80 replies to this topic

[hungryforlogic]

Spoiler for Hmm.. Spoiler for i think....

I would go for pacifist...
it may seem like the killers have a better chance of survival..
but.. actually..
there is an even number of killers.. assuming that meeting always happen..
that means sooner or later the killers will kill each other anyways..
so the killers have a zero chance of survival..
and the pacifist.. have a small chance of survival.. depending whether the killers kill each other first.. or meeting with pacifist first..

[MidnightLove7]

Spoiler for ......

well if you think about it, a pacifist would have more chance of survival because there are three possible scenarios:
1. Pacifist meets Pacifist - No One Dies
2. Pacifist meets Killer - Pacifist Dies
3. Killer meets Killer - BOTH Killers Die
Assuming the meetings occur in this order there would be 3 pacifists remaining by the end, but we have been told the meetings are random.....
I think I'd choose a Pacifist because there is only one meeting at which ONE pacifist dies and there is one meeting at which TWO killers die therefore you'd have a better chance of surviving

[naffen]

Either way your chances are equal.. working out at 0.00001082508 chance of survival

[naffen]

YOUR ALL WRONG.

EQUAL CHANCES UNTIL EVERYONE DIES!!!

[Half Fast]

I'm guessing Pacifist for one simple reason, when two Pacifists meet they both live, when two Killers meet they both die. Odds are two Killers will meet, kill each other, then you have more Pacifists than killers which gives you a better chance of meeting a Pacifist although you still need a lot of luck.

[Taimur Ahmad]

Pacifist

[phaze]

Spoiler for I choose

If there is an even number of killers all killers will eventually be eliminated. The only hope of surviving would be to be a Pacifist and keep your fingers crossed. If there is an odd number of killers the only way of surviving (there will be only 1) is to be a Killer and keep your fingers crossed. The real question is do you have more chance of surviving as a pacifist with 10 pacifists and 10 killers or as a killer with 11 pacifists and 11 killers?

[bonanova]

Spoiler for I choose

If there is an even number of killers all killers will eventually be eliminated. The only hope of surviving would be to be a Pacifist and keep your fingers crossed. If there is an odd number of killers the only way of surviving (there will be only 1) is to be a Killer and keep your fingers crossed. The real question is do you have more chance of surviving as a pacifist with 10 pacifists and 10 killers or as a killer with 11 pacifists and 11 killers?

Good question.
Let's start withe the obvious result that the killer's chance of survival is 1/11, cuz one killer must survive.

The question is a pacifist's chances with a 10-10 split. It's clearly not 1/10.

[mmiguel]

You live in Killville - a town populated by 10 killers and 10 pacifists.

When a pacifist meets a pacifist, nothing happens.
When a pacifist meets a killer, the pacifist is killed.
When two killers meet, both die.

Assume meetings always occur between exactly two persons
and the pairs involved are completely random.

Are your odds of survival better if you are a killer? or a pacifist?
Or does it matter?

Spoiler for hint

Regardless of whether you are a pacifist or a killer,
you may disregard all events in which a pacifist other than yourself is involved
and consider only events in which you are killed
or a pair of killers other than yourself is killed.

Spoiler for i think

everyone will die doesn't matter regardless whether you are P or K, if you meet a K, you will die. Your only hope is that all the other K's kill themselves. This will never happen since there are an even number of K's and they can only remove themselves in pairs. If there were an odd number of K's, then you would have a shot. The steady state of such a system would be one K left standing. If there are N K's and N P's and N is odd, then your chance of living would be 1/N due to assumed symmetry amongst all K's.

[mmiguel]

Spoiler for i think

everyone will die doesn't matter regardless whether you are P or K, if you meet a K, you will die. Your only hope is that all the other K's kill themselves. This will never happen since there are an even number of K's and they can only remove themselves in pairs. If there were an odd number of K's, then you would have a shot. The steady state of such a system would be one K left standing. If there are N K's and N P's and N is odd, then your chance of living would be 1/N due to assumed symmetry amongst all K's.

edit: haha - i was wrong (after reading answer) - clever!