A native, either a knight or a liar, once pointed to a man sitting below a tree and told me "If asked, that man would say I'm not the same type as he is."

What can you deduce about the native or the man?

The only way for this to be possible is for the man under the tree to be neither a knight nor a liar.  Otherwise, there is no solution.  In order for the statement to be true, the native would have to be a liar, yet a native Liar would not utter a true statement.  In order for the statement to be false, the native would have to be a knight, yet a native Knight would not utter a false statement.

Considering that the man under the tree may be a Knave, Squire, or Page, here are four combinations that could work:

Native - Knight      Man - Squire
Native - Knight      Man - Knave (cycle - true)
Native - Liar          Man - Squire
Native - Liar          Man - Knave (cycle - false)

Posted by hoodat on 2007-02-22 13:39:51