Jul 10, 2025

What a dumb WhatsApp riddle taught me

don't forget the basics, kids.

Before you read the post, I want you try solving the same riddle that served me as a source of mild annoyance as well as a learning opportunity:

Tried it?

Okay, let's move on. (Answer's somewhere in the middle).

After seeing the riddle in one of my friend's WhatsApp status, I felt cringe. I thought, "Pffttt, this is what Fifth graders do! I bet I can solve it in no time!"

I knew it's definitely not "West". Otherwise, it wouldn't have been so viral (people lost more often than win), so it must have been something hidden. I tried to play smart.

I analysed the first line:

Someone's mother has four sons.

And I was like "Aha! Caught you! The answer is 'Someone'!"
I thought the word "Someone" is being used as a noun here.

I messaged my friend, and this was her reply:

I immediately checked the second (not third) sentence and sure enough, it was a statement, not a question. I tried to defend myself in my head: "But 'someone' is still correct! It must be!"

No, son. It is not. Not if the next statement literally tells you the fact in the most logically coherent form. In that case, you cannot seek the vague idea to satisfy your ego.

I had been played by linguistics. That made my stomach turn, and so, I did not repost, instead I milked the riddle for this blog (how moral!!)

But really, I was humbled.

And I learned a valuable lesson:

The older we get, the more we tend to take the basics, the foundations for granted. The foundations start cracking while we make the skyscraper taller, playing with our high level tools for money, job, knowledge and fulfillment. But sooner or later, the foundations give in and the whole building collapses.

Don't forget that almost everything can be derived from these fundamentals. Sure, the riddle is corny example, but it applies to everything: math, science, governance, politics, problem-solving and so on. Sometimes, you just need to go back to the roots and build yourself back up.

Don't forget the basics, kids.