Presto Chango

(it's times like these when I really wish I would take the time out to migrate my site to wordpress... anywho...)

Game theory and the Princess Bride

Found this (download the clip) on the web while looking for material on game theory. Really must look for the movie this weekend. T'was a classic in my book. The solution in this particular scene taught me that sometimes the answer should be tweaked: from 'a' or 'b', to 'none of the above'.

And such memorable lines!

• "truly you have a dizzying intellect"
• "australia is entirely peopled with criminals"
• "never get involved in a land war in asia"
• "i am no one to be trifled with"

But in the midst of all this... I still can't figure out:

You come to a fork in the road. One path leads to riches and happiness, the other, to death and destruction. Standing at the fork in the road there are two brothers, one always lies, and one always tells the truth. You dont know which brother tells the truth, and which lies. If you could ask only one question, and you have to be sure you are on the right path before you start down the path. What question do you ask the brothers? (click here for answer)