Three cooks have each paid one third to purchase a bag of herbs. In the past, two of the cooks have divided their purchases in the following manner: First one cook would divide the herb, by eye, into two piles she considered to be equal. The second cook would then choose the pile she thought was bigger.

By what process may the three cooks divide their herbs in such a way that each was content that she had recieved at least one third of the total? (No scales or other devices are available to assist the division)

(In reply to Crushed or Powdered Herbs by brianjn)

A probability twist? Interesting, though we have two uses of the word "fair" now.
What if A and B talk before the process? Then A could distribute all but a small pitance in the first two piles and B would dump all of the remaining herbs in a tiny third pile. C gets screwed. In general there is no guarentee that C will have any input whatsoever if A or B uses all of the remianing herbs. Did I misinterpret C's step?
And with the probabilistic step, we now have to decide how willingness to gamble fits into being "reasonable".

Posted by owl on 2006-01-28 12:29:08