Comments on: The Guardian, Jonathan Freedland and Karma Nabulsi: now we know…

By: Elie

Elie — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 16:08:11 +0000

angels not angles!

By: Elie

Elie — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 15:57:08 +0000

That brings back my childhood! The question is: “If I were to ask you if this [indicating one road] is the road to Paradise, would you say yes?”

Both angles will be forced to say yes if it’s the good road, and no if it’s the bad road.

Now the hard puzzle is where there are *three* angles, one of whom always tells the truth, one always lies, and the third is free to do either. In that puzzle, IIRC, you get *two* questions in order to find the good road%.

By: SnoopyTheGoon

SnoopyTheGoon — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 15:15:18 +0000

Sabba Hillel, many thanks! I knew you will settle this question if anyone will.

SD, this is a good one. Only these two roads are stuffed with angels these days, and each one is of a different opinion.

By: soccer dad

soccer dad — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 14:24:38 +0000

More and more this reminds me of a logic puzzle.

You are at a crossroads. One path leads to Paradise, the other to Hell. An angel stands at each road. In order to get to Paradise you have to choose the correct road. The limitation is that you are only allowed to ask a single question of a single angel to determine the correct road. Also give: the guardian of the road to Paradise always tells the truth and the guardian of the road to Hell always lies. How can you determine the correct road by asking a single “yes or no” question?

By: Sabba Hillel

Sabba Hillel — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 14:22:43 +0000

Perhaps the metaphor is meant to show someone teetering on a narrow line, constantly risking falling over.

By: Sabba Hillel

Sabba Hillel — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 14:20:12 +0000

In England the “fence” was a stile between two fields and was wide enough to sit on comfortabley.