What if the solution to your problem was worked out for you … 500 years ago. This is the story of the Oak Beams of New College, Oxford, and a secret plot that lasted for five centuries.

In this episode, I tell you that this story is a legend because it did not happen exactly as it was told. Read on to find out more.

This story was told to Stewart Brand of the Whole Earth Catalog by Gregory Bateson, a linguist and anthropologist who was interested in systems theory and, for a while, the husband of Margaret Mead.

The replacement oaks were not planted at the college's founding but some years later in the 1400s. And they weren't planted expressly for the purpose of replacing the ones in the dining hall ... but they were planted for just that type of thing. The college had been managing its woodlots to provide large timbers for centuries, even if the drama of the scene described here was a little less dramatic.

As I said in the episode. This story is true as many legends are. It is based upon things that actually happened and its lesson is a real one, and one that the nameless foresters of New College knew.