A complete 20-minute preview of the author’s upcoming book (Peckerheads) is here.

(From Peckerheads)

In the beginning was the Word, and depending on who you believe the word was either God or zilch. We either derive from a Big Guy or a Big Bang. In either case, human beings began on a level playing field, meaning that the Academy was technically correct, in that equality—at a zero level—was once the norm. Religionists might say we’re all equal in the eyes of God, perhaps because we’re a bunch of sinners. Or less biblically, peckerheads.

In a mere 199 words, Genesis 1:26 to 1:30, God made man in His likeness, and then woman, gave them dominion over plants and animals, and commanded them to reproduce. But that’s only the trailer for the story of Adam and Eve, told in Genesis 2:4 to 3:24 and summarized below.

God created Adam and placed him in the Garden of Eden with only one restriction; that he not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If Adam did he would die.  God then created Eve to be Adam’s companion. Adam and Eve were unashamed of their nakedness until a snake convinced Eve to eat the forbidden fruit, which she shared with Adam, whereupon they felt shame and covered up with fig leaves. Adam told God that Eve had given him the fruit, and Eve told God the snake had tricked her. As punishment, God made snakes and humans enemies, made childbirth painful, and made men toil for their food. God then expelled Adam and Eve from the Garden.

The Almighty had previously commanded the two of them to reproduce, and we know it’s a sin to defy God’s will. Yet the Bible contains no reference to conception or birth until Genesis 4:1, well after Adam and Eve’s expulsion from Eden. In other words, there’s no record of a single conception or birth in the Garden, even though we have to assume that Adam and Eve were following God’s directive to multiply.

We’re forced to conclude that Adam and Eve broke Eden’s one and only rule posthaste. As soon as God made man and woman in His image, they violated His sole edict. Now imagine being the first man or woman. If God spoke directly to you and commanded you not to eat this one particular item, would you say, “I’ll see what I can do”?

And what kind of father tells a child “Don’t do X,” then follows with, “because if you do, Y will happen”? That would be allowing for, if not insinuating, X. God forbids Adam to eat the fruit then adds, “for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” Why mention the day that you eat of it?  The Lord might as well specify next Tuesday and ask Adam to mark it in his planner.

When God confronts Adam he blames Eve. Eve blames the snake. God had warned Adam he would die if he ate the apple, but as if that weren’t punishment enough, He serves up more. He makes enemies of humans and snakes, then saddles women with painful childbirth and men with toiling to eat. Adam is kicked out of Eden and will work for food. He’s the ancestral homeless person.

From his 2022 book EXPLAIN THIS!

A man and his wife attend a movie. In the middle of the movie he stabs her to death. At the end of the movie they leave and nobody notices.

Explain this!

A woman walks into a bar and asks for a glass of water. The bartender pulls out a gun, cocks it, and points it at the woman. She says “thank you” and leaves.

Explain this!

If Shorty had reached the sawdust he would have lived.

Explain this!

On the scale of lateral thinking puzzles—also called situation puzzles, the explanation game, or two-minute mysteries—the above represent an easy, average, and complex challenge. Each puzzle can take from several minutes to over an hour to solve.

To play, the host presents a seemingly odd scenario, and the other players ask yes or no questions to figure out the circumstances that led up to it.

In a perfect world, chickens could cross the road without having their motivations questioned. But this isn’t a perfect world, and human beings are imperfect creatures. Hence people keep asking, “Why did the chicken cross the road?”

Yet what possible difference could it make, why an anonymous chicken crossed some unnamed road? Sherlock Holmes, in The Sign of Four, suggests a potential answer: “I cannot live without brain-work. What else is there to live for?”

And thus there are many books of riddles, but this isn’t one of them. What we have here is an intellectual party game—Explain This!—based on lateral thinking puzzles. (Details and rules are found below.) The game, which originated as an academic teaching tool during the 1960s, is designed to be fun for smart people. This book is written with the hope of being likewise amusing.

Brainteasers often take a generic form. The most dreaded variety starts out, “If a train leaves St. Louis traveling 60 miles per hour…,” at which point most people blurt back, “…how far is it to the bar car?”

Parties are fun. Games are fun. Why else would we engage in them? (We could, after all, just sit around worrying.) Combine the two and we end up with the fortuitous equation: parties + games = fun x 2.

“My mind,” said Holmes, “rebels at stagnation. Give me problems, give me work, give me the most abstruse cryptogram or the most intricate analysis, and I am in my own proper atmosphere.” Lots of people, though, prefer a more festive atmosphere.

The first party game that many of us remember, for reasons that require little explanation, is Spin the Bottle. One kid randomly kissing another kid while other kids look on. Then comes Post Office, where half the kids kiss all the kids in the other half (typically split by gender), after which the kissers and kissees switch roles. Unless the kids play in complete darkness (a more daring version called Pony Express), other kids look on.

Some adults eventually move on to “key parties,” where half of the attendees (typically all the men or  women) drop their car keys into a bowl. At some point, depending one imagines on the “temperature” in the room, the second group draws keys at random and heads home with their particular “designated driver.” At least in the end they don’t make others look on. Perhaps they show the video later.

Easy [ – – 3 – -] Hard

A man reads in the paper that Mr. Smith and his wife were skiing in the Alps, and that Mrs. Smith had an accident, fell off the mountain, and was killed. The man puts down the paper and calls the police. “That was no accident,” he says, “Mr. Smith killed his wife.”

Explain this!

Easy [ – – – 4 -] Hard

Two women enter a bar and order the same exact drink. One finishes the drink quickly, then leaves without consequences. The other nurses the drink and dies within a couple of hours.

Explain this!

Explain This! is unique in its humorous explanation of lateral thinking puzzles and the reasoning behind them. And its many cartoons. But there are other lateral thinking resources for both novices and aficionados. The average tough guy is not likely to go running to the doctor for every little ache levitra store and pain, and even less prone to seek medical help when minor issues affect the penis skin. Why Cenforce 150mg? Generic Cenforce cheap india viagra (sildenafil) do wonders for your health, beauty and libido. This medication can also be taken with or without food; dosage on cialis 5mg icks.org empty stomach would yield better results. A better diet can keep you viagra online cheapest away from sexual brokenness issue one ought to keep up their general wellbeing like pulse levels, cholesterol levels, enhance heart issues and so forth. One of the best, used in researching Explain This!, is Michael Muxworthy’s website. If you’re looking for more lateral thinking puzzles, complete with alternative answers, or additional lateral thinking examples, then check out Muxworthy. The site is loaded with entertaining information.