Can You Resolve the Unexpected Hanging Paradox?

[@mossycastle9117]

The horses name was Wednesday

[@gavinhaney7187]

CLEVER

[@calebantonio3444]

XD am I the only one that gets it

[@ToDamnRight]

GrandSlam5 a hahhaa I see what you did there cowboy

[@kieranthomson1102]

Re re re reposted comment!

[@lexell21]

wrong riddle

[@rohanjeetdas5707]

*Prisoner*: You can't kill me today, it will create a paradox. *Judge*: Like I fuckin care.

[@friedegg3732]

prisoner: surprised pikachu face

[@sbohlongwa9150]

😂😂😂The judge is savage

[@deleted-something]

Ye

[@Konpekikaminari]

because his deductions the prisoner assumed no day is fitting for a surprise execution, and therefore he expected not to be executed at all, this made every day a valid day for a surprise execution

[@Konpekikaminari]

welp, I tried

[@smallstuff5396]

well at least it made a lot more sense then the gibberish that the video said

[@Konpekikaminari]

Small Stuff haha glad to hear

[@bigtrolly]

Itai Sprachman This was exactly the answer I was looking for, was surprised no one stated this yet

[@AZ-oy5vj]

The thing is, the prisoner would be executed as that wouldnt make sesnse if he were not to be, why would the judge lie?

[@Kaervek87]

I keep seeing the scar on the prisoner's face as a smirk.

[@isabellab1033]

I never thought it was a scar

[@ianjulius5185]

Yeah I thought it was a smirk

[@wjld]

Isabella B . Me neither.

[@jok9808]

Wait it’s *not* a smirk? I swear to God, I see smirks on everything because of Malfoy.

[@GNNandmoreYoutube]

Me too

[@bloxcraft8489]

The horses name was Friday.

[@alidasoo6654]

Lol wrong riddle

[@houseph0ne815]

LOL

[@mrirror2277]

HAHA good one

[@druddalol8038]

blox craft hahahahahaha

[@Maelsstrom]

blox craft lol XD u killed me

[@kronusexodues7283]

and so he thinks that there is no day where he can be surprised and feels save, which makes the surprise even more surprising.

[@ryder3976]

i was thinking that as well and was going to comment

[@mrkiky]

Well he was told he was gonna get executed, so he can never feel safe. By his logic , he should be 100% sure it was gonna be on monday, then when it isn't, he should be 100% sure it's tuesday. And then he should be 100% sure it's wednesday, when in this case he would have been right and should have died completely unsurprised. and the judge would have lied... not about the execution, but about the surprise.

[@theroyalcat7010]

+mrkiky Executed *BY SURPRISE*, making him think that he won't be executed because he is prepared for execution.

[@mrkiky]

TheRoyalCat 777 Well he should have been prepared.Sounds really dumb that between no surprise and no hanging at all he picked no hanging at all.

[@theroyalcat7010]

+mrkiky His faulty logic, not mine. I commented on this earlier, my full explanation is there, but I see what your saying.

[@akashcommander5997]

There is a major flaw in prisoners thinking. He can cancel Friday only if he is not hanged on the previous days... So he will have to wait till Thursday afternoon only then he can say that he will not be hanged tomorrow i.e. Friday. If he is not hanged on any of the first 4 days only then he can deduce this. Surely the prisoner was a moron and deserved to die.. he confused many of us even after his death.

[@mapOoni]

The Judge keeps you until Friday and then yells suprise.

[@akashcommander5997]

mapOoni 😁

[@romaniangamer1]

Akash Chhagani THANK YOU, FUCKING THANK YOU!!!

[@akashcommander5997]

ArsenalsJack1992 hahaha.. its good that you understood it..

[@MrWizardjr9]

but then when he is not hanged Wednesday then he would know that it has to be Thursday because they can't hang him on friday because that wouldnt be a surprise

[@Popcornio]

"I am the pope." *THUG LIFE*

[@shuttup8255]

the prisoner was surprised because he convinced himself that it can not be any day, so, by wednesday he was surprised

[@SlythysGaming]

That's exactly what I was thinking.

[@TonyStark-ir8ke]

Surprised cause he'll be cussing himself "Damn I didn't think they'll actually do it on friday! But then they didn't surprise me!" ^^^^^the prisoner would probably say all this while he's surprised himself though, creating said irony

[@SlythysGaming]

EXACTLYYYY

[@SlythysGaming]

***** Elaborate upon your insult, as that alone doesn't provide any points as to why he is wrong, and you are right.

[@Palazzo]

Exactly this.

[@rubisco9190]

The answer is: the reasoning of the prisoner brought him to be absolutley sure he would not be executed that week. Then he got executed on wednesday and was completely surprised, because he was sure he would have not be executed. In the end the result is always the same: the prisoner is always surprised.

[@crycrybribri]

And dead.

[@pineapplepenumbra]

Ben Sam Which is a shame, as he was actually innocent.

[@adventofnull]

You took the words out of my mouth. Great reasoning!

[@ssalamander2134]

what if he expects to die every day he knows he will die and he is so dumb he dosent realise the paradoxial solution, there is a paradox. my point is; the paradox comes down to the prissoners deductal abileties

[@ssalamander2134]

the paradox comes down to the prissoners deductal abileties

[@user-tt6wf9dl8n]

I figured it out the prisoner was overthinking everything.

[@seekgeek5613]

The Solution is pretty simple : Judge induces 'idea' in the prisoner's mind that he can not be surprised. He breaks that idea by hanging the prisoner.

[@MagalhaesDLua]

S ikr

[@1VYX]

so his reasoning was that if he was alive the day before, he would die the next day and wont be surprised. wrong. a week passes Monday to Friday - so his logic would only work on one day - Friday. the surprise factor is never there because he knows he will be executed - but the chances on each day vary which could be the reason why he is surprised. if he wakes up Monday, all he knows is that he has a 1/5 chance of dying if he wakes up Tuesday, he knows he has a 1/4 chance of dying if he wakes up Wednesday, he knows he has a 1/3 change of dying if he wakes up Thursday, he knows he has a 1/2 if he wakes up Friday, he knows he has a 100% chance of dying he was reasoning backwards, from Friday to Monday, but he cannot see Friday before Monday, so this is the flaw in his reasoning. because he only had a 33% chance of dying, he thought he would live and thus was surprised when he was executed.

