Price of a lamp

[BMAD]

You are offered the opportunity to buy, for whatever price you wish, a bottle containing a genie who will grant you three wishes. The only catch is that the bottle must thereafter be resold for a price smaller than what you paid for it, informing the buyer of the same requirement, or you will be condemned to live out the rest of your days in excruciating torment.

How much should you buy the lamp for?

Edited February 27, 2015 by BMAD

[gavinksong]

If the lamp was offered at $0.00, nobody in their right mind would accept because it is impossible to sell it at a cheaper price than

free.

If nobody would purchase the lamp at a price less than P, then nobody in their right mind would purchase the lamp at price P + $0.01 since they wouldn't be able to find a buyer afterwards.

Therefore, nobody in their right mind would buy the lamp at any price.

Edited March 2, 2015 by gavinksong

[gavinksong]

Assuming that...

 

- everyone is a perfectly rational agent, and

- you can't wish to be exempt from the "catch"

 

I would choose not to buy the lamp, because I would not be able to find anybody to sell it to afterwards.

[bonanova]

If I must lose money on resale, then one of my three wishes would be for at least enough money to break even. So I'd pay $1 for it and resell it for $0.99. One of my wishes would be for two pennies - one for me and one for the next buyer, and the other two wishes I'll keep private. 

 

[plasmid]

This somewhat reminds me of the story of the surprise execution.

 

A prisoner was sentenced to death with the execution to take place within one week. But the judge also stipulated that the prisoner's execution should come unexpectedly, as it would be cruel to have him know that death would be imminent within 24 hours. The prisoner knew all of this.

 

The prisoner reasoned that he could not be executed seven days after the sentence, because if he were not executed on the sixth day then he would know that he would be executed on the seventh, and that would violate the judge's ruling. For all practical purposes, the prisoner would have to be executed within six days. But that means that he couldn't be executed on the sixth day – if he made it past the fifth day and he knew he couldn't be executed on the seventh day, then he would know that he was to be executed on the sixth day, which would violate the judge's ruling. Continuing on with that sort of logic, the prisoner concluded that he could not be executed at all!

 

The prisoner was then executed two days after the sentence, which came as a complete surprise to him in accord with the judge's ruling.

 

The moral of the story is:

Go ahead and buy the lamp for 90% of your bank account and wish for it all back with your first wish, wish for whatever you want with the second, and wish for some chap to buy the lamp from you with the third wish.

[gavinksong]

This somewhat reminds me of the story of the surprise execution.

 

A prisoner was sentenced to death with the execution to take place within one week. But the judge also stipulated that the prisoner's execution should come unexpectedly, as it would be cruel to have him know that death would be imminent within 24 hours. The prisoner knew all of this.

 

The prisoner reasoned that he could not be executed seven days after the sentence, because if he were not executed on the sixth day then he would know that he would be executed on the seventh, and that would violate the judge's ruling. For all practical purposes, the prisoner would have to be executed within six days. But that means that he couldn't be executed on the sixth day – if he made it past the fifth day and he knew he couldn't be executed on the seventh day, then he would know that he was to be executed on the sixth day, which would violate the judge's ruling. Continuing on with that sort of logic, the prisoner concluded that he could not be executed at all!

 

The prisoner was then executed two days after the sentence, which came as a complete surprise to him in accord with the judge's ruling.

 

The moral of the story is:

Go ahead and buy the lamp for 90% of your bank account and wish for it all back with your first wish, wish for whatever you want with the second, and wish for some chap to buy the lamp from you with the third wish.

 

This starts to be a question of morals.