Jump to content
Objectivism Online Forum

Brain Teasers

Rate this topic


Cole

Recommended Posts

Nice teaser as it is deceptively difficult. The color of the dice was a distraction for me because of the way I think, but whoever created the game is very creative. Was the creator of the game in computing?I can understand why the computer-type would have a harder time at it. A few architect-type I know is still struggling. Worth the "a hah" moment.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

:confused:

What is that supposed to mean ?

I'll take it that you mean I'm too brilliant to have been that stumped by it

:D

Exactly! :D

I like these sort of things, I way overthought this one though, and they even warn you not too a million times. I think I wanted it to be harder than it was so I refused to check that option until I had exhausted other possible theories. Silly Silly me  :D

Now that's the mistake I didn't make. I guess I "cheated" a little because I knew it took long for Bill Gates to get it, so I immediately looked for a pattern that the kind of guy Bill Gates is would not be looking for. :o

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not really a "brain teaser," but interesting regardless:

You're on a game show, and the host shows you three closed doors. Behind two of them is a sheep, and behind one is a car; you do not know which object is behind which door. The object of the game is to get the car by picking the right door. The game goes as follows:

You pick a door.

The host will not open the door you picked, but instead will open another door.

The door the host opens will always have a sheep behind it, no matter what your original choice.

The host offers you a choice at this point: you can a) stick with your original choice, or B) switch to the other remaining closed door. The host will then open the exact door that you chose (no switching this time).

The question is: what is the best choice to make?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not really a "brain teaser," but interesting regardless:

The host offers you a choice at this point: you can a) stick with your original choice, or B.) switch to the other remaining closed door.  The host will then open the exact door that you chose (no switching this time).

The question is: what is the best choice to make?

Isn't the choice arbitrary? You haven't been given any new information about what is behind the remaining two doors; the host has simply eliminated one of the bad choices. Its a 50/50 chance you'll get the car no matter which of the two remaining doors you choose.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Isn't the choice arbitrary?  You haven't been given any new information about what is behind the remaining two doors; the host has simply eliminated one of the bad choices.  Its a 50/50 chance you'll get the car no matter which of the two remaining doors you choose.

This is incorrect. B) I'll explain when more people having given it a shot.

On second thought, I think this is a brain teaser. It is "a mentally challenging problem or puzzle," as dictionary.com defines it.

Note to mods: please change the second choice in my previous post to "B)" to remove the smiley face.

Edited by ZiggyKD
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think I might have figured it out. I'm going to post the answers without explaining my reasoning first, so ZiggyKD can let me know if I've got it.

Here are the doors:

|A| |B| |C|

If my first pick is Door A and the host opens Door B, then the car is behind Door C.

If my first pick is Door A and the host opens Door C, then the car is behind Door A.

If my first pick is Door B and the host opens Door A, then the car is behind Door C.

If my first pick is Door B and the host opens Door C, then the car is behind Door A.

If my first pick is Door C and the host opens Door A, then the car is behind Door C.

If my first pick is Door C and the host opens Door B, then the car is behind Door A.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wait, nevermind. That's not right.

Do I get to pick which door I choose first? If so, then I'd pick Door B and this still applies:

If my first pick is Door B and the host opens Door A, then the car is behind Door C.

If my first pick is Door B and the host opens Door C, then the car is behind Door A.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cole,

These are the possible outcomes, you've figured out that much. They would be better stated this way:

If my first pick is door A and the host opens door B, then the car is either behind C or A.

...and so on. However, I can't really say that you've "figured it out," that is, discovered the answer to the riddle, since you really haven't given an answer.

Yes, you can pick which door you choose first.

Edited by ZiggyKD
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ok. I was working the riddle out under the assumption that I had no choice over the first selection. Although I made a mistake in my reasoning, I still concluded that the car must be behind Door A or Door C- and could never be behind Door B.

So here's my answer:

My first selection would be Door B. If the host opened Door A, then my second selection would be Door C. If the host opened Door C, then my second selection would be Door A.

I am trying to confirm that this is the correct answer without giving my reasoning away. This way, if it is correct, then other people can still solve the puzzle with my solution as an extra hint.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

The answer is you always switch doors, the probability is much greater if you do.

Let's look at this rationally, whatever door you pick has a 1/3 chance of being right. This means that there's a 2/3 chance the car is behind another door. The host opens the door that has a sheep behind it, that takes away that possibility. Therefore, the door you have has a 1/3 chance of being with the car, the other door has a 2/3 chance of having the car.

I am getting frustrated with the Petals around the roses game

Edited by lightweight3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would never have solved the Petals around the Rose problem without looking at the source code! I don't see how anyone could hit upon the answer without looking at the source. It's not an obvious thing you'd do with dice, at least not obvious to me. I mean, even when you see what it's doing in the source code, there's no "Aha moment." (I got an 800 on my math GRE, by the way, so I must have the Bill Gates Disability on this one.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...