Whats a clear explanation for a question where a man is locked in a room with one question 2 doors with a guard in front of each and 1 tells the truth the other a lie and only one door leads to safety?

Answer 1

The Lady of the TigerRefer to questions like this as "The Lady or the Tiger" questions. A similar fable exists in literature. A man is offered two doors, one leads to a beautiful woman and escape, the other to a fierce tiger who will rip him to shreds. This type of question is often discussed in the context of having to make crucial decisions without a lot of information.

The full riddle goes like this:

You are locked in a room with 2 doors - one leads to safety - the other to certain death.

There are 2 men in the room - one always tells the truth - the other always lies.

You can ask 1 person 1 question that can be answered yes or no.

What's the question that gets you safely out of the room?

Answer - it must be a question that returns the same answer regardless of who you ask about which door, as follows:

"If I ask him (you can ask this question of either one) if that door (point to door 1 or door 2) leads to safety, will he say 'yes'?"

Discussion:

If you've asked the one who always tells the truth and the door you pointed to leads to safety, the truthful one will truthfully tell you that the liar will say "no".

If you've asked the liar and the door you pointed to leads to safety, the liar will tell you that the truthful one will say "no".

So, regardless, the door that gets the "no" answer leads to safety. The door that leads to danger gets a "yes".

AnswerIt sounds like a good illustration of the meaning of the word dilemma.

Whoever posted this answer didn't answer it at all!

Another AnswerAsk which one likes cookies. The lying one will say no because everyone liks cookies!