Joke

A mathematician (or you can also assume a cs theorist) was fed up with his work not getting anywhere and decides to do something else. He plans to become a fire-fighter and goes to a local fire station for an interview. The interviewer impressed by his intellectual record asks him to demonstrate some of his skills. He takes the mathematician outside through the back door and sets up a garbage bin on fire and asks him to extinguish the fire. The mathematician well versed with this practice pours water on the bin. After the fire is quelled, he says done. The interviewer says fine and now sees that smoke is still there. He asks the mathematician to get rid of smoke. Our mathematician thinks for some time and being a mathematician naturally has no idea on how to get rid of smoke. After some thinking, he again sets up a fire in the bin. The interviewer is perplexed now and asks the mathematician what he is doing, "why have you set up fire again in the bin"? The mathematician replies " I have reduced the problem to a state from where i can solve or atleast do something about it now. This should lead me to the correct solution"