[@dhirenram4971]

Most logical explanation I've come across so far.

[@ryanyang3347]

Nope. It’s not a 1/5 chance. He can’t be hanged on Friday. It is however a 1/3 chance, as you can’t make assumptions based on assumptions, so anytime before Thursday is fine

[@fakename5400]

Ryan Yang he can’t technically but still the point was in the percent chances he had of dying and only on friday would he have a 100% chance of dying and would not be surprised which that was said wouldn’t happen

[@bryan_mancia2549]

Christian Von Eper but in which case he knows the judge can NOT kill him Friday since he’d know for sure he’d be killed and wouldn’t be surprised, so in order for the judge to stay true to his word is by giving the man a 1/4 chance in which case he’d know the fourth day is his last possible day. BUT then technically he shouldn’t be surprised on Thursday...

[@samuelcampion6120]

Say your going to die today or tomorrow (but you can't know which day). If it gets to tomorrow you can't be surprised so you can't be killed hence you have to be killed today, knowing this you can't be killed today? Can this not be extrapolated back with more days?

[@LoremasterRyan]

"He won't be told the exact day, so he'll be unpleasantly surprised when they knock on his door" I don't see this as much of a paradox as a flaw in the prisoner's logic, right? His first assumption is that they can't execute him on Friday, because he would see it coming. If he survives until Thursday then he'll known his death is on Friday. Except they can't hang him on Friday. They can't because he would see it coming and he would know by Thursday at 12:01 PM that he was going to live. So he would sit comfortably in his cell on Friday, knowing that he can't POSSIBLY be executed that day, because he'd see it coming. Then 12:00 hits. A knock on his door. "What! I thought I couldn't be executed today!" Then the guard says "Surprise!"

[@zuther1844]

I'm pretty sure the prisoner would expect to be executed on Friday, thus not being surprised

[@LoremasterRyan]

Zuther why? He "knows" he can't be

[@Sewblon]

But how is that a flaw in the prisoners' logic? What was his specific mistake?

[@zuther1844]

+Ryan Schoon but he is told he would be executed, doesn't matter what he concludes

[@LoremasterRyan]

+Gregory Bogosian his logic that he couldn't be killed on Friday is what started his chain of thought thinking he was safe. That logic was wrong which led to him getting surprised when they killed him

[@amiah1605]

If the prisoner convinces himself that it can't be any day, then he's broken the rule. The judge said between Monday and Friday

[@kimitsudesu]

Yeah. Even if we change the Judges statement to "You *may or may not be* executed..." the prisoner's logic then fails on the very first step: he cannot assume that he won't be surprised by execution on Friday, because there is a case when he somehow concludes that execution will not happen.

[@Jackerco]

He has not broken any rule. It's the prisoner just being plain stupid.

[@bugzbunny109]

Or rather, the prisoner can claim that the Judge's rules are internally inconsistent.

[@janlerddeekunlam7192]

Aman Miah

[@matthewjackman8410]

+Jᴀᴄᴋᴇʀᴄᴏ You need to realize that paradoxes are not to be looked at like a children's story. The prisoner's logic was sound, but he was given a contradictory starting point and so came to an incorrect conclusion. The prisoner's only wrongdoing was to assume that the guard would be consistent and logical in his decision (which he was not).

[@ghffrsfygdhfjkjiysdz]

BUT... If the prisoner survives until Thursday and believes that he cannot be executed on Friday; wouldn't a Friday execution be a surprise for him?

[@attcat]

...I think you ended up with a whole new paradox. If he survives until Thursday, the only possibly day for him to be executed is Friday, therefore it is not a surprise because it's the only option left. However, since the prisoner believes that he couldn't be hanged on Friday, since as stated before it would not be a surprise, it would come as a surprise to him if he were hanged on Friday. This is strange. It's like, Schrödinger's execution.

[@FujibearGames]

No, because he knows that's the last possible day for them to hang him, so they will.

[@attcat]

FujibearGames Ima do a point by point thing (mostly to keep my thoughts straight) 1.) The judge says that the day of the hanging will be a surprise. According to the paradox, this means that, if the prisoner wouldn't be surprised to be hanged on that day, that wouldn't be the day he would be hanged on. 2.) If the prisoner survives Thursday afternoon, he knows that Friday is the day of his hanging, therefore it wouldn't be a surprise. He thus believes that he couldn't possibly be hanged on Friday. 3.) If he is hanged on Friday, his beliefs are proven to be false, and thus he is surprised.

[@FujibearGames]

Pastlife17 That's still only half of the issue. They say they will hang him based on 2 criteria: - This week up until Friday - it will surprise him It's not a surprise to the prisoner if he is hanged on Friday NO MATTER WHAT, because it is the last possible day he could be hanged so he expects it. By thursday the prisoner KNOWS he will be executed on Friday, or they break their promise. But he also knows, if they execute him Friday, they will break their promise to surprise him. The two requisite statements become conflicting as soon as thursday noon comes and he is still alive. Bonus Round: Realistically, the executors can't know what day he expects them to execute him, so the only promise they CAN definitively keep, is that it will be this week, and disregard their other promise, because they have no way of keeping it without the possibility of him expecting the day they happen to hang him on. That being said, I would hang him the first day as executioner, and he probably wouldn't expect that anyway, but you can't guarantee such a thing.

[@ghffrsfygdhfjkjiysdz]

Pastlife17 My point exactly.

[@TiredBush]

Going by his logic, if they hung him on Friday wouldn't he be extra surprised due to the very fact that he deduced he wouldn't be hung on Friday?

[@kashhenk958]

But he’d know it’d be Friday once it got to Friday because there’s no more days

[@puzzLEGO]

this riddle is dumb

[@speedybasket5205]

But hed know

[@bruh-ys2eo]

lmao i solved it. the prisoner was vegan.

[@Thunderstyle7]

Top kek.

