In life, we sometimes encounter people who drive us into a dead end with nonsensical logic.

If I refute them head-on, I feel like I’ll be seen as narrow-minded, but if I stay silent, I feel like a pushover.

The dilemma deepens, especially if the other person holds the power of life and death over me.

"If you have money, who can't buy it?" The Master's Forced Logic

It was a sweltering summer day. Old Man Park, who lived for the fun of playing tricks on his disciples, was sitting on the porch fanning himself when he called out to Cheol-su, who was sweeping the yard while sweating profusely. "Cheol-su, take this empty kettle and go get a bowl of cold makgeolli from the tavern down there." Cheol-su rummaged through his pockets, but he didn't have a single hundred won. Naturally assuming his master would give him the money, he held out his hand. "Master, you have to give me money if I want to buy alcohol." At that, Old Man Park laughed heartily as if he had been waiting for this moment and began to make unreasonable demands. "You rascal! If you had money, what fool in the world wouldn't be able to buy alcohol? You have to get alcohol without money to be a true master. That is the culmination of your studies. Go on, go!" This was clearly harassment.

Common sense dictates that bringing goods without money is either plunder or begging, but the master packaged it with the plausible word 'ability' to put his disciple in a predicament.

Setting the trap of 'empathy' instead of anger

Cheolsu stared blankly at his master for a moment.

If he had retorted, "Don't talk nonsense!" at that moment, all he would have received in return was a stern reprimand and the stigma of 'lack of respect.'

Cheolsu bowed his head for now. And he thought to himself.

'So that is your logic, Master? Then it would be polite to treat you according to that logic.'

Cheolsu picked up the empty teapot and leisurely disappeared in the direction of the tavern.

Old Man Park thought to himself, feeling inwardly smug.

'You rascal, after fumbling around for a while, you'll probably come back empty-handed and beg for forgiveness, won't you?

Has about an hour passed? Cheol-su wiped his sweat and stepped into the yard.

In his hands was still a kettle that didn't look heavy.

"If there is alcohol, who can't drink?"

Cheol-su politely placed the kettle down in front of his master.

"Master, I am back. Here is the finest makgeolli you mentioned. Please have a refreshing drink!"

Old Man Park's eyes widened in surprise. Thinking, 'Surely he didn't really come back on credit?' he quickly picked up the kettle to pour it into a glass.

But to his surprise, the kettle was empty, and there wasn't even a sloshing sound. When he opened the lid, it was filled with nothing but scorching heat. Old Man Park lashed out in anger. "You rascal! The kettle is completely empty! What do you expect me to drink when there is no liquor? Are you making fun of me?!" At this moment, Cheol-su widened his eyes and replied with the most innocent expression in the world. "Oh, Master. If the kettle were full of liquor, what fool in this world wouldn't be able to drink it? Wouldn't drinking from a kettle that has no liquor be the true mark of a master?" This is because the disciple perfectly countered the logic he had just used against Cheol-su—"If you have money, who can't buy it?"—with the counter-argument, "If you have alcohol, who can't drink?" As his unreasonableness was reflected back like a mirror, the master lost both the justification for his anger and the grounds for his scolding. In the end, Old Man Park laughed heartily and took out a copper coin from his pocket and handed it to him. "Alright, I lose! Go buy it properly." Logic against logic, unreasonableness against wit: If you respond just as emotionally when someone makes a demand beyond common sense, it turns into a fight.

However, if you borrow the other person's logic exactly and throw it back at them, they will realize their own contradictions.

Pause for a moment and change the 'question': Cheolsu did not ponder, "How can I buy alcohol without money?" but rather, "How can I prove my teacher's logic wrong?"

Flexibility is needed to grasp the essence of the problem.

The dignity of fighting fire with fire: Just as one sets a bigger fire to put out a flame, the most sophisticated revenge is to quell the other person's rudeness with a higher-level attack called humor.