A Mensa Problem

JoeJarv@aol.com (JoeJarv@aol.com)
Mon, 27 Oct 1997 09:29:45 -0500 (EST)


In a message dated 97-10-24 23:32:25 EDT, you write:

<< You are in a room with two doors.  There are two men, one each guarding a
 door. One door leads to certain destruction.  The other door leads to
 freedom. One man is a liar, never telling the truth.  The other man always
 tell the truth.
 
 What ONE question can you ask each man and find out which way to safety. The
 same question is asked to both men.>>

Me:
The question to ask is, "If I asked YOU which door led to freedom, what would
you say?" 

The man who always tells the truth would tell us. The liar would have a
two-part question: if simply asked which door led to freedom, he would lie,
and direct us to the other door. But, since he must lie in this answer (what
would you say?), he would direct us to the door leading to freedom. The
double-negative will create a truthful answer. 

And, of course, this assumes that he will not answer, "I don't know", even
though this too would be a lie.
 

Pastor Joe