Tricky Question

Originally posted by thesheephair
When you die, you see 2 doors. 1 leads into heaven and one leads into hell. Presumably(sp) you want to go into heaven.

Both doors are guarded by 2 guards, there are no signs that say heaven or hell, you are allowed to ask 1 guard 1 question. The guard guarding heaven always tells the truth the guard guarding hell always tells a lie.

What question do you ask?"

"Am I dead?"
Heaven Guard: "Yes."
Hell Guard: "No."

That seems to work.

If God existed, and this actually happened I expect the truth would actually be that God is simply a really poor Dungeon Master.

I swear there were situations like this in some of the old D&D modules. If you picked the wrong door you'd fall down a hole or be set upon by a couple of lv 20 Gnomes of DEATH!!!! (Which means ones pitiful lv 1 Elvan cleric died a rather stabbity death while the rest of the party scarpered. Bastards.)

What you should do is ask one of the guards this question:
'Would the guard by the other door tell me that this is the door to heaven?'
If you were in front of the door to hell, the guard to hell would say Yes, lying about what the guard to heaven would say. The guard to heaven would answer Yes as well, as he would tell the truth about the lie the other would make.
If you were in front of the door to heaven, the guard to heaven would answer No, as the other one would lie about it. The guard to hell would answer No too, lying about the truth the other would say.
The guard that will answer No to the question above stands in front of the door to heaven.

I don't follow that... I'm being slightly slow today 😮

Read carefully, and try to imagine being in the situation.

But you said that the guard who would say no to the question above stands in front of the door to heaven... but both guards answered no, right?

I made a mistake in the description indeed. Forget about how I mentioned 'No' being a possible answer for either of the doors, No is only a possible answer for one of the doors.
Re-correction: When asking the guard by the door to heaven the question 'will the other guard tell me that your door leads to heaven', the answer will be 'No'.
The guard by heaven's door will have to tell the truth about the lie that the guard to hell will give. Hell would say No, so heaven will tell you that they say No.
If the guard you talk to would be in front of the door to hell, he will tell you Yes. He would lie about the other one telling you that his door is not the door to heaven.
It is a tricky one indeed. Make a picture of it on paper, so you can link the questions and replies between both guards.

I'm drawing a blank, excuse the pun 😬

I'm not good with these, really. Ever heard this?

Brothers and sisters have I none,
But that man's father is my father's son.

Who is 'that man'?

Wicked. Would the man be your own son?

Originally posted by Syren
I'm drawing a blank, excuse the pun 😬

I'm not good with these, really. Ever heard this?

Brothers and sisters have I none,
But that man's father is my father's son.

Who is 'that man'?

and if you went to two doors, each gaurded. one guard lies and one guard tells the truth, wouldnt you simply say "show me the door you are guarding."? since you are only asking one of the guards, that guard would play his own role. the hells guard who lies will show you the door to heaven. and in that same token, the guard to heaven will show you the door to heaven..

You can not be granted a mere sight of what is beyond the doors, seeing would mean entering, and that would still have a 50% f#ck up chance.

Yeah, it'd be your own son clapping

Don't you have to ask the question;

"Which door will the other guard tell me is Hell?"

The one who tells the truth will point to his own door as the other guard, the liar, will tell you Heaven's door is hell.

The liar will point to Heaven's door as the truthful guard will tell you the truth but the guard you asked is lying. You choose that door.

Does that make sense?

Originally posted by thesheephair
When you die, you see 2 doors. 1 leads into heaven and one leads into hell. Presumably(sp) you want to go into heaven.

Both doors are guarded by 2 guards, there are no signs that say heaven or hell, you are allowed to ask 1 guard 1 question. The guard guarding heaven always tells the truth the guard guarding hell always tells a lie.

EG you ask 1 guard is this heaven? hell guard says yes and heaven guard says yes. your stuck.

What question do you ask?

I'll open both the doors to see if it's Heaven or Hell.

What about the guards? shock

I'll slap them.

No no noo! You cannot slap them, sneak behind them or things like that.
Hellooo, they have been guarding the afterlife for ages, think you can trick them?

So, no one's going with my theory then? 😕

Originally posted by Syren
Yeah, it'd be your own son clapping

Don't you have to ask the question;

"Which door will the other guard tell me is Hell?"

The one who tells the truth will point to his own door as the other guard, the liar, will tell you Heaven's door is hell.

The liar will point to Heaven's door as the truthful guard will tell you the truth but the guard you asked is lying. You choose that door.

Does that make sense?

That's about the same question,and it will bring the desired answer as well. Seems you understand the solution to this, good job!

if the hell guard ALWAYS lies, thats the advantage. just ask any simple yes or no question with a simple answer.

hey guard...does a bear shit in the woods?

hell guard: no

heaven guard: yes

or better yet: are you a guard?