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Riddle for you guys...

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Old Aug 30, 2002 | 12:35 AM
  #1  
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Default Riddle for you guys...

Each inhabitant of a remote village always tells the truth or always lies. A villager will only give a "Yes" or a "No" response to a question a tourist asks. Suppose you are a tourist visiting this are and come to a fork in the road. One branch leads to the ruins you want to visit; the other branch leads deep into the jungle. A villager is standing at the fork in the road.

What one question can you ask the villager to determine which branch to take?
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Old Aug 30, 2002 | 05:27 AM
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uhhhhh. duhhh ?
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Old Aug 30, 2002 | 10:26 AM
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ask for directions, are you ing kidding me?!?!??!
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Old Aug 30, 2002 | 07:18 PM
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"If you told me the road to the left led to the ruins, and it didn't, would you be telling me the truth?"
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Old Aug 30, 2002 | 07:34 PM
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Originally posted by Morris
"If you told me the road to the left led to the ruins, and it didn't, would you be telling me the truth?"
That would only tell you if the villager is a liar or not. Since it's a hypothetical question it doesn't help you at all.

How about "I know that you villagers always lie or always tell the truth, but if you were behaving totally out of character, would you tell me that the left road leads to the ruins?". This way you always get pointed in the wrong direction.

Actually you can simplify this to "If I asked you if the left road leads to the ruins, what would you say?". I think this works just as well but this time you get pointed in the right direction.
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Old Aug 30, 2002 | 10:29 PM
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Or you could simply ask what the other one would say is the correct road and take the one they don't select.
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Old Aug 31, 2002 | 12:26 AM
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Originally posted by StormBringer
Or you could simply ask what the other one would say is the correct road and take the one they don't select.
Read the riddle again. There's only one villager.
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Old Aug 31, 2002 | 08:56 AM
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yeah this riddle usually comes with two people who may or may not be liars.

naishou, the last question you asked can be simplified to "does the road on the left lead to the ruins?" and he may or may not give a truthful answer. there is still no guarantee of anything. if you ask a truthteller, he will say yes. if you ask a liar, he will say no, but you have no way of knowing if it's a lie or the truth they are giving you so you're back at square 1.
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Old Aug 31, 2002 | 09:20 AM
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[QUOTE]Originally posted by The Unabageler
[B]yeah this riddle usually comes with two people who may or may not be liars.

naishou, the last question you asked can be simplified to "does the road on the left lead to the ruins?" and he may or may not give a truthful answer.
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Old Aug 31, 2002 | 09:35 AM
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Originally posted by PeaceLove&S2K


Not really UnaB (assuming left path does lead to ruins):
if you were to ask the liar if the left path leads to the ruins, he'd say no.
since your question is, "if I were to ask you if the left path leads to the ruins, what would you say?" he'd have to lie and say yes.
You can't just assume that the path to the left DOES lead to the ruins....
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