Post #1627484
2026-04-18 18:56 UTC
Suppose there are two boxes. One contains an unknown amount of money, and the other contains twice that amount. You choose one and open it. The host then opens a third box and reveals a goat, and offers you the chance to swap boxes. A perfect predictor has placed a million dollars in the box you won't choose. If you swap, and another person in the next room doesn't, you get both boxes, but if they swap and you don't, you get nothing. Whatever amount you win, the devil will put it into a cauldron two dollars a day, and remove a dollar every day, into a second cauldron. After infinity days, every dollar has been removed and replaced, and all the original dollars are in a new cauldron. Is the first cauldron your prize, or the second one?
Replies (9)
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@ozzelot@mstdn.social 2026-04-18 18:57
@andrewt Lettuce.
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@skewray@mathstodon.xyz 2026-04-18 19:21
@andrewt Without knowing the sex of the goat, there is incomplete information to decide.
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@darkling@mstdn.social 2026-04-18 19:42
@andrewt Does it change the outcome if you get the guard on the left to row the goat over the river, and bring the fox back?
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@michaelgemar@cosocial.ca 2026-04-18 19:43
@andrewt @fraggle If I pull the switch, will the trolley miss the goat?
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@hp@mastodon.tmm.cx 2026-04-18 19:44
@andrewt which of the cauldrons always lies and which one always tells the truth?
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@GoatsLive@mastodon.social 2026-04-18 20:22
@andrewt I'd just keep the goat 🐐
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@cvwillegen@mastodon.nl 2026-04-18 21:53
@andrewt https://xkcd.com/246/
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@jcastroarnaud@mathstodon.xyz 2026-04-19 01:40
@andrewt [The only winning move is not to play.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WarGames)
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@bazbt3@appdot.net 2026-04-19 10:41
@andrewt @fraggle WHAR THESEUS‽!!