UPDATE. uhho.
You want to know how old we are? We quote Mike Renari: "I don't want no hurricanes coming round here..." (it worked until Andrew.)
5 logicians walk into a diner for breakfast.
The waitress approaches and asks "does everybody here want coffee?"
The first logician says "I don't know."
The second logician says "I don't know."
The third logician says "I don't know."
The fourth logician says "I don't know."
The fifth logician says "No."
The waitress- working her way through college for a degree in logic has all the information she needs.
Who does she bring coffee to and why?
Extra credit for expressing the solution in a mathematical formula.
We "think" we know the answer.
We heard this on NPR this morning and it is Will Shortz's puzzle for the week, so if you have the solution you can go to the NPR website and submit it here as well.
The first four, because if they didn't want coffee they would know that not everyone wanted coffee and thus would have answered no, so they must want coffee. The 5th, who answered no, knows that since he doesn't want coffee not everyone wants coffee.
ReplyDeleteThat's what I think. However, I am struggling to express it as an algebraic formulae.
ReplyDeleteNone of them because everybody knows you get coffee at Starbucks. Hahahahahahahaha.
ReplyDeleteThey all get coffee. They are not anwering whether individually they want or dont want coffee, they are saying they "don't know" who wants coffee.
ReplyDeletethe waitress is "here." She doesn't want coffee. #5 is being sarcastic and literal
If we know that guest # 5 does not want coffee and we know that the other four don't know, we can represent the problem as this: 4x = 5 - 1. Therefore, 4x =4 so x must = 1 meaning 4 x 1 = 4. Using this logic, the waitress should bring four coffees.
ReplyDeleteAssuming the waitress is not one of "everyone," she brings four cups of coffee but will not necessarily serve them all. The first four may or may not want coffee for themselves but are uncertain if the other four want coffee, thus answering "I don't know." The unknown variable here is the wishes of the other four. The fifth logician knows that he does not want coffee and thus can answer no even if the other four want or do not want coffee. Thus, she brings four cups of coffee and asks each of the first four, "did you want coffee?" She hands the coffee to each who answers yes and takes the rest back to the kitchen. But the more interesting question is what would a real live waitress, at, say, the old Rascal House, or Lester's on State Road 84 say to these five professors if they presented such a quandary to her 7 am on a busy morning?
ReplyDeleteHere's why you're wrong 4:21. The question the waitress asked was does everyone here want coffee. If one wanted the coffee the correct answer was "i don't know" since s/he wanted it but did not know what the others wanted. The same applies for all other logicians. When 5 said s/he didn't want it, the waitress therefore logically concluded the other 4 must have by their answer.
ReplyDeleteIn a related question, assume the first four are judges and the fifth is an attorney. What did the first four order?
Knowing you Rumpole, the answer is "the most expensive item on the menu"?
ReplyDeleteRump. If each one of the first four wants coffee, that does not necessarily require a yes answer. The unknown variable is the wishes of each of the first four. If the question is posed to you and me only, and you did not know my preference, you would have to answer I don't know regardless of whether you wanted coffee or not. The only way you can answer "no" is if you know you do not want coffee thus making the necessary unanimity impossible. REgards, 4:21
ReplyDeleteRump. 4:21 again. I see your point. your are correct.
ReplyDeleteDude!!! It's way too early for this.
ReplyDeleteOK. They all practice magic and make things disappear right?
So they all get coffee but only the magician dudes who want it drink it and the other dude makes it disappear.
Dude.....
Just when I finally get the Rule Against Perpetuities, you spring this shit on us?
ReplyDelete