[@pilswerk8112]

Laying down some top intellect right here

[@milicajovanovic370]

the judge said "he will be surprised" and he was surprised at the end because the judge made him think the way he taught and he was thinking that there is no way it could be Wednesday so he was surprised when it was

[@milicajovanovic370]

If I'm wrong tell me

[@rainripples2778]

I think this way too, the judge chose wednesday from the beggining and let the prisoner think that there was a logical patern to guess the day

[@NeverBeFloor]

I thought the exact same thing. The prisoner was only surprised because he thought in order for the judge's statements to be true, the hanging could not be on any of the days of the week. It was than, in fact, surprising when he was hung on one of the days (any of which would have been surprising).

[@rg-vlog]

milica jovanovic yeah i thought the Same

[@spyseand6353]

milica jovanovic pretty sure that's the philosophical solutions

[@nates9536]

Well this reasoning only really makes any sense for Friday. Anything before that is just wishful thinking

[@dylanv2559]

Given that 1=0: proof that you're the pope: 1=0 +1 on each side = 2=1 Bertand russels and I are 2 men. Given that 2=1 russels and I are one men. If russels is the pope, I am the pope (and I'm not even catholic).

[@awsomebot1]

If you and Russels are one man, and 1=0, you are no man.

[@thebuggybit]

wtf

[@universaltraveller263]

Dylan Verhoef By the same logic, everyone is the pope. And I'm not Christian :)

[@theyoungtheist3785]

50 popes are 49 popes. 0 popes are 1 pope. 0 * 9999999999999999999999999999 = 9999999999999999999999999999 popes *Has Science Gone Too Far?*

[@tempetenoir1202]

Dylan Verhoef The pope doesn't have to be catholic

[@walrusking653]

Surely it was a surprise because it was on Wednesday and the prisoner concluded that it could not be a Wednesday

[@walrusking653]

Or is there some flaw in my logic?

[@aero5679]

Nope i thought the same thing

[@Gruntsisterz]

My thoughts exactly HAHA

[@ianmcneely2446]

The correct solution is the prisoner doesn't know how time works.

[@HyperUniverse]

yep

[@gabrielleon604]

dude, you really deserve more subscribers

[@The-Rest-of-Us]

+Gabriel Leon I knooooowww, right?! :)

[@gabrielleon604]

The Rest Of Us I only think that your videos are too good for having that few attention, but don't worry, I know that someday you're going to get to the top ;)

[@gabrielleon604]

but you still are a guy with a lot of subs so you should be proud ;)

[@Ozensaiop]

the prisoner thought the judge couldn't hand him and have him being surprised about it, but if he thought this then whenever the judge hanged him it would have been a surprise, accept for both Thursday or Friday because he could always think it today or tomorrow while Wednesday is the last day with a leeway so that if the prisoner was hung between Monday and Wednesday it would have been a surprise bc there is no way of knowing if it was today or tomorrow for all three of those days

[@Ozensaiop]

idk if that actually solves it but I tried

[@The-Rest-of-Us]

I feel the need to address everyone who is saying "the prisoner was surprised, as he concluded that he couldn't be hanged": The problem with this is that you are granting the prisoner, that his logic was perfectly correct (if you're not, then the solution would simply be 'he was surprised, as his logic was wrong'). Hence, given that the prisoner's logic (and therefore conclusion) was correct, he was hanged. Once again, you are stuck with a contradiction. The reason that I love this paradox is, that it has many layers. Each time you think you untangled the knot, once you look closer, you realise that you haven't. In retrospect I could have done a better job of addressing the layers in the video.

[@KOOLswe]

The solution contradicts itself, which is the problem. The contradiction is that if he believes he will be hanged a certain day, he will not be hanged, since he will not be surprised. If he concludes that he will not be hanged, he may be hanged that day since he will be surprised. If he believes he may be hanged, we are back where we started, trying to figure out when the prisoner will be hanged. The only day we know that he will not be hanged for certain is friday, since he would be executed in the next 5 days, which means that the execution must be at the latest friday. A conclusion about the other days can't be drawn since drawing a conclusion leads to a contradiction(believe hanged => not hanged, believe not hanged=> may be hanged).

[@JordeAlgol]

Actually you're not. You have two cases. A logical man, and a non-logical man. On Friday, the non-logical man will assume he must be hanged that day, so you must hang him any other day, but this man will not go beyond this. No contradiction, no paradox, he is surprised to be hanged on Thursday. The logical man will deduce that the cannot be hanged Friday, then follow the logic you presented. However, his initial assumption, that he can not be hanged on Friday is wrong. His assumption is, because he would not be surprised, they can't hang him, but the moment he makes that assumption, they can, so all the following logic is invalid. So, any prisoner, logical or not will be surprised if hanged on Wednesday, no contradiction or paradox.

[@The-Rest-of-Us]

As soon as any man - logical or not - conclusively deducts that he can not be hanged on Friday, there is already a paradox, is there not? Unless you can show that his logic must be wrong. Many people seem to be confused by the term "paradox". It simply means that there is some self-contradiction going on. The simplest form of self contradiction in the unexpected hanging paradox is that the set of possible hanging days will always exclude the last day at least.

[@KOOLswe]

so basically, you will always contradict yourself, even on the friday?

[@JordeAlgol]

The statement is "The hanging cannot be on Friday because if it is on Friday I will not be surprised." This is simply a false statement. Any logic you build from this will be flawed. On Friday, if you assert that "the hanging cannot be today because I will not be surprised" this is a false statement. A non-logical person will not make this leap in judgement, so if they are executed on Friday they will not be surprised. But a logical person will because they believed a strictly false statement. "I cannot be hanged because I will not be surprised", for anyone capable of making this statement it is false.

[@cooldude56g]

The way I see it, the guard can walk into the cell on Friday at 11:59PM with only five seconds remaining on the clock, yell "SURPRISE!" snap his neck and be done with it. Who the fuck would expect such a sudden execution with such little time remaining. Surely he must thing he's safe at that point.

