The Secret of the Maze

THE SECRET OF THE MAZE

Copyright 1997 Robert LaFara

Here is a maze:

Print this maze and, using a pencil, trace a path from the starting arrow to the ending arrow without crossing any of the dark lines. You will not find this very difficult to do. The reason that it is relatively easy to do is that you have an "aerial view" of the maze. Now, suppose that you are walking inside this maze and the dark lines are actually walls that are taller than yourself. Then would it be easy to find your way from the start to the finish?

You might panic and dash back and forth and it might take a very long time to find your way out. Now I am going to tell you a secret. There is a way to find your way through a maze that will always work. It will probably be a longer path than what you would take if you had an aerial view of the maze.

The secret is: Always follow one wall, either the right of left wall.

Now, try going through the maze again. Imagine you are in the maze. Place your right hand on the wall to your right and start walking keeping your right hand on the wall. When you come to a turn, turn and slide your right hand along the wall as you turn.

Did you do it? Did it work?

Click here and I will show you what your path should have looked like.

Now try it the other way. Put your left hand on the wall to your left and start following the wall always keeping your left hand on the wall.

Did you try it? Did it work?

Click here and I will show you what your path should have looked like.

Now you know the secret of the maze. If you are ever in a maze you can use this method to get through it. In an actual maze, you can probably take some short cuts. When you can see that you are going down a blind alley, you can pretend that you went clear to the end, turn around, switch walls and continue.

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