KKKKK
NO. Good thought, though.
Did the ponies unproblematically do X amount of work every day before the missionary arrived — and then did X+Y for six days and efficiency dropped by Day 6, and then everyone took a break from work on the Sabbath?
NO
So, on the face of it, without lateral thinking, this suggestion the missionary made would seem to have nothing to do with the ponies or their efficiency. Is that correct?
Did people ride the ponies more often, so as to get to church services?
Were the ponies being mistreated prior to the missionary’s arrival? Did they put a stop to that?
Was the diet of the ponies relevant?
(I’m remembering something about how one of the vitamin-deficiency diseases became understood, though I think the case I remember involved chickens, not ponies)
CORRECT
NO
NO AND NO
NOPE
Did carrying out this suggestion have the effect of reducing the amount of sleep the ponies were getting?
Was the suggestion a suggestion for a different way of doing mining work?
Was the suggestion a suggestion for something for humans to do for recreation/entertainment/amusement?
Was the suggestion for something humans should do for religious/spiritual reasons?
Was the suggestion for how to carry out some non-mining-related other day-to-day work (such as buying groceries, or cleaning the house)?
Was sex relevant?
NO
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Is mining relevant at all?
That is to say, if the missionary had come to some other town with ponies working in some other industry, would he have likely made the same suggestion? And would that suggestion have had the same effect on those working ponies?
As far as I can tell, mining is not relevant. Like, it didn’t have to specifically be mining.
So, yes, it would have had the same effect on working ponies in another industry.
Was the loss of efficiency because of the loads they carried?
The shoes they wore?
The distance they traveled?
The kind of care they received?
You say they weren’t mistreated before the change, but were they mistreated after?
No to all.
Did the suggestion have something to do with scheduling?
Nope.
Before the missionary came, did the ponies have any job or use other than their “day job” in the mines?
How about after?
Is horse manure relevant?
Is water consumption relevant?
So, the suggestion was something the missionary thought people should do for religious / spiritual reasons …
Did it involve prayer?
Did it involve other formal religious practices, like attending church or visiting a shrine or something?
Did it involve fasting? Some other abstinence-based practice?
Was it something that people would typically do at work? During their leisure time?
Were the people who normally worked with the ponies / in the mine putting this suggestion into practice while they were working?