[@hottublovingmonkeys6186]

Says he will solve it today. *Tells us to solve it.*

[@henryviii267]

lol

[@Nayshjin]

Here is the solution , On tuesday noon , wednesday and thursday are two possibilities since friday he wont be surprised

[@Nayshjin]

basically what he said ,contradiction

[@chatoyerhuggins2894]

If you're talking about the phrase "unsolved until today" I believe he meant "unsolved to this day", meaning on the day he recorded the video, it was still unsolved. Confusing, but the phrase has been used that way before.

[@hottublovingmonkeys6186]

The real answer is the prisoner should be surprised because he's an ass.

[@sumdumbmick]

A better 'paradox' is that he'd also be surprised if hanged on Fri, since he will be overconfident that it can't happen that day.

[@SwagScop3d]

+Michael Minnich except on thursday night he will know 100% that he would get hung on the next day so therefore, he wouldn't be surprised

[@shipaoishi]

+Michael Minnich that wont happen. Considering that the judge only told the truth. Because he wont be overconfident about not being executed on friday, because if he is not executed by thursday, he will be 100% sure that he will be executed on friday.

[@sumdumbmick]

No, you're not comprehending what the paradox is about. The paradox arises because the prisoner concludes that the judge is lying and is overconfident in that assessment. Thus the hanging can occur on any of the 5 days and the prisoner will be genuinely surprised. There is also a possibility that a Friday hanging will be the most surprising, since it is the time which most strongly confirms the prisoner's hypothesis that no hanging is possible.

[@shipaoishi]

Michael Minnich But if the prisoner isnt hanged by thursday noon, he will be 100% sure that he will be hanged the next day.

[@sumdumbmick]

The judge and executioner know that, but the prisoner has concluded that the judge lied. Each day that passes confirms the prisoner's hypothesis, why would he suddenly change his mind just because it's Friday morning?

[@beck01]

Execution on Friday would be predictable because that's the only day left, sure. But if you look at the prisoner's deduction carefully, he he believed that he wouldn't be executed at all. So it would be a surprise to him, no matter what day it was.

[@amaurylannes]

+Rebecca Koshy True.

[@saltycracker5977]

This is exactly what I thought, and I kept asking myself why this was such a popular paradox. I honeslty thought it was a joke.

[@jacob810]

Exactly.

[@KarstenOkk]

+Rebecca Koshy Also his deduction is just ridiculous.

[@parsuli.]

+Rebecca Koshy GAAAAD DAMN IT! I thought I was the only one who thought this! I scroll down and... Oh! WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT! Someone else thought this too! So much for feeling special :(

[@Jackie_3]

I feel the judge used his version of common sense and deduced that the prisoner would think he wouldn't be hanged.

[@HulittyJing]

It's a paradox because he is going trough the week backwards. When the weeks stars and it's Monday, he is not able to know for sure in wich day he will be killed. He would only know he'd be hanged on Friday, where the paradox begins, if he maked it until Thursday, wich he did not.

[@HulittyJing]

Either this or he was hanged asleep, so when he woke up surprised :)

[@samgoode2274]

But because he can't be hanged on Friday, technically the last day he can be hanged on is Thursday. If the last day he can be hanged on is Thursday, then if he is alive after Wednesday, then he knows he will be hanged on Thursday, since he already knows he can't be hanged on Friday. But if he knows that he will be hanged on Thursday, then now he is expecting to be hanged on Thursday and so he can't be hanged on Thursday either. We can continue this logic for Wednesday all the way to the start of the week on Monday. He then does not expect to be hanged, and so the Judge can now hang him on any day of the week since he has come to the conclusion that he shall not be executed at all. Of course, as the video above shows at 3:16, with a contradictory starting point, one can deduce anything, anything including a false conclusion. So since the Judge's statement itself is a contradictory starting point, we can literally deduce that the prisoner can be hanged on any day of the week. In the end, basically any conclusion we come to is likely to be a false conclusion.

[@samgoode2274]

Yeah, if he was hanged asleep, that works too. *Wakes up with a rope wrapped around his neck* Prisoner: Waaaiiitt? What? *Trapdoor opens up*

[@deltaxcd]

I think the mistake is that judge didi not said you will *newer* know when you will die his sentence is only applicable to the moment when it is said.

[@bugzbunny109]

This isn't a solution. Starting on Monday he doesn't know when he will be hanged, but does know when he won't be hanged-Friday, Thursday..etc. He doesn't need to go through the week to eliminate possible days; but rather use the information given to him. The paradox still remains. You haven't addressed the method of elimination posed. The goal is to show that that method is flawed in some way; then the paradox will be resolved.

[@draggonhedd]

Easy. The man was arrogant. He thought he had a flawless argument. He thought he could use it as a loophole and therefore beat the system. He would have been surprised had they done it any day of the week, it didn't matter because he didn't think they were going to do it because of his argument.

[@789blablajaja]

"He would have been surprised had they done it any day of the week" Wrong. He would not be surprised on the morning of friday, because he would know by thursday.

[@draggonhedd]

You're missing my point. He never expected it to happen at all.

[@789blablajaja]

draggonhedd So you didnt even talk about the paradox, ok.

[@789blablajaja]

By the way, dont get me wrong, I know full well that the man can be executed on friday, and be surprised, I just didnt agree with the reasoning.

[@MrBiky]

The judge was contradictory. It's just overthinking that made the prisoner surprised. Because the prisoner knows he will be executed between Monday and Friday, but doesn't know exactly when. So if he thought: "I will be executed Monday" and it doesn't happen, then "I will be executed Tuesday" and it doesn't happen, then "I will be executed Wednesday" and so on. So he would expect to be executed for sure and won't be surprised. So the judge would be a liar.

[@Chaoddity]

Surprise! The execution is actually Saturday!

[@greenmumm]

that would contradict his statement that it was on a weekday.

[@Chaoddity]

+greenmumm yup. but it would make the first statement especially true! he lied!

[@holaacu8814]

Surprise! IT IS RIGHT NOW *police enters the room and shoots him repeatedly to death, and hangs him over the fan with his intestines*

[@witherblaze]

Bigger surprise, the executor is a Jew...

