There is a story of a European town that was invaded by a band of marauders. The bandits rounded up all the townsfolk, herded them into the church, doused the building with gasoline, and set it ablaze. Several days later, a man from the town returned from a business trip to find the carnage. He picked through the ashes and thought he found the charred body of his ten-year-old daughter. With sorrow he buried her remains.

Seven years later, there was a knock at the door of the man's home, and the sound of a young woman's voice startled him from his mournful ruminations. The young woman called out, "Dad, it's your daughter. I wasn't killed in the fire. The bandits abducted me. I finally managed to escape them." The man refused to open the door, yelling for the girl to stop her cruel hoax and go away to leave him in his misery. The girl tried persuading him, first shouting and then sweetly pleading. Nothing worked. Finally she gave up and left, thinking her father was too ashamed to have her back.

Both father and daughter relied on their minds. Both came up with wrong answers.