PhilGoetz comments on Misleading the witness - Less Wrong

14 Post author: Bo102010 09 August 2009 08:13PM

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Comment author: PhilGoetz 10 August 2009 02:36:49AM 0 points [-]

Restating the problem in simpler terms, without narrative, would help with this example.

Comment author: Bo102010 10 August 2009 02:53:21AM *  2 points [-]

Which problem do you mean? The original riddle?

Actor A charges actors B1, B2, and B3 $10 each, for a total charge of $30. Next, A changes the total charge to $25. Next, Actor C gives $1 of the $5 difference to each of the Bs, and keeps $2. After having paid $10 and returned $1, each of the 3 Bs paid $9. $9 times 3 is $27, plus the $2 kept by C is $29. What happened to the extra $1 so that the sum is $30?

The flagrant lying is occurs from "plus the $2 kept by C" to the end.

Comment author: PhilGoetz 10 August 2009 06:55:52PM 1 point [-]

You're still telling it as a narrative. If you wrote it out as an Excel spreadsheet, I think the difficulty would vanish.

Comment author: RichardKennaway 10 August 2009 07:28:38PM *  2 points [-]

Spreadsheet?? Just look at it this way: where is the money? The guests have paid $27, of which $25 is with the innkeeper and $2 is with the bellhop. Problem gone.

Comment author: Bo102010 11 August 2009 12:05:51AM *  0 points [-]

The aim of my post is to point out that there is no difficulty until the riddler leads you into thinking there is. Nonetheless, you could do:

1) A: $0, B1: $10, B2: $10, B3: $10, C: $0

2) A: $30, B1: $0, B2: $0, B3: $0, C: $0

3) A: $25, B1: $0, B2: $0, B3: $0, C: $5

4) A: $25, B1: $1, B2: $1, B3: $1, C: $2

And then misdirect by saying "But," then stating,

[B1(1) - B1(4)] + [B2(1) - B2(4)] + [B3(1) - B3(4)] + C = 29

and then asking "Where'd the missing dollar go?"

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