[@Chaoddity]

Mutant Llama love that idea. Truth AND lies

[@unevilGenius]

90% of the comments are searching on the wrong end. The prisoner's logic is correct. The problem is the following: The judge states that the prisoner will be hanged one day and it will be a surprise. As the prisoner deduces, it follows that he will not be hanged. Thus, the judge's statement is contradictory. Therefore, the prisoner has no clue when he will be hanged and it will be a surprise on any day. But then the judge's statement was true. That's why it's a paradox.

[@CtisGaming]

Repliar of Ancient Comments The judge's statement isn't contradictory, it ignores the flow of time. For the prison to win we have to view the problem as though time passed normally rather than warping to his execution after he guesses. He should actually expect wake up everyday expected to be hanged until noon passes, then he can eliminate that day- making it impossible for him to be surprised as these moments don't happen simultaneously and he already knows it will happen that week.

[@unevilGenius]

That's a part of his thinking. But if he wakes up and expects to be hanged that day, he knows he will not be surprised if he is hanged that day. Just like any other day. That's the contradiction that leads him to actually be surprised.

[@GNNandmoreYoutube]

Repliar of Ancient Comments 100th like

[@unevilGenius]

Thanks, I didn't expect to get that many likes at all :)

[@LapSiLap]

"and it will be a surprise on any day".. Not on friday?

[@Silmerano]

This doesn't make any sense to me. He's jumping way ahead and rationalizing a solution using data he doesn't have.

[@devon752]

Did you not watch the video? He is using the data he has. If he doesn't get hanged by Thursday, then he will most certainly be hanged on Friday in which case the judges statement was incorrect as the prisoner wouldn't be surprised. That only leaves Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday to be hanged. But when Wednesday comes that must mean that he will be hanged on Thursday since we ruled out Friday which again contradicts the judges statement, and so on and so on. The logic is not flawed until we reach Thursday and survive noon.

[@PhizetaHD]

But he has to be alive on Thursday to rule out Friday, he can't rule out Friday if he has only lived so far until Wednesday

[@aaateam111]

The flaw is the prisoner assumed he wont get hanged by monday to wednesday. Friday logic was the only conclusion he had rights to get, but rest was not upto him to decide. He was basically trying to be in the shoes of the dealer, but clearly he wasn't the one deciding when he gets hanged. So all the prediction he made from monday to wednesday had no bases.

[@Sdogofdoom]

Technically, once he knows he cannot be hung on a Friday, he knows he cannot be hung on a Thursday, then Wednesday, etc. Its working logic, but the problem is that once he hits the "i cannot be hung this week" point, he resets the cycle, opening the entire week up again. Theoretically, he could stop without making any logical assumption, state "I am going to be hung tomorrow" for the rest of his life, and he will never be hung because it will never be a surprise, so long as he is ABSOLUTELY certain.

[@anasrachidi9299]

and let's not forget, he already knew friday was not the day, he can't go on eliminating possibilities since it's 5 days not 4 days (if he removed friday) that means his logic will only work once, not on every day

[@B3Band]

This problem has been debated for decades (centuries, even) by the brightest minds in academia, but of course everyone on KZbin is an expert who can solve it in 10 seconds, with time left over to hurl some neat insults around!

[@turbohockeyrecordz2692]

I would argue that the point of the paradox is to draw your own conclusion. The philosophers throughout history had formed their own opinion and most likely argued it as if they were experts. The people commenting on this video are actually looking at the problem itself, and it's wonderful how such a simple paradox can inspire this level of thought among so many people.

[@NightDoge]

+TurboHockeyRecordz -- Except that they were indeed experts and had knowledge and able to apply that knowledge beyond the capabilities of the average youtube commenter. You're implying a contrast with scholars jacking themselves off saying how smart they are and common jack "actually" doing smart stuff. People in themselves are interesting. Give them a cloud and they make bunnies and dragons out of it.

[@immortalis1001]

+Bloodbath and Beyond Well, basically you just explained the whole internet in one sentence.

[@ggcpres]

To be fair, random people on KZbin are coming at the paradox with raw common sense. We don't have to worry about academic standards, mathematics, or anything of that nature. To us the answer is simple: lol scrub got rekt cuz he was too dumb to be ready form the time he went to sleep Sunday. likewise, when we hear someone say 1=0 we are not thinking in terms of formalized logic... we simply know 1=1 and not zero because reality and any tirade one launches into trying to disprove that 1=1 is ivory tower bs.

[@B3Band]

"random people on KZbin...with raw common sense" Sorry, you lost me there :)

[@Rickfernello]

The real, actual solution, is that the prisioner is stupid.

[@vicenteisaaclopezvaldez2450]

It's simple, you don't discard possibilities, since even if you negate them they still a possibility, the unlikely. If you're too laid back on your deduction you're bonded to be surprised.

[@WobblesandBean]

This seems fairly straightforward to me. By the prisoner's own flawed logic, they cannot hang him, so he incorrectly assumes that he simply won't be hanged. So of course he's surprised when it does occur on Wednesday. Enough time has passed that he thinks he's in the clear, but not enough to reach Thursday, the day the prisoner thinks he's guaranteed to be safe.

[@111asel]

Someone who understands! Kind of. He deduces that everyday he's guaranteed to be safe, but is surprised when on one day, whether it be Wednesday, Thursday, Monday etc, he is executed.

[@WobblesandBean]

The problem comes when we are told as a given that, come Wednesday, he was surprised to be executed. That tells me he had given a lot of thought to his theory (which really, doesn't make a whole lot of sense) and assumed it to be irrefutable.

[@Godzillaaaaa11]

Isnt the flaw in the assumption the prisoner makes, being the judge will follow his logic? The judge is mandated to hang him and the surprise is something that suggests the prisoner is missing information; the hanging date. Given that and no other clues he will never be 100%. So becuase of the prisoner's logic and conclusion that there are no surprise days he just dug himself a grave since he thinks everything is conforming to his logic. Therefore does his logic even matter? His fate is resolved at the end and in this hypothetical it would seem that there is no escape, I feel like this paradox is very useless as it deal with missing information, something that the prisoner could never be 100% certain about.

