rather than meaningfully discussing things with one another. Amazing what we can learn from a simple brain teaser, isn’t it? The post A teacher asked students to draw a square with 3 lines. How the kids approached it was fascinating. appeared first on Upworthy.