This one is just not fair:
But that’s a statistics question. Here’s the game theory question.
What percentage of students in the class will answer A) to this question?
A) Less than 50%
B) 50%
C) Greater than 50%
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15 comments
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October 27, 2011 at 11:50 pm
Anon
Haha great!
October 28, 2011 at 3:29 am
aa
I dont get it
October 28, 2011 at 7:51 am
Navin Kumar
Nice
October 28, 2011 at 8:14 am
Anonymous
Are there exactly 2 students in this class?
October 28, 2011 at 8:16 am
Steven
The stats question gets even more interesting if you allow non-uniform probability distributions, e.g., 25% A, 50% B, and 25% C.
October 28, 2011 at 3:34 pm
sean samis
I’m going with A in any event.
October 28, 2011 at 4:18 pm
Jonathan Weinstein
Wow, just when you thought there were no new variations on the Liar’s paradox…nice!
Of course as per Steven it should say “uniformly at random,” else there are many solutions instead of none. But I suppose in common parlance that is what “at random” means.
October 29, 2011 at 3:44 am
Passing
try the easier question a) 25% b) 50% c)50% d)100% first.
The problem is the answer is part of the question. This is a common feature of many over-complicated real world issues, artificially making them appear to be unsolvable.
It usually means somebody quite clever is benefiting from the problem.
October 29, 2011 at 3:43 pm
Recommended economics writing: Link exchange « tecdaily
[…] • Auto-curved exams (Cheap Talk) […]
October 31, 2011 at 5:23 am
aa
Why can´t someone just explain it??
October 31, 2011 at 11:43 pm
PR
I second aa’s request.
November 2, 2011 at 7:32 am
Behrang
I have been thinking about this two problems for two days.
Game theory aplies to situations in which a player can change the outcome. In this problem the outcome depents on one’s answer. other players answer won’t change the outcome. hence it can’t be a game theory problem.
November 2, 2011 at 11:57 am
Donald A. Coffin
Karl Smith raises an interesting question over on his blog (http://modeledbehavior.com/2011/11/02/probability-question/), which I interpret as this: It’s not clear that the “answer to this question” is intended as a choice between (A), (B), (C), or (D). There’s a two-part question, in essence. “What is the answer to this question?” and “What is the chance that you will be correct?” The answer to the second question is apparently to be drawn from (A), (B), (C), and (D), but what about the answer to the first question?
I would suggest that *we do not know what the first question is*.
November 4, 2011 at 6:19 am
Recommended economics writing: Link exchange | tecnewsdaily
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December 12, 2011 at 7:20 am
Statistical Jokes (35): Impossible Question | P.a.p.-Blog | Human Rights Etc.
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