Post by Devantè on Oct 15, 2006 10:58:31 GMT -5
Set-up:
Here's an interesting one for you...
There are 100 prisoners that have been taken to an alien planet, and told what is going to happen to them.
They will each be taken to a heavily guarded, individual cell and put to sleep. The aliens will - entirely at random - choose an individual each hour and wake them up. Said individual will be taken to a central room.
The central room contains only two items: a light bulb and a lightswitch that controls the bulb. When an individual is taken to the central room, they will be given an oportunity to flick the switch to turn the light bulb on or off, though they may choose not to flick the switch.
They will also be given an oportunity to say whether they want to go back to earth or not, but there is a catch: If a prisoner says they want to go back to earth and not every prisoner has had at least one visit to the central room, all the prisoners will be killed. If all the prisoners have been in the central room, however, all the prisoners will be taken back to earth as per the request.
If they have not opted to go back to earth, the individual will then be taken back to their room and put to sleep again.
Shortly after they are captured and before they are separated, the prisoners are given a few minutes to confer with one another and come up with a plan to get home. After the prisoners are separated, sufficient measures are taken to ensure that no further communication may occur between the prisoners, excluding use of the light bulb.
Additionally, although the order the prisoners are brought to the room in is random, the aliens will "fix" it so that every prisoner will visit the central room at least once every n years. The value of n is not known by the prisoners. Also, the alien world is placed in a time-lock, so the prisoners will not age during their imprisonment and it does not matter how long they spend there. Remember that, being asleep for most of the time, the prisoners will have no idea how much time has passed between each visit to the central room.
Challenge:
Find a strategy that will garuntee the prisoners get home. (not just that the prisoners will probably get home)
Here's an interesting one for you...
There are 100 prisoners that have been taken to an alien planet, and told what is going to happen to them.
They will each be taken to a heavily guarded, individual cell and put to sleep. The aliens will - entirely at random - choose an individual each hour and wake them up. Said individual will be taken to a central room.
The central room contains only two items: a light bulb and a lightswitch that controls the bulb. When an individual is taken to the central room, they will be given an oportunity to flick the switch to turn the light bulb on or off, though they may choose not to flick the switch.
They will also be given an oportunity to say whether they want to go back to earth or not, but there is a catch: If a prisoner says they want to go back to earth and not every prisoner has had at least one visit to the central room, all the prisoners will be killed. If all the prisoners have been in the central room, however, all the prisoners will be taken back to earth as per the request.
If they have not opted to go back to earth, the individual will then be taken back to their room and put to sleep again.
Shortly after they are captured and before they are separated, the prisoners are given a few minutes to confer with one another and come up with a plan to get home. After the prisoners are separated, sufficient measures are taken to ensure that no further communication may occur between the prisoners, excluding use of the light bulb.
Additionally, although the order the prisoners are brought to the room in is random, the aliens will "fix" it so that every prisoner will visit the central room at least once every n years. The value of n is not known by the prisoners. Also, the alien world is placed in a time-lock, so the prisoners will not age during their imprisonment and it does not matter how long they spend there. Remember that, being asleep for most of the time, the prisoners will have no idea how much time has passed between each visit to the central room.
Challenge:
Find a strategy that will garuntee the prisoners get home. (not just that the prisoners will probably get home)