Puzzle Details :
A prisoner is told, "if you tell a lie we will hang you, if you tell truth we will shoot you." What can he say to save himself?
Solution :
The most accepted answer to this puzzle is “you will hang me”
Consider the case where the prisoner says: “You will hang me”. How this statement is going to save the life of a prisoner ?
If the prisoner were to hang, this statement would be true. But according to the condition, if the prisoner speaks the truth, he should be shot, not hanged.
If the prisoner were to be shot, and not hanged, that would be false, in that case, the prisoner should have been hanged, not shot.
This creates a paradox of language, due to which police cannot take a decision that may save the life of a prisoner.
But, As written, there is still a way out for the authorities, as there is nothing in the statements above forbidding them from BOTH hanging him AND shooting him, whether he tells a truth or not. Because by hanging him they make the statement true, so they should also shoot him because that is the punishment for being truthful.
The most accepted answer to this puzzle is “you will hang me”
Similar Puzzle :
The policeman decided to punish the Prisoner and asked him to make a statement. The Prisoner should make such a statement so that he would be alive.
If the statement is held true by Policeman, the Prisoner will be hanged to death and if the statement is held false, the Prisoner will be shot dead.
Answer:
The Prisoner has to say, ‘I will be shot dead’
If Policeman says the statement is true, the Prisoner will be hanged to death which will make his statement false.
If Policeman says the statement is false, the Prisoner will be shot dead which will make the statement true.
Again the statement creates a paradox that eventually saves the life of a prisoner.
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