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rookie1ja
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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.

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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
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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!

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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.

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  • 8 months later...
Coins - Back to the Logic Problems

Imagine there are 3 coins on the table: gold, silver, and copper. If you make a truthful statement, you will get one coin. If you make a false statement, you will get nothing.

What sentence can guarantee you getting the gold coin?

Coins - solution

"You will give me neither copper nor silver coin." If it is true, then I have to get the gold coin. If it is a lie, then the negation must be true, so "you give me either copper or silver coin", which would break the given conditions that you get no coin when lying. So the first sentence must be true.

Imagine there are 3 coins on the table. Gold, silver and copper. If you say a truthful sentence, you will get one coin. If you say a false sentence, you get nothing. Which sentence can guarantee gaining the gold coin?

Your "solution" is NOT accurate. You are missing the key word here: "GUARANTEE". Your sentence does NOT guarantee the gold coin. (If the "coingiver" planned on giving the sivler coin for the first truthful statement, then your sentence would be false. No guarantee.)

Now, here are the stipulations:

1. A truthful STATEMENT gets ONE COIN [undefined as to WHICH coin.]. (*There is no defined limit to the number of truthful statements.)

2. ONE sentence must GUARANTEE the gold coin.

Therefore, the answer is simple: One sentence, 3 truthful statements. You get all 3 coins, INCLUDING the gold. GUARANTEED!!

Example: "Our sun is a star, our Earth is a planet, and our moon orbits the Earth."

GUARANTEED.

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