Meridian Blades
Moderator - Knife Maker
A jail was over capacity, and so the warden decided that he would give them a test to see if some might be freed, and relieve the overcrowding.
Bringing the three prisoners into his office, the warden announced that the bag in his hand had three black hats and two red hats in it. The prisoners are to be lined up in single file and the warden is to walk behind the prisoners and take a hat out of the bag and put it on each prisoner, until all three had hats on them.
When they are lined up, each prisoner can only see the prisoner(s) in front of them and the colour of their hat(s) - they cannot see their own hat and they are not allowed to turn around to look behind them
If any of them could tell the warden the colour of the hat on his own head, all 3 prisoners would immediately be released. If he guessed, and guessed incorrectly, all 3 prisoners would be executed immediately. All three agreed to the terms.
All 3 prisoners are perfect logicians - and they all know this.
Starting from the back of the line:
Prisoner #1 then looks at the other two prisoners' hats and says "I don't know."
Prisoner #2 looks at the hat in front of him and says "I don't know."
Prisoner #3 is blind. He says "I know."
How does he know? Explain.
Bringing the three prisoners into his office, the warden announced that the bag in his hand had three black hats and two red hats in it. The prisoners are to be lined up in single file and the warden is to walk behind the prisoners and take a hat out of the bag and put it on each prisoner, until all three had hats on them.
When they are lined up, each prisoner can only see the prisoner(s) in front of them and the colour of their hat(s) - they cannot see their own hat and they are not allowed to turn around to look behind them
If any of them could tell the warden the colour of the hat on his own head, all 3 prisoners would immediately be released. If he guessed, and guessed incorrectly, all 3 prisoners would be executed immediately. All three agreed to the terms.
All 3 prisoners are perfect logicians - and they all know this.
Starting from the back of the line:
Prisoner #1 then looks at the other two prisoners' hats and says "I don't know."
Prisoner #2 looks at the hat in front of him and says "I don't know."
Prisoner #3 is blind. He says "I know."
How does he know? Explain.