Last week the school’s itinerant counselor was in and gave a lesson in problem solving and decision making to one of my classes. The basic scenario was: you’re stranded in the desert and have access to a limited number of supplies that you can recover from your wrecked vehicle. A magnetic compass was among the possible items to take.

Counselor (C): “Do you think a magnetic compass is important for survival?”
Student (S): “No.”
C: “Why not?”
S: Because you don’t have a refrigerator, duh!”