[@coryc9040]

The flaw is the judge's statement. When you analyze what it means to be surprised in this example you find it requires, for any given day, a day after where the prisoner can potentially be hanged. Since the judge said the prisoner will be hanged any day M-F AND he we be surprised because the date is unknown to the prisoner, the judge's statement is not true. It's false if the hanging day is Friday. Since it's false the prisoner has no business forming logical conclusions about the judge's statement. It's like the judge also saying 1=1 for every day of the week except friday where 1=0. Going with the Russel bit at the end, the prisoner might come to some conclusion about time travel based on 0=1, and conclude he wont die because on friday a family member can go back in time and prevent his crime from ever taking place.

[@gurupartapkhalsa6565]

to make matters worse the prisoner would still be surprised on friday

[@coleyoung2539]

My Solution: The prisoner's logic is correct, but his solution is not. The prisoner should not have been surprised because he figured out that any day he will be hung he will know. The judge could not have surprised him if the prisoner used his logic. The prisoner would not have been surprised. The only reason he was surprised is because he assumed he could not be hung without being surprised, so he sat in a false sense of security. Once they knocked on his door on Wednesday, he was surprised simply because his solution said he could not be surprised by the knock. The Judge outsmarted the prisoner by giving a situation where the prisoner could not be surprised. The judge knowing he would figure this out knew that any day he knocked on his door he would be surprised even Friday because simply knowing you can not be hung on a certain day would give you an unpleasant surprise when they knock. To conclude the Judge knew the prisoner would reason with correct logic, and the prisoner now sitting comfortable in his cell was now vulnerable to an unpleasant surprise on any day.

[@gius8068]

TheSteamyPrune I believe this is the right solution. This is not as much of a logic paradox but a sematic one, specifically in the meaning of "surprised".

[@coleyoung2539]

exactly

[@nichqlas2607]

No his logic is still wrong... he is correct in saying he can't be surprise-executed on Friday because he would already know on Thursday, but on Tuesday he wouldn't know if he would be executed tomorrow or today... thus making it a surprise Very thoughtful comment, regardless

[@dunmill9632]

TheSteamyPrune TheSteamyPrune All they have to do is hanging him or turn over the card before last day or card can be deducted. So if he has no certain confidence over the decision yet, he still has no way to figure out which day or card would be the one he's guessed, and would face the end with the surprise.

[@mattpotter8725]

I like your thinking, but I'm drawn to the fact as a former mathematician that the later into the week that it gets the less of a surprise it will be, if only purely because on the Monday there is a 1 in 5 chance of being hung on that day, on the Tuesday because Monday has passed because there is a 1 in 4 chance so the chance of being hung on each day is greater and thus less of a surprise (if you have a 1 in 1,000,000 chance of winning the lottery you are more surprised winning than you are if you are entered into a lottery where there is a 1 in 100 chance of winning). If the prisoner is correct in assuming that he can't be hung on Friday which I believe is correct then you only become unable to be hung on Thursday when it hits the end of Wednesday, Thus the prisoner will have to be hung while there are still 2 days available for the prisoner to be hung and the most surprised would be when there is the most number of days remaining and so the prisoner would be more shocked the be hung on Monday where he could be hung on 4 days. I agree that it is more about defining what constitutes being surprised, but if he deduces like I did that he is most likely to be hung on Monday I still feel he would be surprised to be hung on the Monday because even if he thinks this is the most likely he still can't be sure (there is no way of being sure though).

[@VideoGameManiac8]

if you expect it to happen everyday, you wont get surprised

[@genericaction]

If I expect Jennifer Lawrence to walk through my door every morning I'd still be amazed if she did. But mostly thoroughly disappointing myself perpetually.

[@VideoGameManiac8]

genericaction its the thought that counts!

[@iSaintRichie23]

Yet, if I am told to expect a letter in the mail before the end of the business week, I wouldn't be surprised when it arrives because I was told it was coming. Your example, unlike the (supposed) paradox, gives no warning that it'll ever actually happen. It is not "within" the paradox, because what you expect to happen is relative to what you're expecting. I expect the sun will rise every morning am not surprised when it does. It is not a paradox as expecting something to occur inverts the situation, making you surprised when it doesn't occur. If the mail arrived the following week, I would be surprised that it did not meet my expectation that it would arrive the last week as stated. If I woke up in the morning and the sun was not out, I would be surprised and, more likely, extremely terrified.

[@kro2704]

I think the prisoner lived in a society that was ran by a dictator and he was hanged for being an idiot

[@RiC_David]

Little thing I'm compelled to point out and help you with because it's unlikely anyone else will: _"That hasn't been resolved until this day"_ This phrasing doesn't work and actually says the opposite of what you mean. It's subtle but what you should say is: _That hasn't been resolved to this day_ "Until" implies that it was solved on this day while "To this day" doesn't. I can completely understand the confusion as "To this day" sounds like it should mean "up until (but not after)" but for whatever reason, it doesn't! Just another of those subtleties that don't follow any clear logic and must be very tricky for non native speakers. We English speakers are luckier than we can appreciate!

[@egpimp]

And if they meant it was solved that day?

[@The-Rest-of-Us]

Some of my native-english speaking friends pointed this mistake out to me right after I uploaded the video. Thought no one here would catch it, but, well done. :) From now on I'm having the scripts prove-read, as part of my ambition to continuously increase the quality of the videos.

[@vjm3]

I had made the assumption that someone actually DID solve it, and although The Rest Of Us would not tell us the answer ( to allow us to figure it out for ourselves ), he might at the end of the video give us a link to the solution which had been discovered on May 14th. When the end of the video came and went with no provided "solution," I became a little confused, and assumed it a grammatical error on his part.

[@Lucky10279]

Maybe that was intentional, considering that this a paradox video. IDK.

[@hahahasan]

The prisoner is correct in saying that he cannot be hung on Friday as surviving till Thursday noon gives him certainty that Friday is the last and only day he can(not) be hanged. However, surviving till Wednesday noon does not give him the same certainty. He is still uncertain whether he will die on Thursday or Friday. The logic the prisoner employs involves starting with a game involving a set of n days but then ruling out the nth day and then starting a NEW game with a reduced set size of (n-1) days. While the logic he employs is true for each individual new k'th game, with (n-k) days, there is no logical reason that the results from each new game is valid for the original game involving n days. There is certainty present at the last day of each individual game and uncertainty present for every other day. The certainty present in one game cannot be transferred to any of the other games that have different numbers of days. The reasoning the prisoner uses cannot alter the uncertainty of dying on all days except the last day. With uncertainty comes surprise and he is hung a day that contains uncertainty.

