I strongly dislike Medium as platform. Nevertheless, here are links:

“How old is the shepherd?” — The problem that shook school mathematics

“Shook”, right. Despite the click-bait-y title, the issue is real and worth of discussion.

There are 125 sheep and 5 dogs in a flock. How old is the shepherd?

[…] Common sense has deserted these students in their pursuit of a definitive answer.

[…] The study has been repeated several times, each one showing students’ propensity to reach for an answer at all costs, however absurd the reasoning.

How depressing.

Older post on a related issue: My Nephew Brought Home This Menacing Maths Problem

What happened next is a sad indictment of school maths.

“…and you don’t believe what happened next! See the pics!” Urgh. Again, disregard the click-bait-y parts.

The story itself, while anecdotal, is interesting. What happens when a schoolchild is shown that an impossibly hard homework problem can’t possibly have a solution? That the non-existence of solution can be proven? (And finding this was probably the homework problem.)

My sister told me that my nephew devoted the rest of the evening to searching for a solution. That’s a strange commitment to make when you’ve just been convinced that no such solution exists.

Both sad and fascinating.