Can Louisiana Solve the World’s Hardest Riddle? 83% of Kids Can

Louisiana is a state full of problem solvers run by an elected bunch of problem creators. But enough about our legislature and state government, we're on to a real mystery. Actually, this is more of a riddle than it is a mystery. But if you like mysteries we've got plenty of those.

If you like ghosts, we've got haunted houses. We've got mysterious lights. And there is the ever-popular Rougarou and various and sundry tatailles-a-plenty. You can almost pick and choose whether you want the thing that scares you to be living or dead or a combination of the two.

Now back to our riddle.

I came across this story on The Mirror's website. The story posted there described how a large majority of nursery school-age kids could solve this riddle quickly. Yet, most, 98% according to the Mirror article, Harvard students who attempted to solve it were stumped.

I think the reason is quite simply this. Adults tend to overthink everything. Kids, take things at face value and use that "limited" knowledge to arrive at a well-thought-out conclusion. Or maybe these kids were just lazy. I know you're dying to read the riddle. Here it is according to The Mirror. 

"I turn polar bears white and I will make you cry. I make guys have to pee and girls comb their hair. I make celebrities look stupid and normal people look like celebrities. I turn your pancakes brown, and I make your champagne bubble. If you squeeze me, I'll pop. If you look at me, you'll pop. Can you guess the riddle?"

At first blush, you have to agree there is a lot going on in this riddle. This is more complicated than a "Boudreaux and Thibodeaux go into a bar joke". But all the information you need to solve the riddle is presented right up front. If you're an adult, don't overthink it.

Think of all the things included in the riddle, there are polar bears, boys, girls, pee, pancakes, champagne, and pops. Try mixing up the order a little bit. Is the answer still not coming to you?

Okay, let me simplify it for you. Read only the last sentence of the riddle. "Can you guess the riddle?" What would your answer be? If you said, "No". Then you've successfully solved the "world's hardest riddle". Yeah, the answer is "no".

See what we mean by adults overthink and kids just react? I hope you can use this lesson in simplification in your day today, because wouldn't it be wonderful if all of our issues could be solved with a simple yes or no? At least our tough riddles can be.