Riddles
By Henry E. Dudeney:
In a company, Bob, Janet and Shirley hold the positions of director, engineer and accountant. The accountant, who is an only child, earns the least. Shirley, who is married to Bob's brother, earns more than the engineer. Which position does each person fill?
By Hubert Phillips:
The people of an island culture belong to one of two tribes, the Bawi or the Mawi. It is known that members of the Bawi tribe always tell the truth, whereas members of the Mawi tribe always lie. An anthropologist interviewed three islanders. "To which tribe do you belong?" the anthropologist asked the first. "Dunika," replied the islander in his native language. "What did he say?" asked the anthropologist of the second and third individuals. "He said that he is a Bawi," said the second. "No, he said that he is a Mawi," said the third. To which tribes do the second and third individuals belong?
See Comments for Answers.
DPF
posted by Sophia @ 1:47 p.m.
4 comments
4 Comments:
The accountant is an only child. Therefore, Bob, who has a brother, can not be the accountant. The accountant earns the least, so Shirley, who earns more than the engineer, can not be the accountant. Therefore Janet must be the accountant. Shirley is not the engineer, because she earns more than the engineer, so Shirley must be the director. This means Bob must be the engineer.
Key is determining the meaning of "Dunika." Either the first person is a truth-teller (Bawi) or a liar (Mawi). Assume he is a truth-teller. Then the answer "Dunika" translates to "I belong to the Bawi tribe." However, if he were a liar, he would ALSO tell the anthropologist that he is a Bawi. Thus "Dunika" definitely translates to "I belong to the Bawi tribe." This is confirmed by the second individual, who is, therefore, a Bawi, but not by the third, who is a Mawi. It is not possible to determine which tribe the first individual actually belongs to.
wow. if i only solved the first riddle, what does that mean?
it means you're smarter than me. which can't possibly be, therefore it means absolutely nothing
Post a Comment
<< Home