my riddle (only for smart people), if you don´t enter.........

[NickRock]

The Tale of Two Villages
You are lost in a forest. The forest is between two villages. In village A live only liars, they always lie. In village B people always tell the truth. You want to go to village B. Then you see a man from village A or B. You can ask him only one question. Which question will you ask him to know for sure where village B is ? /images/graemlins/wink.gif

[chezlaw]

ask him what the other will say then do the opposite.

chez

[Silent A]

[ QUOTE ]
ask him what the other will say then do the opposite.

chez

[/ QUOTE ]
ditto

this is an old one

[tolbiny]

Crush you enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentations of their women.

Sorry what was the question?

[slickpoppa]

[ QUOTE ]
ask him what the other will say then do the opposite.

chez

[/ QUOTE ]

I think you are getting at the right answer, but a good answer to this question depends on exactly how you word the question. Asking him what the other would do is problematic because a liar can only technically lie about things which he has personal knowledge. Since the liar does not know where the non-liar would tell him to go, how would the liar respond to where the non-liar would tell him to go?

Therefore, I think you need to add something before the question to inform the liar of what a non-liar would say.

So I would say "Excuse me, there are two villages, A and B. I am looking for directions to village A, where people only tell the truth. I know that you are from either village A or village B, and that if you were from village A, you would tell me the truth, and if you were from village B, you would lie to me. So, where would a person from the village that you are not from tell me to go?"

Kind of nitpicky, but I think its necessary.

[diebitter]

[ QUOTE ]
The Tale of Two Villages
You are lost in a forest. The forest is between two villages. In village A live only liars, they always lie. In village B people always tell the truth. You want to go to village B. Then you see a man from village A or B. You can ask him only one question. Which question will you ask him to know for sure where village B is ? /images/graemlins/wink.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Can't you just kill em all and let god sort it out?

[BruceZ]

Which way to your village?

[hmkpoker]

Hey dude, which villiage did you come from?

*EDIT* Hey dude, which OF THOSE TWO *point point* villiages did you come from? (That way I'm covered if the liar makes up a villiage in some arbitrary location and points it out /images/graemlins/tongue.gif)

[slickpoppa]

[ QUOTE ]
Which way to your village?

[/ QUOTE ]

Lol, I guess that works too

[chezlaw]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
ask him what the other will say then do the opposite.

chez

[/ QUOTE ]

I think you are getting at the right answer, but a good answer to this question depends on exactly how you word the question. Asking him what the other would do is problematic because a liar can only technically lie about things which he has personal knowledge. Since the liar does not know where the non-liar would tell him to go, how would the liar respond to where the non-liar would tell him to go?

Therefore, I think you need to add something before the question to inform the liar of what a non-liar would say.

So I would say "Excuse me, there are two villages, A and B. I am looking for directions to village A, where people only tell the truth. I know that you are from either village A or village B, and that if you were from village A, you would tell me the truth, and if you were from village B, you would lie to me. So, where would a person from the village that you are not from tell me to go?"

Kind of nitpicky, but I think its necessary.

[/ QUOTE ]
Most glorious nitpick of all time /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[Piers]

[ QUOTE ]
*EDIT* Hey dude, which OF THOSE TWO *point point* villiages did you come from? (That way I'm covered if the liar makes up a villiage in some arbitrary location and points it out /images/graemlins/tongue.gif)

[/ QUOTE ]

Could'nt he point out a village that you did not indicate and does not exist anyway. Then blow a rasberry when you complian.

[amirite]

This thread needs more Alph and Ralph

http://www.eukota.com/THEA80/labyrinth/images/Other%20Characters/guards.jpg

[behemoth2006]

if you ask them where their village is, go in the opposite direction. if you come to no village, then they are from the truth-tellers, and if they arent you know you're in the liars village.

[MathEconomist]

You could also simply ask him whether or not he is a man if you don't want to get into complicated reasoning. If he says no and you can see otherwise you're in the liars village.

[soon2bepro]

[ QUOTE ]
The Tale of Two Villages
You are lost in a forest. The forest is between two villages. In village A live only liars, they always lie. In village B people always tell the truth. You want to go to village B. Then you see a man from village A or B. You can ask him only one question. Which question will you ask him to know for sure where village B is ? /images/graemlins/wink.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Assuming there are only 2 possible paths (1 lead to each village) You ask him what direction is the village that he's from (or the one he's not from if you prefer, both work).

[hmkpoker]

I think the question assumes that you meet the guy outside the villiages. Otherwise it's way too easy /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[Meromorphic]

My favorite (http://www.iol.ie/~dalton/articles/yesno.htm) analysis of the problem.

[guesswest]

I say it doesn't matter, so long as they both have a card room, game has to be pretty weak in either.

[hmkpoker]

vnh /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[Tony_P]

[ QUOTE ]
My favorite (http://www.iol.ie/~dalton/articles/yesno.htm) analysis of the problem.

[/ QUOTE ]

that made my head hurt

[SNOWBALL]

If you can only ask him one question than you can't really get very good directions, so you'll have to settle for east/west directions or something else that is satisfactorily binary.

Just point east and ask "is it true that either village A or Village B are east". If he says no then you know that he is lying and you can just travel in the opposite direction that he came from to get to village B. If he says yes, then you follow in the direction that he came from to get to village B.

My answer might not be what you had in mind. For example, you mght argue that my question is actually two questions. You could also argue that it would be difficult to tell what direction any village at all is in from the way you saw him walk. You could also argue that it would be even more difficult to use that knowledge to find the direction you should walk to find the opposite village.

[atrifix]

[ QUOTE ]
Just point east and ask "is it true that either village A or Village B are east". If he says no then you know that he is lying and you can just travel in the opposite direction that he came from to get to village B.

[/ QUOTE ]Unless both villages are east, or one of the villagers is coming from the opposite village.

[SNOWBALL]

the forrest is between the two villages so they can't both be east.

[ActionJeff]

if you were from the other village and I asked you which village I should go to, what would you say?

does that work?

[Prodigy54321]

[ QUOTE ]
I say it doesn't matter, so long as they both have a card room, game has to be pretty weak in either.

[/ QUOTE ]

word.....definitely word

[atrifix]

Sorry, I misread the question. I thought it just said that you come to a fork in the road.