83 replies to this topic

[Bree]

if they gave you nothing then your statement would be incorrect....

good point... i was going to say there are 3 coins on the table.

[NintendoMad]

How about... "If this statement is true, you will give me a gold coin, If false, I will get no coins"

This will mean that if the statement is false and I get no coins, then the statement is actually true, since they are giving me no coins, and so I must get the gold coin.

If I get a copper or silver, then this means that statement is false, creating a paradox as they then should not be giving me a coin, which then, as said above, will then make it true, so the only way to fufil the whole statement, which HAS TO BE TRUE, is to give me the gold coin!

[Trevor214]

or heres, a sentence that would work:
'i am telling a truthful sentence'.

haha, would this work?

[boyevil]

How about "Gimme the gold coin or I'll shoot"

[Drydung]

Here is a question to all Braindenizens.

What if I just say, " You will either give me all 3 coins or will give me none"?

Edited by Drydung, 15 July 2008 - 07:54 PM.

[Drydung]

How about "Gimme the gold coin or I'll shoot"

Yeh! like Godfather. An offer you can't refuse.

Edited by Drydung, 15 July 2008 - 07:53 PM.

[Martini]

Here is a question to all Braindenizens.

What if I just say, " You will either give me all 3 coins or will give me none"?

That's a false statement as the premise is that you will get one coin or nothing, not three or nothing. So...you get nothing for making a false statement.

[Drydung]

That's a false statement as the premise is that you will get one coin or nothing, not three or nothing. So...you get nothing for making a false statement.

Dear Martini,
I said, " [You will give me all 3 coins] or[You will give me none of the coins]"
If my statement is false (as you said) then I get none of the coins, which makes my statement true.

Edited by Drydung, 16 July 2008 - 03:48 PM.

[Martini]

Dear Martini,
I said, " [You will give me all 3 coins] or[You will give me none of the coins]"
If my statement is false (as you said) then I get none of the coins, which makes my statement true.

Yes, I got the "or" part. The statement as a whole is false since there is no possibility of getting three coins.

But you're claiming your statement is true because the word "or" allows one part of the sentence to render the entire statement true, right? Okay, so we can drop the first part of your statement and make it "You will give me none of the coins". That can't be false because false statements will end up in getting no coins. But more importantly, the statement isn't true because true statements would get you one coin, not none. And if it were true, there's nothing about your statement that would guarantee the one coin you receive will be the gold one.

So...no soup for you!

[Drydung]

The statement as a whole is false since there is no possibility of getting three coins.

Dear Martini,
sorry to interrupt you again. I think I have not made my point clear. You are right in saying that my statement would not ensure gold coin. Yes, that is true. Well, when I posted it, it was not my intention to make a statement to ensure a gold coin; the answer was already there. I was simply trying to have fun with testing different statements.

By posting this statement I was trying to make the following point.
This statement is a 'contingent statement'. A contingent statement can be true or false depending on the action you take. Now 'truth value of a statement' and 'violation of a rule' these are two different things. For example, you can give me none of the coins. This will make my statement true. However, you will be violating the rule since a true statement deserves a coin. You can give me two coins and make my statement false, but again by violating the rule as you cannot give two coins. If you check your all possible action set you will find in every case you will be violating the rule. That is the fun of this kind of a statement. If you follow the rules then none of your actions can make the statement either true or false. Its an impossibility. What we can say is that, this statement (and there can be many other such statements) is inconsistent with the rules. So it is implicit in this game that you are not allowed to make such a statement.

Thank you.