This is a generalisation of "
The three sages"
On a hot summer day, n equally bright philosophers, tired from all that philosophising, were napping in an orchard. A prankster came by, and painted all of their faces black with charcoal.
When the philosophers woke up, they started laughing at the others... until they suddenly realised all of their faces must be black!
How did they come to that conclusion?
(In reply to
re(3): Is there something funny about a black face ? by Federico Kereki)
Federico Kereki writes: "...it follows that C would have stopped laughing (after all, who could laugh with a black face? nobody according to this puzzle!) but since C kept on laughing, therefore B's face had to be black."
That is an unwarranted assumption, Mr. Kereki. The puzzle nowhere states that anybody would stop laughing as soon as they realized that their own face is black. Nowhere does the puzzle state that. (It does say that if you click on the Three Sages link, however). After all, if anyone on earth should be capable of laughing at his own situation, it is a philosopher. Eddie Murphy has a black face, and he laughs all the time. So does the Reverend Al Sharpton. The puzzle as stated is flawed, IMHO.
Edited on April 13, 2004, 1:58 pm
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Posted by Penny
on 2004-04-13 13:51:06 |
re(4): Is there something funny about a black face ?
