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birbal
April 7th, 2003, 12:59 AM
Mr. A, Mr. B, and you are enimies of each other. A Judge has decided to allow a fair fight until only one of the three survives. You are the poorest shooter ( hitting only one of every three shots on target on the average); Mr. B. is better than you (hitting one of every two shots on the target), and Mr. A. is the best shooter (almost hitting every shot on the target).

The Judge makes you three stand equidistant from each other (each standing on the vertex of a equilateral triangle 50 feet apart from each other). The Judge gives you the pistol first and you are allowed one shot. Next, the Judge will give one shot to Mr. B (if he is alive) or Mr. A (if Mr. B is shot dead by you). This way the judge will keep giving one shot in turn until there is only one survivor?

The question is who should you aim your shot at?

Birbal Singh

mbamal
April 7th, 2003, 02:28 AM
Hello Sir,
I would aim at Mr A....

Reason...thr r two scenarios:

1. If I aim at B and kill him..then Mr A will shoot me anyway since he never misses.

2. If I shoot at A and miss....then B will also try to shoot A...if B also misses...then A will aim at B since he knows that B will not miss again...then B is dead...and I have one more chance to kill A.

I think I will aim at A...altough personally i'll shoot the stupid judge who is allowing such ridiculous methods...

Regards,
Mandeep

akdalal
April 7th, 2003, 09:45 AM
The question should be who will survive finally?

And my answer to it is Mr. A.

The explanation given by Mandeep is self explainatory.

Cheers!!!

rsdalal
April 7th, 2003, 06:32 PM
I will miss my shot and not aim it either at A or at B. B wil get the next shot.

navingulia
April 7th, 2003, 10:24 PM
bhai sidhi si baat hai.
goli chalao aur apni race dikhao.
ha ha ha

birbal
April 8th, 2003, 12:08 AM
Congratulations Ranvir for the correct answer. This puzzle is the foundation of the game theory which is now widely used in warfare strategy.

Your objective is to maximize your chances of survival. If you try to shoot Mr. A and get lucky to hit him, Mr. B gets a shot at you, and you are in trouble. By firing in air, Mr. B has good chances of hitting Mr. A, and you get the next shot at Mr. B.

John Nash ( the movie "A Beautiful Mind" is based on his life) got the Nobel Prize for game theory although he spent most of his adult life in mental hospitals.

Birbal Singh