NationStates Jolt Archive

So here's one for you to play with. My favorite.

Assume a building with two floors and a staicase with a sealed, but openable door at the top.

You are downstairs. Beside you there are three light swiches. In the upstairs floor, there is one light bulb. It is an ordinary 50-watt bulb. It is connected to one and only one of the light swiches. It will work if you turn the right light swich on.

You may turn on and off any combination of the light swiches you want. You may go upstairs once and only once. Once you step on that staircase, you cannot go back to the light swiches. There is no way to observe the upstairs room except by going there.

You must deduce which light swich turns on the bulb. How do you do it?

switch them all on?

Get someone to run up the stairs for me and shout when I flip the right switch. Or blast a hole through the ceiling and see for myself. Or just switch them all on. :D

Okay, I'm probably missing the point, especially since I suck at riddles, but couldn't you just turn all three light switches on at once and then go upstairs? Your riddle didn't specifically say the other switches had to be off when one switch was on, so I assume it's okay.

You flip 2 swiches. After, lets say, 10 min, you turn one off. You go up stairs. If the bulb is on, then the one you left on is the one. If the bulb is not on, but warm, the one you turned off is the one. If the bulb is cold, the one you did not flip is the one that turns on the bulb.


PWNED!

Crap, I just realized that you said I have to deduce which switch turns on the light. Turning all three on wouldn't technically achieve that goal. Man, see, I do suck.

You can't see the light through the door, correct? And you can't take the wires out of the wall and see where they go, correct?

No idea. Turning on one would tell you its that one if you're lucky, two would tell you its the one not on if you're lucky, and three wouldn't tell you anything. Can you make one of the switches delay somehow?

You flip 2 swiches. After, lets say, 10 min, you turn one off. You go up stairs. If the bulb is on, then the one you left on is the one. If the bulb is not on, but warm, the one you turned off is the one. If the bulb is cold, the one you did not flip is the one that turns on the bulb.


PWNED!

And The South Islands takes it with the Second Law of Thermodynamics. Bravo.

And The South Islands takes it with the Second Law of Thermodynamics. Bravo.


*does dance*

Hmm.. How 'bout another...

A man is lying dead on a rock. There is no natural cause of death. The cause of death relates to the nature of the man and the nature of the rock and is supernatural, and both fictional natures are well known to everybody who hasn't been living under a rock for the last fifty years. What is the cause of death?


....but, it is time for me to leave. Good luck, and feel free to post some of your own.

Hmm.. How 'bout another...

A man is lying dead on a rock. There is no natural cause of death. The cause of death relates to the nature of the man and the nature of the rock and is supernatural, and both fictional natures are well known to everybody who hasn't been living under a rock for the last fifty years. What is the cause of death?


....but, it is time for me to leave. Good luck, and feel free to post some of your own.

Umm... he was eaten by a large Carrion bird sent by Zeus to punish the guy for stealing fire and giving it to the people? Unless Prometheus was not who you had in mind...

Prometheus was chained and was an immortal, and the rock had nothing to do with it. Thankyoucomeagain.

Hmm.. How 'bout another...

A man is lying dead on a rock. There is no natural cause of death. The cause of death relates to the nature of the man and the nature of the rock and is supernatural, and both fictional natures are well known to everybody who hasn't been living under a rock for the last fifty years. What is the cause of death?


....but, it is time for me to leave. Good luck, and feel free to post some of your own.

Supernatural? Don't leave, you need to say what you mean by that!

If you ignore that part, it could be suicide (jumped off a cliff) or murder (pushed).

Supernatural:
2. Attributed to a power that seems to violate or go beyond natural forces.
dictionary.com

The nature of the rock and the nature of the man are key. Both the man and the rock have supernatural aspects. If either the rock or the man lacked their particular supernatural aspect, the situation would not have occured.

Ohhh..I've got one!

A guy lives in downtown New York. He lives on the top floor of a 20 story building. He takes the elevator down to go to work. When he comes home, he take the elevator up to the 15th floor, and walks the rest of the way up. On rainy days, he takes the elevator all the way up to his apartment. Why?

Superman, Kryptonite

Prometheus was chained and was an immortal, and the rock had nothing to do with it. Thankyoucomeagain.

Oh well. I know the full legend, but I figured maybe you didn't so that's why I answered the way I did. I think I will come again though -

The man is God. The rock, created by God, is so heavy it cannot be lifted even by God. Which creates a paradox that destroys the idea of God's omnipotence, thus eliminating God as any god must be omnipotent. And God created the rock under him, that way when he 'died' he fell dead on the rock.

Okay, it's a stretch. But you have to admit, it's a very awesome stretch, and it does fulful all requirements 1. Man 2. Rock 3. Supernatural 4. Well known 5. Man dead on rock. I know it's wrong. But it's still creative, no?

EDIT: or we could all just listen to the man with the right answer, E2Fencer. But I still like my God-answer.

The man is God. The rock, created by God, is so heavy it cannot be lifted even by God. Which creates a paradox that destroys the idea of God's omnipotence, thus eliminating God as any god must be omnipotent. And God created the rock under him, that way when he 'died' he fell dead on the rock.

Okay, it's a stretch. But you have to admit, it's a very awesome stretch, and it does fulful all requirements 1. Man 2. Rock 3. Supernatural 4. Well known 5. Man dead on rock. I know it's wrong. But it's still creative, no?

EDIT: or we could all just listen to the man with the right answer, E2Fencer. But I still like my God-answer.

very creative, and amusing :)

He's a dwarf. He can't reach 20 without an umbrella.

yep, superman. Whoever said that wins three thousand points, worth the same as they are on Whose Line is it Anyway.

Ohhh..I've got one!

A guy lives in downtown New York. He lives on the top floor of a 20 story building. He takes the elevator down to go to work. When he comes home, he take the elevator up to the 15th floor, and walks the rest of the way up. On rainy days, he takes the elevator all the way up to his apartment. Why?

I will hazard a guess...the stairs are outside, and he would rather stay dry than get a little exercise.

He's a dwarf. He can't reach 20 without an umbrella.

yep, superman. Whoever said that wins three thousand points, worth the same as they are on Whose Line is it Anyway.

Ummm..no. He's a porn addict, and Rain turns him on. Yeah...

Ohhh..I've got one!

A guy lives in downtown New York. He lives on the top floor of a 20 story building. He takes the elevator down to go to work. When he comes home, he take the elevator up to the 15th floor, and walks the rest of the way up. On rainy days, he takes the elevator all the way up to his apartment. Why?

There are 5 basement levels.

oh, i knew the one with the midget and the elevator! but here's another one:

a man goes out for partying one night and comes back only in the early morning.
he goes up the stairs to his flat/room and realises the light was NOT switched on.
upon that realisation, he kills himself.
WHY? (again, you may ask questions and i can/will answer with yes or no. if anyone knows this one already and wants to gloat, PLEASE use a spoiler and write it in white so that nobody HAS to read it if they want to solve it themselves.

see, like this:

*extra hint/minor spoiler below*
yes, the man lives by himself/has no wife etc

oh, heck, i gotta go offline so i'll post the answer. feel free to keep guessing so, i'll make it a spoiler :P

*spoiler - answer*

the man lives/works in a lighthouse. he realises he forgot to switch on the according light when he left and it was still light outside, and now he comes back to see it hadn't been on in the night and as his lighthouse is at a very dangerous spot, he knows he'll probably have killed several people with that. he commits suicide out of guilt.

*end of spolier*

was the light supposed to signal something?