kbforall

Even if there were 3 white and 2 black it wouldnt matter under the assumption that the room is completly dark.when he answers the question. If the hats were white blue purple red and green. the answer would still be black because in total darkness all the hats would be black.. It is only when the light is turned back on when the hats get a different color .If the problem would have waited till after the light was turned on before he answered the question it would eliminate that option though. it only works if he answers while it is still dark.

As i was reading the problem and got to the point where the one man said he knew what color his hat was before the master turned on the lights and was right. Well i stopped there and realized what the right answer was. i was dissappointed that it wasnt the correct solution you choose .although the answer black was correct his reasoning i feel was not. he knew the hat was black BEFORE the lights were on because regaurdless of the color of the hat in the light. in a completely dark room (which is what i gathered from the problem ) everything is black since there is no light to reflect color. So even if his hat was white with the light on , since he answered the question while it was still dark technically his hat is black at that time. This also gives a fair chance to everyone. Sorry couldnt find a better place to put this . I'm confident my logic is correct. What do you think? Here is the puzzle if you dont remember it After losing the "Spot on the Forehead" contest, the two defeated Puzzle Masters complained that the winner had made a slight pause before raising his hand, thus derailing their deductive reasoning train of thought. And so the Grand Master vowed to set up a truly fair test to reveal the best logician amongst them. He showed the three men 5 hats - two white and three black. Then he turned off the lights in the room and put a hat on each Puzzle Master's head. After that the old sage hid the remaining two hats, but before he could turn the lights on, one of the Masters, as chance would have it, the winner of the previous contest, announced the color of his hat. And he was right once again. What color was his hat? What could have been his reasoning?