Braingle: 'War Prisoner' Brain Teaser

War Prisoner

Logic puzzles require you to think. You will have to be logical in your reasoning.

Puzzle ID:	#656
Fun:	(2.76)
Difficulty:	(1.69)
Category:	Logic
Submitted By:	vikass
Corrected By:	MarcM1098

During the first world war, there was a prisoner who had been captured. When brought to the army headquarters, the prisoner was told that he had a choice to remain silent or say something. He was also told that if he did say something, he would be shot if he spoke the truth or hanged if he had lied. The war prisoner did in fact make a single statement; he said only a phrase and they had to let him go unscathed. What did the prisoner say to get out free?

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Comments

sackonto Oct 11, 2002	He could also make the statement, "I only tell lies."
Rowsdower Jan 10, 2004	Coudn't the people at HQ just say, "Whoops. We messed up!" and shoot him anyway? Just kidding, and fun teaser.
lallu_21 Mar 25, 2004	he could also say "hi....how are you"
rose_rox Nov 01, 2005	I've never fully understood the logic of these kinds of teasers.
metallicman Nov 14, 2005	I agree rose rox. If he told the truth, he would be shot. If he lied, hanged. it is totally impossible to not tell the truth AND not tell a lie.
MadDog72 Mar 19, 2006	Here is an explanation: He says 'I will be hanged'. If it is true, he will be shot, but that makes his statement false, as he is shot, not hanged. Since his statement is false, he cannot be shot; instead, he will be hanged. But if he is hanged, that makes his statement true, so he will be shot, not hanged. In other words, if the statement is true, then it is false; if it is false, then it is true. It is a paradox and is therefore neither true or false, so he is released. A simpler version of this paradox, known as the 'Epimenides paradox', is 'This statement is false'. This statement cannot be true, for if it were true, it would state that it is false, and it cannot be both true and false. Similarly, if it were false, then its negation must be true, which states that it is true. But again, it cannot be both true and false. Another interesting variation of this paradox is: ' "yields falsehood when preceded by its quotation" yields falsehood when preceded by its quotation.' This is interesting because it doesn't use self-reference. This is also similar to the concept which Kurt Godel used to prove the famous Incompleteness Theorem, which shows that there are always unprovable statements in mathematics. The statement he used roughly translates to 'This statement cannot be proven'.
jntrcs Mar 29, 2006	What about an opionionated statement?
bradon182001 May 28, 2010	I'm more confused with that explanation. LOL
cwjakesteel Jun 22, 2011	I understand. He could have said, "You will hang me" or "You will not shoot me" Any action done by the jailors would be wrong by their own terms. UNLESS, they shoot and hang him at the same time.
kegbernal Nov 16, 2011	I get it
kegbernal Nov 16, 2011	I get it