So I once came across this little puzzle, and I’ve been hungry for more ever since:

There are 500 bricks in an airplane. While it’s flying, one brick falls out of the airplane. How many bricks are left in the plane?

499

What are the three steps to putting a giraffe in a refrigerator?

Step 1: Open the fridge. Step 2: Put the giraffe inside. Step 3: Close the fridge.

What are the four steps to putting an elephant in a refrigerator?

Step 1: Open the fridge. Step 2: Take the giraffe out. Step 3: Put the elephant inside. Step 4: Close the fridge.

The Lion King is having a birthday party. Every animal in the kingdom shows up except for one. Who is it, and why?

The elephant, because he’s stuck in the fridge.

An old lady wants to cross a river. A local man tells her that the river is infested with crocodiles, and that if she tries to cross, she’ll surely be eaten and die. Despite this, she swims across and gets to the other side safely. Why was she able to do this?

Because the crocodiles are all at the Lion King’s birthday party.

After the old lady safely crosses the river, she suddenly dies. Why?

A brick fell on her!

I’ve been looking for more questions like this for years with no luck. Have y’all got any more puzzles like this? Make me think laterally!

  • 07Chess@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    44·
    1 year ago

    This may not be exactly what you’re asking for but there is a video game called Baba is You that you would probably really get a kick out of. It’s on Steam, Switch, and I believe if not yet that it’ll soon be on IOS/Android.

    • itsAsin@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      10·
      1 year ago

      Baba is You is my jam! but so many levels i just give up too easy and peek the solution online. i am not as smart as i wish i was.

      • Wren@sopuli.xyzEnglish
        11·
        1 year ago

        I always feel so good for solving one, then boom the next puzzle is a slight variation that removes the way I just solved it and it’s like… damn. They went and predicted it and then said ‘fuck you’

    • Wren@sopuli.xyzEnglish
      4·
      1 year ago

      Yes! Baba is You is so so so good. I love how it makes you think differently

    • throwing_handles@lemmy.worldEnglish
      3·
      1 year ago

      On the subject of video games:

      • Try portal 1, it’s an exceptional puzzle game to many.
      • Try portal 2, it’s even better than portal 1.
      • If you crave more, portal stories: mel is a free fanmade mod of portal 2. It plays like an official spinoff. On advanced mode the puzzles are significantly more difficult.
      • Try portal:reloaded if you haven’t, another free fanmade mod, it adds significant complexity to the portal gun in the best possible way.
  • tko@tkohhh.socialEnglish
    20·
    1 year ago

    I’m not familiar with lateral thinking, but this reads like a joke… Is it intended to be funny, or are you actually expected to come up with all of those answers?

    • lenz@lemmy.mlOPEnglish
      2·
      1 year ago

      You are indeed expected to come up with all those answers. Usually someone who already knows the answer asks the questions to you in person, and you guess until you get it right. Slowly, you realize the answers all have to do with the previous questions, and it makes it easier to think creatively hahaha. I wish I knew more than just this series of questions, but these are harder to come up with than it seems like lol.

  • sapo@beehaw.orgEnglish
    20·
    1 year ago

    Tom Scott runs a Podcast (and formerly a gameshow) called Lateral, which is basically all lateral thinking puzzles. I highly recommend it.

  • Akasazh@feddit.nlEnglish
    9·
    1 year ago

    If a brick falls out of a plane unexpectedly, there’s bigger problems. There must at least be a brick sized hole in the pressurized hull.

    Combine that with the cargo being unsecured, this prone to shifting whilst manouvering, there’s certainly cause for distress aboard the plane.

  • Lanthanae@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
    8·
    1 year ago

    That’s not a lateral thinking problem. You could argue it’s a joke, but it’s certainly not a lateral thinking problem.

  • BitSound@lemmy.worldEnglish
    7·
    1 year ago

    Interesting. I’ve heard the iterated animal jokes like that, and I’ve also heard the brick jokes, but never both of them together. I like it. Unfortunately I’ve never heard other jokes in the same vein.

  • SwingingTheLamp@midwest.socialEnglish
    7·
    1 year ago

    This just doesn’t make any sense. If a brick can fly, why did it get on an airplane? And if it fell out, why didn’t it just fly back in?

  • GataZapata@kbin.social
    5·
    1 year ago

    I remember we have one in German, but it’s more about language…
    you ask a bunch of questions ghat the answer are different colors, and when they are all used to saying colour’s, if you ask them what a cow gives, they’ll probably say white. Of course, this was in 2nd grade.

    • kthxbye_reddit@feddit.de
      2·
      1 year ago

      Nah, the original is a bit different. After a bunch of color-questions (asked in high speed) you ask „What does the cow drink?“

      Many people will answer „milk“, being smart and not saying „white“. But of course it’s „water“

  • PatFusty@lemm.eeEnglish
    62·
    1 year ago

    Dad not now im trying to break the record for worlds longest shit