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?

This riddle is a logic riddle, therefore my solution might not be up to scale. However, I find it clever:
It is a hot summer day. The philosophers, the number is irrelevant to the question asked, all awoke and laughed at eachother. They are all equally bright, therefore they would not have relied on the laughter of their peers to determine if their faces were black as the others. They could have asked the others, or rubbed some off on their hands. We need to consider the day was hot, and the philosphers were more than likely perspirating. Well, that was my two cents. . . Let me know what you guys think about it. *Wendy

Posted by Wendy on 2004-04-14 12:52:54