Making good use of those computer science skills

A few minutes ago, I wanted to find a replacement ATM card I'd gotten in the mail before leaving Tucson, and since I was in a hurry then, had just stuffed in a ziplock bag with a bunch of other mail that needed some further action. I could have looked through all the envelopes, but that would have taken a while (this was a pretty big pile of mail - over a month's worth), and I have noted before that one can find a card in an envelope by bending it. So, I did a binary search on the mail - I pulled out half the pile and bent it (and it was stiff, so I kept looking in that half). In about 4 or 5 bends, I'd found my card.

What's the moral of this story? Years of expensive education can save you a few minutes sorting your mail, which you can then use to write a blog post about how clever you are.