Riddles

[Azalee]

Goats eat things. =P

[Norellicus]

Nice try thinking outside the problem jones, but the statistics answers are more what I was aiming for.

Next! :D

The maker doesn't need it.
The buyer doesn't use it.
The user doesn't know he's using it.

[Bartylby]

You're a contestant on Let's Make a Deal. Monty Hall gives you the typical 3 doors problem: 3 doors, 2 with goats and 1 with a sportscar. You pick door 1, prompting Monty to open door 3 to reveal a goat. Now, you have the option of either keeping your current choice or switching doors.

Which is the better option?

change your choice to door 2, 66.6 is better than 33.3

21 was a pretty good movie.

[zoobernut]

Nice try thinking outside the problem jones, but the statistics answers are more what I was aiming for.

Next! :D

The maker doesn't need it.
The buyer doesn't use it.
The user doesn't know he's using it.

Spoiler: show

A Coffin

[Khamsin]

Here's another way to think of it... the 100 door problem:

You are given a choice of 100 doors, and you pick one. The host then opens 98 of the other doors for you, and shows you a goat behind each one. There's a car behind one of the two remaining closed doors. Do you switch?

You had a 1% chance of being right, but now there's only two doors, so you'd think you'd have a 50/50 shot. But consider the reason why those particular two doors remain. One is because the host chose one. The other is because you chose one. Your reasoning for choosing yours was just your 1% random chance pick at a door. The host's reason for choosing his is because it must be the winner if yours is not. Therefore, the other door will always win except in the circumstance where you actually got it right the first try, which is unlikely (1%).

The problem all depends on the host having knowledge of the winning door and the fact that one of the doors must win, rather than having doors randomly eliminated without discretion.

[Norellicus]

Here's another way to think of it... the 100 door problem:

You are given a choice of 100 doors, and you pick one. The host then opens 98 of the other doors for you, and shows you a goat behind each one. There's a car behind one of the two remaining closed doors. Do you switch?

You had a 1% chance of being right, but now there's only two doors, so you'd think you'd have a 50/50 shot. But consider the reason why those particular two doors remain. One is because the host chose one. The other is because you chose one. Your reasoning for choosing yours was just your 1% random chance pick at a door. The host's reason for choosing his is because it must be the winner if yours is not. Therefore, the other door will always win except in the circumstance where you actually got it right the first try, which is unlikely (1%).

The problem all depends on the host having knowledge of the winning door and the fact that one of the doors must win, rather than having doors randomly eliminated without discretion.

A practical example of this difference being Deal or No Deal.

[Norellicus]

cmon you slackers, keep those brains oxygenated

A child releases a toy boat in a stream that flows at 3 miles an hour. At that instant, a kayaker 14 miles downstream begins paddling upstream at 7 miles per hour. How long will it take him to reach the toy?

[Metah]

1.5 hours

[zoobernut]

Spoiler: show

The riddle is worded strangely with regards to the kayakers speed up the river. It states he is paddling upstream at 7 miles per hour however it does not say if this is adjusted speed factoring in the speed of the river flowing in the opposite direction or if this is his speed over calm standing water which would make his adjusted upstream speed 4 miles per hour. If it is the former then they are traveling towards each other at 10 miles per hour and it would take 1.4 hours. If it is the latter situation then they would be moving towards each other at 7 miles per hour and it would take 2 hours.

[Jaybar]

A more practical question would be "In which perspective?"

[Guitarman]

Despite their pitcher having a bad day,
the bluejays beat the cardinals 10-4,
yet not a single man touched home plate.

How is this possible?

[Khamsin]

Given that it's supposedly a "riddle" and not a "math problem", it's probably intending to fool you by adjusting the speed when you don't have to. So my guess is the intended answer would be 1.4 hours, and that you don't need to adjust for the speed because they already tell you it's 7 mph.

[zoobernut]

I agree with you Khamsin I was just adjusting for the fact that the riddle was worded in a vague way so I figured it out for both situations. Also Metah how did you reach 1.5 hours as your answer?

[Norellicus]

Spoiler: show

The stream is carrying both subjects, so the speed of the stream itself is irrelevant, and the toy boat is rendered a 'stationary' object, relatively speaking. Thus, since the kayaker is 14 miles away paddling at 7mph, it will take him exactly 2 hours to cover the distance.

[Norellicus]

Despite their pitcher having a bad day,
the bluejays beat the cardinals 10-4,
yet not a single man touched home plate.

How is this possible?

Spoiler: show

Women's team?

[Guitarman]

^correct.

[Guitarman]

From riddle.com:

You do not want to have it, But when you do have it, You do not want to lose it? What is it?

[Metah]

From riddle.com:

You do not want to have it, But when you do have it, You do not want to lose it? What is it?

Spoiler: show

A house, damn divorces!

As for how I got 1.5 hours, I got something like 1.4 hours like Khamsin, because I was trying to think of the problem as simply as possible. As for why I put 1.5... it sounds simpler

[Norellicus]

You're in a rowboat in a swimming pool, carrying a cannonball. Now throw the cannonball into the pool; will the water level in the pool rise or fall?

[Seraph]

You're in a rowboat in a swimming pool, carrying a cannonball. Now throw the cannonball into the pool; will the water level in the pool rise or fall?

Spoiler: show

It stays the same. Displacement is a bitch.~