[@sagarvadher]

That's exactly what I was thinking!

[@FirstNameLastName-tc2ok]

hahahasan if they waited till Thursday ended, he would know he'd be hands on Friday. Therefore, before Thursday ends, he has the knowledge that he can't be hanged on Friday- and understands that he would then be hanged on Thursday- which would also not be a surprise

[@tuts351]

hahahasan I was thinking about the exact same thing

[@IronicHavoc]

hahahasan I'm pretty sure this is being presented as one of those "everyone knows everyone else is a logician" things, where everyone bases their decisions off of knowledge of the other's logic. He's assuming that the people hanging him know that he knows that killing him on Friday wouldn't be a surprise. The caveat seems to be that he's surprised AT THE MOMENT​ of being taken to be killed. But he will never be surprised ON Friday if he is going to be killed on Friday, since he would know by Thursday. This is always true, no matter what day of the week he determines it. With that foreknowledge: By noon Wednesday he is certain that they won't kill him on Friday, since he assumes both he and his executioners know the above to be the case. Thus by deduction they'd have to kill him on Thursday, but since he can logically deduce that they would have deduced that, he wouldn't be surprised then either. By noon Tuesday he can either be killed on Thursday or Wednesday. By noon on Wednesday he'd know they'd have to kill him on Thursday and not Friday (since he can never be surprised on Friday), which wouldnt be a surprise. So they would have to kill him on Wednesday which wouldn't surprise him. By noon Monday they can kill him Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday, but by the previous logic he would know by noon Tuesday that they would have to kill him Wednesday (see above), which wouldn't be surprise. Thus they'd have to kill him Tuesday, and if they've deduced that he's deduced that, then it wouldn't be a surprise. Thus he knows for certain that they HAVE to kill him on Monday, which also wouldn't surprise him now that he's deduced it. Thus this entire line of logic is contradictory to the judges statements. The flaw in his logic here is that he's assuming his killers are going to follow along with every step of his cyclical deductions, which he works out from the last day backwards. Which doesn't work, as Friday should never be reached and thus logical deductions shouldn't be based on those circumstancestances; As is demonstrated above and as the video explains. Once it's established that the executioners are not considering the prisoners deductions, (i.e. the fact they're killing him at all) then any day other than Friday is equally surprising. TLDR: You are wrong in thinking that​ being killed on Friday AND still being surprised on the day of his execution will ever be a possibility at any point, even on Wednesday, or Tuesday, or Monday.

[@newthrash1221]

hahahasan *hanged

[@vinnybossman]

What seems like a logical explanation to me is that the judge knew beforehand that the prisoner would end up falsely deducing that the judge can't actually execute him any day of the week, which is clearly wrong since he ends up getting executed, so in turn the judge is able to pick a seemingly random day of the week, in this case Wednesday, and the prisoner will be surprised because his reasoning had given him a false sense of security, something that the judge knew would happen and used to his advantage in the end. The prisoners reasoning assumes that he'll know when the judge is gonna execute him since he won't be surprised, so his logic is flawed. Looking at it from this perspective, the judge is a great psychologist and he also manages to stay true to both of his promises in the end.

[@vinnybossman]

The prisoners logic also stems from the basis that he initially assumed that if he'd still be alive by Friday then he couldn't be executed any other day of the week, and the judge somehow knew that the prisoner would follow that line of thought, which in turn explains how he was surprised when he was executed on Wednesday.

[@pfizer69]

I thought the same thing. Which brings me to think that not all factors of this paradox was or can be explored. It kinda breaks down from my prospective. But then again I'm a idiot so what do I really know?

[@ahegao8099]

_>the judge is able to pick a seemingly random day of the week_ Which can't be a Friday. If his randomly-selected day turned out to be Friday, then the prisoner would know with 100% certainty after he survived noon on Thursday. So the judge rules out Friday from his random selection... and the problem repeats itself; he now must rule out Thursday for the same reason.

[@vinnybossman]

justin jones​ Haha honestly I don't know how good I am at logical argumentation and reasoning so I have no idea if what I said made much sense. Well it seems to make sense to you and I, it can't be all that wrong, can it?

[@vinnybossman]

Ahegao If you actually think about it, can this paradox even be solved? I mean what if the prisoner put himself in a mindset wherein every minute he'd think to himself that he was gonna get executed? That would imply that no matter when the judge decides to kill him (maybe when he's sleeping?) he won't be surprised... There's a lot of "solutions" regarding this paradox and some loop holes too,I honestly don't think it was meant to be solved, and humans are particularly stubborn when it comes to that.

[@JD-lq2rm]

The first premise is "If I don't die by Thursday, I'm going to die on Friday" and the ultimate conclusion is "I won't die at all." If you won't die at all, you won't die by Thursday, but neither will you die on Friday. This is a contradiction.

[@rottentomato8995]

Yes! This is the best conclusion I've seen.

[@ricobrawlstars4880]

I know i am replying to a three y/o cmt but this is pure genius

[@JD-lq2rm]

@@ricobrawlstars4880 I'm glad people like this take but I must've been on some shrooms or somthin when I came up with it. I'm dumb as hell most of the time

[@simonblomberg1947]

Lol, wtf. Dude, I've been looking for solutions to this and have read plenty of overly difficult, but ultimately useless math-bullshit... None of those takes were as interesting as yours 0: (unless I just didn't get the math-bullshit of course xD)

[@nicifrey5989]

except that if you dont die by Thursday, you won't die on friday because you can't e surprised.

[@miraloran7039]

He was surprised for one of two reasons, he either thinks he can't be executed because it won't be a surprise because he was "expecting" it and they did anyway or the easiest way, they simply executed him after lunch at like 3pm or something.

