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Conference noted::sf

Title:Arcana Caelestia
Notice:Directory listings are in topic 2
Moderator:NETRIX::thomas
Created:Thu Dec 08 1983
Last Modified:Thu Jun 05 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:1300
Total number of notes:18728

358.0. "Maze in the film "Labyrinth"" by WIND::WAY (I don't think we're in Kansas anymore) Thu Jul 24 1986 09:54

    Okay, I give up.....
    
    I've been toying with the logic problem mentioned in the note
    about the movie Labrynth.  This problems seems really familiar
    (almost like I had it in math in school) but I can't for the
    life of me remember the solution.   
    
    So how about a hint....(I'm stubborn, and won't go to the movie
    until I've figured the problem!) But I can't remember how to
    get it going.  Some memory from my sub-conscious says to ask
    one guard about the other guard's door......
    
    Any hints (no solutions yet, please)
    
    Frank
T.RTitleUserPersonal
Name		DateLines
358.1Hope the Hint Isn't Too BroadPROSE::WAJENBERGThu Jul 24 1986 10:506
    Ask one guard what the other would say.
    
    Work it out from there.  Consider what the lying guard would say,
    then what the true guard would say.
    
    Earl Wajenberg
358.2Yes, Captain Kirk, it all very logical...WIND::WAYI don't think we're in Kansas anymoreThu Jul 24 1986 15:1014
    That helps....
    
    If I have it correctly, (and it's been a while since I've fooled
    with any brain teasers so I'm rusty) it's like this.  
    
    Let's say door 1 is to the castle, and door 2 is certain death.
    If the lying guard was asked what the other guard would say, his
    answer would be door 2.  The true guard would know the other guard
    would lie and also anwer 2, so you know 1 is the okay door.
    
    Wow, now I can go see the movie!
    
    Thnx,
    	Frank
358.3The puzzle was not set up correctlyULTRA::HERBISONB.J. [Digital Internal Use Only]Sun Aug 03 1986 18:2930
        There is a problem with the puzzle that is asked in Labyrinth.
        (This should probably go where the puzzle was first brought
        up, but I must have just set that note unseen in an attempt
        to get up to date with this file.)
        
        There are four guards.  The bottom two do not know which
        door is which, but they say that the top two guards do know
        the which door is which.  When the top guards are asked,
        one of the *top* guards says `one of us always lies and the
        other always tells the truth'.
        
        There are two cases:
        
        	The guard that said `one guard is a liar' was telling
        	the truth.  In this case, just ask the guard which
        	way to go---he must be the truth teller.
        
        	The guard that said `one guard is a liar' was lying.
        	Then we don't know that one guard always lies and
        	that the other always tells the truth.  In this case
        	we can not solve the problem.
        
        So either the solution is easy, or we can't solve it.  The
        fancy question that they used in the movie is either unnecessary
        or not guaranteed to work.
        
        The solution:  Have one of the *bottom* guards say that one
        of the top guards lies and that the other tells the truth.
        
        						B.J.
358.4analysis is uselessKALKIN::BUTENHOFApproachable SystemsMon Aug 04 1986 09:5918
        That's no solution unless we know that the bottom guards
        tell the truth.
        
        The puzzle is a nice logical problem, but not very practical
        in real life: at the very least you must accept as fact that
        one participant in fact *always* lies and that the other
        *always* tells the truth and nothing but the truth.
        
        In a situation where I had reason to believe that one (or
        possibly *both*) of two doors led to death, I wouldn't exactly
        jump at the chance to trust my life to two strangers obviously
        in the employ of the nasty person who owns the castle and
        does not wish me to reach its center...
        
        Face it: this is fantasy.  Don't question too much: you just
        ruin the story.
        
        	/dave