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Post your favorite riddle or paradox

Thatdad

Thatdad

Android Expert
Riddle:
What is too much for one, enough for two, but nothing at all for three?

Paradox:

Paradox of existence.

Existence is demonstrably paradoxical, that is, it apparently does not make rational sense. Nature makes an inordinate amount of sense but existence itself is patently irrational and, thus, possibly supernatural. Nonetheless, attempts to rationally explain existence have proliferated since the dawn of humanity, but all of these have led back to paradox rather than resolving the paradox of existence.

One proposed explanation for existence is that it just is, and is not contingent on a cause or anything else for that matter. This is rhetorical nonsense. You might as well say dill pickles explain the meaning of life for all we are able to meaningfully glean from such a statement. It does not begin to describe much less account for existence but, at best, can be interpreted as an affirmation or expression of humor.

Others have argued that the reality of our existence is self-evident, and to think otherwise is pointless and often destructive solipsism. As Aart Van Der Leeuw put it succinctly, "The mystery of life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced."
 
Interesting thread, great idea!

Here's a riddle/game for you:
Imagine a circle with a dot in the middle (kind of like a bull's eye in darts).
The dot and the circle can't be connected with a line so they are completely detached from another.

The task is to draw this shape (circle with a separate dot in the middle) using one continuous movement of the pen. Try this on any kind of paper and remember, the pen can't be lifted to draw the circle and the dot separately, it has to be one movement with the pen.

(The circle can be any size of course.)

Good luck!
 
dappwl said:
Interesting thread, great idea!

Here's a riddle/game for you:
Imagine a circle with a dot in the middle (kind of like a bull's eye in darts).
The dot and the circle can't be connected with a line so they are completely detached from another.

The task is to draw this shape (circle with a separate dot in the middle) using one continuous movement of the pen. Try this on any kind of paper and remember, the pen can't be lifted to draw the circle and the dot separately, it has to be one movement with the pen.

(The circle can be any size of course.)

Good luck!
Click to expand...

Dang that's hard. Technically I could use the side of the 'brass' part without making a line. The pen technically doesn't lift off. :D
 
dappwl, difficult to describe in words, but fold the corner of the paper and place pen to do the dot. Draw back on to the corner of the said paper and come off to draw the circle.
Easier done that said.
 
ss1992 said:
Riddle:
What is too much for one, enough for two, but nothing at all for three?
Click to expand...

My attempt:
A seesaw?

Here's one:
You are alone in the basement. You see three light switches. They are all "off".

Up two flights of stairs (where you can not see from the basement) there's a room with three light bulbs in it that are each controlled by the three switches (one switch per bulb).

You can only go up the stairs once.

How do you find out which switch controls which bulb?

No other tools or devices can be used. The house is otherwise empty.
 
What happens once a minute, twice in every moment, but never in a hundred thousand years?










(the letter ‘M’)
 
TheAtheistReverend said:
My attempt:
A seesaw?

Here's one:
You are alone in the basement. You see three light switches. They are all "off".

Up two flights of stairs (where you can not see from the basement) there's a room with three light bulbs in it that are each controlled by the three switches (one switch per bulb).

You can only go up the stairs once.

How do you find out which switch controls which bulb?

No other tools or devices can be used. The house is otherwise empty.
Click to expand...
Not quite. ;):p

As to yours I can't figure it out! :banghead::banghead::banghead:
 
TheAtheistReverend said:
Here's one:
You are alone in the basement. You see three light switches. They are all "off".

Up two flights of stairs (where you can not see from the basement) there's a room with three light bulbs in it that are each controlled by the three switches (one switch per bulb).

You can only go up the stairs once.

How do you find out which switch controls which bulb?

No other tools or devices can be used. The house is otherwise empty.
Click to expand...

My guess...

You walk up the stairs once and unscrew all three light bulbs, now you know that all of the switches do not control any light bulbs? Lol...
 
TheAtheistReverend said:
My attempt:
A seesaw?

Here's one:
You are alone in the basement. You see three light switches. They are all "off".

Up two flights of stairs (where you can not see from the basement) there's a room with three light bulbs in it that are each controlled by the three switches (one switch per bulb).

You can only go up the stairs once.

How do you find out which switch controls which bulb?

No other tools or devices can be used. The house is otherwise empty.
Click to expand...

You turn on switch 3 and go upstairs to see light C is on. You then turn unscrew light B. You go back stairs knowing that 3 controls C, switch 1 controls a light and switch 2 controls the other. :)
 
TheAtheistReverend said:
Here's one:
You are alone in the basement. You see three light switches. They are all "off".

Up two flights of stairs (where you can not see from the basement) there's a room with three light bulbs in it that are each controlled by the three switches (one switch per bulb).

You can only go up the stairs once.

How do you find out which switch controls which bulb?

No other tools or devices can be used. The house is otherwise empty.
Click to expand...

I forgot about this one...
took me a second to put it back together in my head.

ANSWER:
You turn on two of the three switches. Wait for a minute (long enough to allow the bulbs to get good and hot), then turn off one of those switches and run up the stairs.
The cool bulb that is off belongs to the switch you never touched, the hot bulb that is off belongs to the one you turned on then off, and the lit bulb belongs to the switch you left on.
 
There once were three traveling salesmen that happened upon the same remote inn for lodgings one night. The innkeeper charged each guest ten dollars for a room for a thirty dollar total. When he told his wife what he had done, she scolded him for charging so much. They will never return said she. She gave her husband five dollars to return to the salesmen so that they would be fairly charged and might return another time. The husband, not knowing exactly how he might divide the five dollars three ways decides he would give each salesman back a dollar and put the remaining two dollars in his pocket.
After the refunding, each salesman spent nine dollars for a room and the husband had two in his pocket. 3 x 9 = 27 and 27 + 2 = 29. Where is the missing dollar?
 
olbriar said:
There once were three traveling salesmen that happened upon the same remote inn for lodgings one night. The innkeeper charged each guest ten dollars for a room for a thirty dollar total. When he told his wife what he had done, she scolded him for charging so much. They will never return said she. She gave her husband five dollars to return to the salesmen so that they would be fairly charged and might return another time. The husband, not knowing exactly how he might divide the five dollars three ways decides he would give each salesman back a dollar and put the remaining two dollars in his pocket.
After the refunding, each salesman spent nine dollars for a room and the husband had two in his pocket. 3 x 9 = 27 and 27 + 2 = 29. Where is the missing dollar?
Click to expand...

Answer:

There is no missing dollar. The math is presented in a way to trick the listener into thinking he/she should count the way provided. But the 5 has nothing to do with the thirty, and therefore neither does the two in his pocket. The three he gave to the men does. 27+3=30 the 2 dollars belongs to his wife.
 
What happens twice in every moment, once in every minute, but never in a hundred thousand years?

The letter 'm.'
 
Mrs. Bigger had a baby. Who was bigger, Mrs. Bigger or the baby?

The baby, because he was a little Bigger.
 
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