The five pirates have found another 500 gold coins and wonder how to split them up. This time they say that unless a majority (more than 1/2) say yes to a plan, the one that proposed that plan will get killed and they will move on to the next plan. The order of plan making starts with 5, then 4, 3, 2, 1.

The pirates will try above all else to stay alive, even if it means accepting no coins. If they will stay alive either way, they would like the most coins possible. Also, the pirates have been on board the ship for a while and are getting tired with each other, so if faced with the decision to reject a plan or keep it, they will reject it if nothing else matters more to them.

What should Pirate 5's offer be?

(In reply to re(2): Dividing the pieces of eight - I agree with nikki by Mea)

...I suppose that if you were going to take it into the real world, considering that they're willing to kill for a bad plan, it doesn't seem unreasonable that they might kill for a good plan... it's hard to think of a pirate choosing to allow himself to be killed for some agreement...

I like the 499 to pirate five solution, provided the others don't kill him for sport.

Posted by Robert Mendez on 2004-04-02 00:08:49