full transcript
From the Ted Talk by Daniel Finkel: Can you solve the troll's paradox riddle?
Unscramble the Blue Letters
Your statement still has to be carefully ctfaerd. For example, if you were to say, “You are going to free the creatures and my brother,” the troll could respond, “that’s false… I’m only going to free your brother.” Similarly, if you said, “You will free the poaadxers,” the troll could say, “That’s true,” and free the paradoxes.
But watch what happens if you say, “You will free my brother.”
The statement can’t be false, because if it were, the troll, by its own rules, would have to free your brother. That would make the statement palacxidoraly true and false. But the troll hetas paradoxes and would never willingly create one. So his only option is for the statement to be true. If “you will free my brother” is true, then the troll has to reasele your beothrr. And by its own rules, the troll has to free the curertaes as well, since you said a true statement. By wielding just 5 wdros like a logical scalpel, you’ve forced the torll to free all its prisoners.
Open Cloze
Your statement still has to be carefully _______. For example, if you were to say, “You are going to free the creatures and my brother,” the troll could respond, “that’s false… I’m only going to free your brother.” Similarly, if you said, “You will free the _________,” the troll could say, “That’s true,” and free the paradoxes.
But watch what happens if you say, “You will free my brother.”
The statement can’t be false, because if it were, the troll, by its own rules, would have to free your brother. That would make the statement _____________ true and false. But the troll _____ paradoxes and would never willingly create one. So his only option is for the statement to be true. If “you will free my brother” is true, then the troll has to _______ your _______. And by its own rules, the troll has to free the _________ as well, since you said a true statement. By wielding just 5 _____ like a logical scalpel, you’ve forced the _____ to free all its prisoners.
Solution
- words
- paradoxically
- troll
- paradoxes
- brother
- hates
- crafted
- creatures
- release
Original Text
Your statement still has to be carefully crafted. For example, if you were to say, “You are going to free the creatures and my brother,” the troll could respond, “that’s false… I’m only going to free your brother.” Similarly, if you said, “You will free the paradoxes,” the troll could say, “That’s true,” and free the paradoxes.
But watch what happens if you say, “You will free my brother.”
The statement can’t be false, because if it were, the troll, by its own rules, would have to free your brother. That would make the statement paradoxically true and false. But the troll hates paradoxes and would never willingly create one. So his only option is for the statement to be true. If “you will free my brother” is true, then the troll has to release your brother. And by its own rules, the troll has to free the creatures as well, since you said a true statement. By wielding just 5 words like a logical scalpel, you’ve forced the troll to free all its prisoners.
Frequently Occurring Word Combinations
Important Words
- brother
- carefully
- crafted
- create
- creatures
- false
- forced
- free
- hates
- logical
- option
- paradoxes
- paradoxically
- prisoners
- release
- respond
- rules
- scalpel
- similarly
- statement
- troll
- true
- watch
- wielding
- willingly
- words