markadoo:

Alexander the Great swung his sword to cut the Gordian knot, but his sword struck on metal. 

“I neglected to mention”, said the sage who had informed Alexander about the knot in the first place, “There is a flexible steel cord inside the rope, specifically to prevent you from cutting it.”

Alexander pondered. “What if I burned it?”

The sage laughed. “Steel doesn’t burn, idiot. Also, you shouldn’t burn the rope because it’s synthetic. Who knows what kind of harmful chemicals might be released.”

Alexander weighed the pros and cons. On one hand, he didn’t want to inhale noxious chemicals. On the other, king of Asia. He came to a determination. 

“It’s not like I’m gonna be inhaling these chemicals every day. Just this once.” And so he burnt the rope. Once it had mostly sloughed off, untangling the thinner coil was easy. 

Moral of the story: It’s ok to burn synthetics sometimes.