Brain Teasers
The Statement
Fun: (2.18)
Difficulty: (2.27)
Puzzle ID: #5925
Submitted By: gladiator1442 Corrected By: solarsistim321
Submitted By: gladiator1442 Corrected By: solarsistim321
Situation
Situation puzzles (sometimes called lateral thinking puzzles) are ones where you need to ask lots of yes or no questions to figure out what happened in the situation. These are good puzzles for groups where one person knows the puzzle and answers the questions.Situation
There's an explorer exploring an island. A group of cannibals capture him. They can't decide how to kill him for trespassing, as no one has done it before. So the cannibals decide to give him his final statement. If it's true, they'll burn him at the stake. If it's false, they'll cut off his head. If it's not a statement, they'll drown him. What does the explorer say that'll make the cannibals let him go?
Answer
There is a God.Hide Answer Show Answer
What Next?
View a Similar Brain Teaser...
If you become a registered user you can vote on this brain teaser, keep track of which ones you have seen, and even make your own.
Solve a Puzzle
Comments
I have two problems with this: 1) The traditional answer of "you will cut off my head" would work in this situation, I believe. 2) I'm assuming that you're basing the answer on the fact that the cannibals couldn't know if there was a God or not and therefore wouldn't know if the statement was true or false. However, this assumes that the cannibals do not have strong beliefs either way. For instance, if the cannibals were Fundamentalist Christians who "know" there is a God, they would just burn the explorer at the stake. It really doesn't matter if the statement is true or not - it just matters if the cannibals THINK it's true or not. ...that's my opinion, anyway.
How about, "I have a disease,"?
Bobbrt, if it's just that they thought it was true of false, then "you will cut off my head" doesn't work, either, since they would think it's true or false and kill him somehow.
Gladiator1442 - but the point is, if it's true, they have to burn him at the stake. So, if they think it's true they'll cut off his head, they have to burn him at the stake, which makes his statement false, and they have to cut off his head, which makes his statement true and they have to burn him at the stake... etc etc etc..
hmm... a paradox...
-albert einstein, deciding on pepsi or coke
-albert einstein, deciding on pepsi or coke
you make NO sense, Something.
Why didn't he just say...."This teaser is not good"
Heard it before you just reworded it. Stick to the answers if you are going to copy o.k.?
look, let me just clear some things up. I never heard the other version, or the "you will cut off my head" answer. I heard this one as i posted it, and the answer i heard is the one i posted.
Um, are you sure the cannibals speak the same language as the explorer?
I THINK HE SHOULD HAVE JUST CONVERTED THEM ALL TO vegetarianism.
If the teaser merely poses the question as to whether the cannibals "think" the statement is true or not then all he has to do is make the statement in some foreign language that they don't understand and they therefore will not be able to decide whther it is true or not. Why will they not "think" one way or the other that "yes" there is a God or "no" there is not a God and act accordingly. Now you seem to suppose that because you do not believe one way or the other that the question is unanswerable. How do you know that either there IS a God or there IS NOT a God is true? By logic, either one of those statements must be true so he loses. There is of course a much better answer to the puzzle. He announces "This statement I am now making is FALSE!" Now they cannot declare his statement to be either true or false so he wins.
Yeah, sorry I'm with everyone else.
The idea was good, but I'm not sure I like the answer. The cannibals can decide that statement to be either true or false, depending on their beliefs, the statement made really needed to be a paradox (like the earlier examples given).
It was a good try though.
The idea was good, but I'm not sure I like the answer. The cannibals can decide that statement to be either true or false, depending on their beliefs, the statement made really needed to be a paradox (like the earlier examples given).
It was a good try though.
Last I heard, the answer should have been, "You will hang me." Thus, if they hang him, it would be true and against their false punishment. I can't be false because they would have to kill him by other means for it to be false and if false, they were supposed to have hanged him. And as a statement, they could not drown him.
I meant, "You will cut off my head."
Too late Fishmed .. your head is cut off .. how about "I will die a natural death at 102 years old with more than 50 grand-children and great-grand children..." by the time the statement proves true or false, I wouldn't care about the outcome!
As he is apparently the first outsider to visit the island, please tell me how they could talk the language of someone they'd not met?
some of you are getting to far into this
I think it's a clever teaser. good job!
I think it's a clever teaser. good job!
the answer used is retarted and he will be burned
Or...you'll all die in seven days.
I thought he would say this statement is false. So if it is false that means it's true, but if it is true then his statement was false, and around it goes.
You'd think cannibals would have at least one "if this happens we'll eat him" choice.
zomg-pie: they are going to eat him they"re just deciding how to kill him.
Here's what I'm thinking: If you say something which the cannibals cannot verify one way or the other, they're going to get confused and pissed off, and then they're going to kill you in some new way much more violent than the others.
Still, fun teaser.
Still, fun teaser.
I could of SWORN ive seen this same teaser with a different answer somewhere on the site...
To post a comment, please create an account and sign in.
Follow Braingle!