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Riddle:
I can hold you prisoner Or set you free I can swing with ease (Though not from a tree) I have many shapes I have many sizes Yet, 'til we shake hands I'll hide my surprises. What am I?
Riddle:
You and nine other individuals have been captured by super intelligent alien overlords. The aliens think humans look quite tasty, but their civilization forbids eating highly logical and cooperative beings. Unfortunately, they're not sure whether you qualify, so they decide to give you all a test. Through its universal translator, the alien guarding you tells you the following: You will be placed in a single-file line facing forward in size order so that each of you can see everyone lined up ahead of you. You will not be able to look behind you or step out of line. Each of you will have either a black or a white hat on your head assigned randomly, and I won't tell you how many of each color there are.
When I say to begin, each of you must guess the color of your hat starting with the person in the back and moving up the line. And don't even try saying words other than black or white or signaling some other way, like intonation or volume; you'll all be eaten immediately. If at least nine of you guess correctly, you'll all be spared. You have five minutes to discuss and come up with a plan, and then I'll line you up, assign your hats, and we'll begin. Can you think of a strategy guaranteed to save everyone? Alex Gendler shows how.
Answer: Let's see how it would play out if the hats were distributed like this. The tallest captive sees three black hats in front of him, so he says "black," telling everyone else he sees an odd number of black hats. He gets his own hat color wrong, but that's okay since you're collectively allowed to have one wrong answer. Prisoner two also sees an odd number of black hats, so she knows hers is white, and answers correctly. Prisoner three sees an even number of black hats, so he knows that his must be one of the black hats the first two prisoners saw. Prisoner four hears that and knows that she should be looking for an even number of black hats since one was behind her. But she only sees one, so she deduces that her hat is also black. Prisoners five through nine are each looking for an odd number of black hats, which they see, so they figure out that their hats are white. Now it all comes down to you at the front of the line. If the ninth prisoner saw an odd number of black hats, that can only mean one thing. You'll find that this strategy works for any possible arrangement of the hats. The first prisoner has a 50% chance of giving a wrong answer about his own hat, but the parity information he conveys allows everyone else to guess theirs with absolute certainty. Each begins by expecting to see an odd or even number of hats of the specified color. If what they count doesn't match, that means their own hat is that color. And every time this happens, the next person in line will switch the parity they expect to see. So that's it, you're free to go. It looks like these aliens will have to go hungry, or find some less logical organisms to abduct.
Riddle:
A prisoner was stuck in a metal room with a metal door that was locked. There was no windows and nothing in the room but a piano. What can he do to escape?
Answer: Play the piano till he finds the right key.
Riddle:
Before he turned physics upside down, a young Albert Einstein supposedly showed off his genius by devising a complex riddle involving a stolen exotic fish and a long list of suspects. Can you resist tackling a brain teaser written by one of the smartest people in history? Dan Van der Vieren shows how.
Answer: The key is that the person at the back of the line who can see everyone else's hats can use the words "black" or "white" to communicate some coded information. So what meaning can be assigned to those words that will allow everyone else to deduce their hat colors? It can't be the total number of black or white hats. There are more than two possible values, but what does have two possible values is that number's parity, that is whether it's odd or even. So the solution is to agree that whoever goes first will, for example, say "black" if he sees an odd number of black hats and "white" if he sees an even number of black hats. Let's see how it would play out if the hats were distributed like this. The tallest captive sees three black hats in front of him, so he says "black," telling everyone else he sees an odd number of black hats. He gets his own hat color wrong, but that's okay since you're collectively allowed to have one wrong answer. Prisoner two also sees an odd number of black hats, so she knows hers is white, and answers correctly. Prisoner three sees an even number of black hats, so he knows that his must be one of the black hats the first two prisoners saw. Prisoner four hears that and knows that she should be looking for an even number of black hats since one was behind her. But she only sees one, so she deduces that her hat is also black. Prisoners five through nine are each looking for an odd number of black hats, which they see, so they figure out that their hats are white. Now it all comes down to you at the front of the line. If the ninth prisoner saw an odd number of black hats, that can only mean one thing. You'll find that this strategy works for any possible arrangement of the hats. The first prisoner has a 50% chance of giving a wrong answer about his own hat, but the parity information he conveys allows everyone else to guess theirs with absolute certainty. Each begins by expecting to see an odd or even number of hats of the specified color. If what they count doesn't match, that means their own hat is that color. And every time this happens, the next person in line will switch the parity they expect to see.
Riddle:
A king decided to let a prisoner try to escape the prison with his life. The king placed 2 marbles in a jar that was glued to a table. One of the marbles was supposed to be black, and one was supposed to be blue. If the prisoner could pick the blue marble, he would escape the prison with his life. If he picked the black marble, he would be executed. However, the king was very mean, and he wickedly placed 2 black marbles in the jars and no blue marbles. The prisoner witnessed the king only putting 2 black marbles in the jars. If the jar was not see-through and the jar was glued to the table and the prisoner was mute so he could not say anything, how did he escape with his life?
Answer: The prisoner grabbed one of the marbles from the jar and concealed it in his hand. He then swallowed it, and picked up the other marble and showed everyone. The marble was black, and since the other marble was swallowed, it was assumed to be the blue one. So the mean king had to set him free
Riddle:
On a certain planet located in one of the outer spiral arms of the Milky Way Galaxy, three life forms are seeking to capture other life forms and incarcerate them in glass prisons. The authorities on this planet have allowed such imprisonments for hundreds of years, despite the fact many of the captured life forms often die within 24 hours of their confinement, either by being accidentally crushed to death or by suffocation, as some of the prison cells do not have proper ventilation to supply needed oxygen to the prisoners. On this planet, hunting for these living creatures takes place after dark. The three hunters mentioned above do not follow any tracks to find their quarry, but instead, rely on these creatures to expose themselves, which they do by emitting short bursts of light. If it wasn't for the Prime Directive, I'm certain Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, or the Federation of Planets would have put an end to this barbaric practice of hunting and imprisoning these life forms long ago. By the way, what form of life were the three hoping to capture?
Answer: The three youngsters were hunting lightning bugs.
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