RIDDLE GAME!!!

Nathan · Post by **Nathan** » 18 Aug 2005 18:06

Kaos: the #'s in each word represent the digits of pi.

kaos · Post by **kaos** » 18 Aug 2005 21:26

Nice Nathan. Yeah, the length of each word corresponds to a decimal in pi.

But the moon was soooooo close. For a moment you had me doubting my own answer there Jeremy. Oh well, maybe next time

slapdash21 · Post by **slapdash21** » 19 Aug 2005 09:07

married...two 'r's to my knowledge...

Jeremy · Post by **Jeremy** » 22 Aug 2005 17:08

lol - glad I came close anyway

I don't know if you'd really call this a riddle - it's pretty mathematical but anyway.

You're in a quiz show and you get asked to pick between 3 doors. One door has a new car behind it and the other two have booby prizes. You want to win the new car (just to be clear on that and hopefully avoid comments about boobies). You pick your door (lets say door number 1) and then the host of the show asks you if you're happy with that door or if you'd like to pick a different one.

So the question is - do you have a better chance of winning if you stay with the same door or if you choose a different one? Why?

james_dean · Post by **james_dean** » 22 Aug 2005 17:57

I have heard this before and disagree with the answer

Jeremy · Post by **Jeremy** » 22 Aug 2005 18:00

well you're wrong.

Bander87 · Post by **Bander87** » 22 Aug 2005 18:10

Niether? Every door is 1/3 chance you'll win. Which ever door you choose, your still going to be asked that same question. Maybe I'm not getting the question because it seems to obvious

kaos · Post by **kaos** » 22 Aug 2005 19:41

Ah, the Monty Hall problem. But you left out a kinda important bit. After you pick your door, the host opens one of the other doors to reveal a booby. If he didn't do that, the dynamics of the riddle changes, and your chances will be pretty even I think.

Anyways, assuming he does open one of the other doors to reveal a boobie after you made your choice, then answer is you should always switch, since it will improve you're chances from 1/3 to 2/3 for winning.

Proof? OK:

There are three possible scenarios, each with equal probability (1/3):
-The player picks booby number 1. The game host picks the other booby. Switching will win the car.
-The player picks booby number 2. The game host picks the other booby. Switching will win the car.
-The player picks the car. The game host picks either of the two boobies. Switching will lose.

In the first two scenarios, the player wins by switching. The third scenario is the only one where the player wins by staying. Since two out of three scenarios win by switching, the odds of winning by switching are 2/3. Also, the only way you can loose by switching, is if you picked the car in the beginning, so when you plan on switching, make sure you pick the wrong door in the beginning.

EDIT: I also just want to mention that the answer depends on when you make your decision to switch or not to switch (well, thats not really a question). ANyways, if you make it before making your first choice, the answer is as above, however, if you only decide to switch or not after old Monty Hall have revealed one of the boobies, then your chances are 50/50 either way, and then its best to stay put: always trust your gut.

Also, in the original version of the riddle, there were no boobies, just goats, but trust an Aussie to find a way to insert a reference to boobies in a riddle game.

james_dean · Post by **james_dean** » 22 Aug 2005 21:22

ok, this is stupid. if the game host doesn't open a door and just asks if u want to switch... u still have 1/3 chance of winning in each door. if he opens a door that has a booby in it and then asks if u want to switch.... FORGET the door he just opened it's not an option it doesn't affect what is in the other doors. you have TWO doors ONE of which has a car behind it.... 50% chance of it being behind each door... am I missing anything here?

Jeremy · Post by **Jeremy** » 22 Aug 2005 22:16

Kaos - maybe we are talking about different questions? I wasn't ever told that bit and I think the solution is slightly different...

kaos · Post by **kaos** » 22 Aug 2005 22:44

Can be. It did sound alot like the Monty Hall problem. At first glance it does look though if it wouldn't matter if you switched or not, but I'll get back to you on that...

kaos · Post by **kaos** » 23 Aug 2005 02:02

OK, I've given it some thought, and I don't think that switching will improve your chances either way. Each door has a 1/3 chance of containing the car. So you there is a 1/3 chance that you picked the correct one, and a 2/3 chance that the car is behind one of the other doors. Switching to them doesn't mean that you now suddenly have a 2/3 chance to pick correct, because you still need to decide between them, meaning you are back at 1/3. That's why in the Monty Hall problem, the host has to open a door with a booby before asking you if you want to switch, you don't have to choose between two doors to switch too, so the chance of the car being behind the other door is 2/3

I really curious to what the answer is though, the only other possibilities are not mentioned (stuff like does the host know behind which door the car is, and does he always ask you if you want to switch etc.)

EDIT: james_dean: Here is a good explanation about the Monty Hall problem and its solution.

slapdash21 · Post by **slapdash21** » 28 Aug 2005 17:50

slapdash21 wrote:what is the only word in the english language with a a letter repeating 3 consecutive times? (i.e. 'eee' or 'ddd')

how many different ways can "-ough" be pronounced?? with examples.

the only word in the english language with a 'triple letter'--------

goddessship

and there are 8 ways to pronounce "-ough" i will demonstrate, if anyone cares to know, but im exhausted right now...

Bander87 · Post by **Bander87** » 28 Aug 2005 19:25

I think theres a few more. I looked up the answer online and found this cool page, to lazy to look for it now though.

Jeremy · Post by **Jeremy** » 29 Aug 2005 06:06

Answer to my riddle:

The game show host either knows which door has the prize behind it or not. If he does not know then changing doors does not make any difference to your odds so it doesn't matter if you do or not.

If he does know then he either always asks if you want to change or not - or he is asking specifically because he either wants you to change so that you win the prize or so that you lose the prize. If he always asks - again you still have the same odds.

If he wants you to change so that you win (because the prize is behind a different door to the one you chose) then changing doors gives you a 1/2 chance of winning.

If he wants you to change so that you lose (because the prize is behind your door) then keeping the same door means you win.

However there are two options here - so if you change doors you have a 1/3 chance of winning. If you keep the same door you only have a 1/2 chance of winning

Ultimitly the odds are a lot more complex than this because of all the other options which are basically meaningless. However keeping the same door gives you a very slight statistically better chance of winning the prize.

james_dean · Post by **james_dean** » 29 Aug 2005 19:02

unless you're on aussie who wants to be a millionare, and eddy is practically screaming the answer at you...

FootbagGuru · Post by **FootbagGuru** » 20 Oct 2005 06:52

whats the difference between a pile of dead babies and a ferarhi?

qlunch · Post by **qlunch** » 20 Oct 2005 12:22

I don't have a farrari in my garage

, *sigh* dead babie jokes...

FootbagGuru · Post by **FootbagGuru** » 20 Oct 2005 13:02

ahahahah

james_dean · Post by **james_dean** » 20 Oct 2005 13:03

Jeremy's one with the touchdown will always be the best in my heart... <3!!