h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

thought you'd get it straight away. i was reading greakmithology this morning. your tearn

Going back to the orginal question at the top of the page.

This is a common riddle. The circumstances change, guards, angels etc etc but the answer is always the same.

Ask this question to either person

What direcetion would your colleage tell me is the correct way to go?

Then go in the opposite direction.

The thing about the question you ask is that you are not asking that person what direction they would tell you, but what their colleague would tell you.

The logic is

a) the liar will tell you the wrong way because if you were to ask the truthful one 'What is the correct way?' he would tell you the correct way, the liar has to tell a lie.

b) the truthful one would tell you the wrong way because that is direction the liar would tell you (see a above), so he is telling the truth.

Hope this explains the problem, if not find a brick wall and bang your head on it until it stops hurting.

its ok, i dont need a brick wall.
my head manages logic, just about.

This is the way I would reason. The guy guarding the gate to Hell, must want me to go to Hell and the guy guarding the gate to Heaven wants me to enter Heaven. So if I ask each one, do you want me to enter? , the guy guarding Hell will answer no and the other one will answer yes.

I could also ask each one directions to where he comes from. Both of them should point me to heaven.

What do you think?

If you were looking at the puzzle in terms of Heaven and Hell your questions might work but this is assuming that each guard 'wants' you to go a particular way, or that each guard came from the location they were guarding (what would happen if they were guarding each others gate?).

If you think in terms of a maze of tunnels with only one correct path out/in then both guards would have come down the same path so the liar would still point you down the wrong way, not the way he came, the truthful guard would point you the correct way but part of the problem is you do not know which one is which.

Doesn't she know the answer to the question "What direcetion would your colleage tell me is the correct way to go?"
as the sign basically said that they would both say theirs is the correct way