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Crocodile Sophism


rookie1ja
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Personally i think she should say "you will eat my child". If she answered wrong then the croc would eat the child but then he would fulfilling the prediction the mother gave by saying "you will eat my child" and if she guessed right then she would still get him back...

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  • 3 weeks later...

The first part of her reply should address the second part of the crocodile's statement: Her child's fate is the same as every human being, that is to age as time passes, and someday to die. Her guess to the first part is that the crocodile will return her child before or after he eats something other than the child.

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In the modern definition, a sophism is a confusing or illogical argument used for deceiving someone. [ref: wikipedia]

1. Crocodile Sophism

A slim crocodile living in the Nile took a child. His mother begged to have him back. The crocodile could not only talk, but was also a great sophist and stated, "If you guess what I will do with him, I will return him. However, if you don't guess his fate, I'll eat him." What statement should the mother make to save her child?

===================================================

The mother's upper hand lies in her recognition that the crocodile assumes predestined outcomes (Fate) and can talk.

The crocodile's incorrect assumption is that the mother must choose between eat and not eat. There is a second option: talk or not talk. One action intersects both option sets: the action of opening his mouth.

The mother should guess that the future of her child is that he will experience the crocodile opening his mouth.

If the croc wasn't going to eat him, and says wrong, he must open his mouth to eat him, violating fate. He cannot violate fate, and so he must return him.

If the croc was going to eat him, and says correct, he must return him.

Eric Mumford

Waterford, NY

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mother's guess doesn't quite work. A sophist is by definition tricky and clever, so the crocodile would reply "You are incorrect, his fate was to be saved." By the logic given, the crocodile must eat him because her guess was incorrect.

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I actually think she should say what the crocodile said, like:

"The agreed deal, whether you trick me or not, was that if I guessed his fate correctly you would let him go. Right now, if you have an inch of heart, you will give him back. If you are truly cruel, you will eat him. Now I will tell you your fate. If you eat my child, I will hunt you and the things you love until my life is over, when I shall join him."

Kind of sad to me...

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Basically the woman has no way of winning she either:

Is an idiot, and guesses something random, which is then wrong

Or she says "give back the child" which she would be worng so the croc would eat the child

Or she says "eat the child" so the croc would have to give the child back, so then she would be worng in her answer and he would have to eat the child, and this is probably the best answer because it goes on infinatly between her being correct and incorrect, one of them would eventually die and the childs fate would actually be to out live either the croc or his mother.

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hehehe...

I would have gotten my child back.

"The child will die"

Since the crocodile would want to eat him, and that would be his fate- death, then she gets her kid back.

Since her child will eventually grow old and die, than the fate holds true once the kid is returned.

Hence,

I rule.

peace out.

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This really hangs around the credibility of the crocodile. For example, if the mother of the child guesses correctly, the crocodile might end up still wanting to eat and therefore go back on his word and devour that child in a gruesome, graphic, gore-filled, gut strewn, bloody montage of various breakfast cereals and a variety of cheeses.

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The answer is "You will eat my child". If the crocodile ate the child it would be true meaning he was supposed to give back the child which would have made it false meaning that he would eat the child... and it goes round in a vicious circle. There is a lateral thinking puzzler very similar to the above question. "There was an explorer wandering through the jungle one day and he came across a cannabalistic tribe. The chief fancied himself a philosopher and told the explorer, 'We will kill you but you get to choose your method of dying. You will be given the chance to make one statement. If it is true, we will feed you to the lions. If it is false, you will be thrown off of a cliff.' What was the one statement that the explorer made that forced the chief to set him free?"

the answer is "I will be thrown off of a cliff." yet another vicious circle is formed like the one above.

Everyone is thinking too far into the question. It isn't asking anything about the nature of the crocodile but what statement would make the crocodile have to let the child go.

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the mothers answer to the croc is you will eat my baby. while the mother does not know what the croc will do her statement is false but at the same time to the croc the statement is true so the croc has no choice but to give the baby back

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She says, "You will eat him."

If he claims this guess was incorrect, then he'll have to eat him; the guess will then be correct and the crocodile will have broken his word. The crocodile, being a clever and honest sophist, will have reasoned this out and if the mother gives that answer, he can only return the child.

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Death is certain for all. The woman doesn't need to specify the manner of the child's death. She only needs to "guess" that "The child will die." Since the child will die whether the crock kills him or not, the crock must return the child.

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