lateral thinking

You're standing on the edge of an ocean with a high powered rifle and a ball. The ocean is smooth and there is no wind. Holding the rifle level with the ground six feet high, you fire a bullet out to sea. The very instant the bullet leaves the barrel you drop the ball from the same height as the rifle. Which will hit the water first, the bullet or the ball?

Answer: The ball will hit first. The curvature of the earth will cause the bullet to travel farther down, even though they both drop at the same rate of speed.

A farmer has a dog, a sack of grain and a live chicken, all of which he must take across a river. The boat will only carry him and one of the things at a time or it will sink. Without the farmer, the dog would kill the chicken, and the chicken would eat the grain. How does he get all three across safely to continue his journey?

Answer:  He takes the chicken and comes back; then he takes the grain and comes back with the chicken; then he takes the dog and comes back; then he takes the chicken.