[@miraloran7039]

They could have just lied to the poor bastard.

[@TDrewCook]

The judge was being literal when he said the Prisoner would be hung BETWEEN Monday & Friday. Wednesday is exactly between Monday & Friday. The Prison went wrong by not taking the judge literally

[@Vomuseind]

"Between" does not mean "at equal distance of". There is no such thing as "exactly between" in the sense that you are applying here.

[@xfirexheartx8885]

Still doesn't "between Monday & Friday" mean that it can't happen Monday and Friday?

[@lilliansweeney6302]

Oh i get u

[@Golemoid]

or the hanging would take 5 days, they'd start at monday, and finish by friday, so it would still take between monday and friday

[@kennethdiaz602]

Bro replay the video the guys said that the judge said it would be "someday" and then "between" taking it literally wouldnt have made a difference as he would of just gone around in circles and possibly confusing himself by guesses. the method at the end was the only solution though i give you props for an intelligent try.

[@UltimateSpinDash]

The prisoner doesn't realize that in the end, nobody actually cares whether or not he was surprised by his execution.

[@krishjain7840]

When you are a good philosopher but really very bad at maths....you invent this types of paradox.😂

[@dushyanths136]

The horses name is Friday

[@OnchiBon]

icarly right?

[@doctordaro2112]

+Max Talk N no that shit is way older

[@Slackow]

yeah but that's it's meme origin point.

[@rdococ]

There's another, simpler solution. The prisoner thought that he wouldn't be executed. Thus, when he is, he's surprised.

[@koopaspin7153]

+Arephid1 The flaw was,he ruled them all out,so they were all possible again,except for Friday.

[@MrCaneron]

I feel like the at noon part isn't being analyzed enough. The prisoner's clock was an hour slow, so when they come to execute him at noon he will be surprised because he thought he still had an hour left.

[@111asel]

Thinking he wouldn't die was his flaw.

[@111asel]

But his logic was flawed. In this case, you cannot look at logic as point A to Point B, you must see how it reacts to everything around it. His logic was flawed because he didn't take into account that the judge could still surprise him since he had a supposedly foolproof judgement that he wouldn't die.

[@111asel]

***** You're welcome.

[@LittleLionRawr]

Statement 1: He will be executed some day between Monday and Friday. Statement 2: He won't be told the exact day Statement 3: _So that_ he will be unpleasantly surprised. The first two statements are -independent- premises that both state an independent fact. The third statement isn't stating an independent fact: it is a conclusion drawn on the two premises prior rather than an independent fact. The third statement reveals additional *hidden information*: if the prisoner was to be executed on Friday he would definitely expect it based on just the first premise alone (it's the last possible day according to the first premise). Because of this, assuming the third statement is (at least initially) true, it reveals the prisoner won't be executed on Friday. This initial first observation which the prisoner also makes is solid logic. However, the prisoner's deduction in this scenario breaks down the moment he assumes the third statement must still be true after it revealed that hidden information. Because the third statement isn't independent but rather just a conclusion based on the first two statements, it doesn't necessarily factor in the actual act of giving the prisoner the hidden information it reveals. Because this influences his expectations, it changes the conditions and situation upon which the third statement was initially based. This means it's not necessarily true anymore: after the prisoner realises he won't be executed on Friday the third statement may simply become false if the execution is on Thursday. It won't suddenly cause a Thursday execution to also become an impossibility. So it is not a deduction the prisoner can repeat with certainty. By extension, this breaks down his reasoning for the other days as well. Which means that Wednesday can be not completely expected, and the same goes for Tuesday and Monday. To be exact, on Monday there's 25% chance he will be executed that day (4 possible options), on Tuesday there's a 33.3..% chance, on Wednesday there's a 50% chance, and on Thursday there's a 100% chance (again, assuming the third statement was initially true, revealing the execution will definitely not be on Friday). Except for an execution on Thursday the prisoner can't (or shouldn't) fully expect his execution even after revealing the hidden information to him.

[@LittleLionRawr]

Alternatively one could argue (and the prisoner obviously could as well) that the Judge might realise that an execution on Thursday would on that day be fully expected by the prisoner after telling him the third statement. Because of that, the judge _might_ deliberately plan the execution before Thursday. This returns us to the initial deduction of the prisoner as explained in the video. It is a spiral reasoning which will terminate on Monday (because according to the first premise Monday is the first possible execution day). It is, however, all up to the Judge's whim where exactly in that spiral he will stop. This means the prisoner has no conclusion to draw but the observation that the Judge might choose either Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday which all wouldn't be fully expected by the prisoner since for all he knows the Judge could choose Thursday anyway.\ Putting these arguments together, the possibility that the Judge might veer off Thursday for this reason shifts the probability a bit towards the previous days making an execution on Monday somewhere above 25% chance on that day, on Tuesday somewhat above 33% chance on that day, and on Wednesday somewhat above 50% chance on that day. If the prisoner would have thought this through completely like this, he wouldn't be very surprised at all when he was executed on Wednesday. He would probably be more surprised if he would have been executed right on Monday. (taking that into account in the evaluation of the problem is pointless, because that would result in an effect where the probabilities swing back and forth infinitely). Final conclusion still: an execution on either Monday Tuesday or Wednesday can not be fully expected on that day by the prisoner even after the third statement has been told..

[@LittleLionRawr]

P.S. the hanging scenario and the card dealing scenario are fundamentally different because of the difference in their premises.

[@sssssssssssssssss714]

I thought the same, but he can always be sure a day in advance of when the door will be knocked on. Therefore he will never be unpleasantly surprised because the outcome can always be expected a day before. I think that it is a simple solution, where the judge knew he would use correct reasoning, therefore the prison can be hung on any day even Friday because the Judge knows he will come to the solution that he won't be surprised on any day he is hung.

[@LittleLionRawr]

No, on Monday through Wednesday he can't be sure that he will be executed the next day since Thursday remains an option (due to his deduction he would not be surprised on Thursday, but he would have been if he didn't got the information he based his deduction on).

[@CreeperKohlmann]

Little Lion why do you have to use long annoying words to sound smart I'm not arsed to read your comment now

[@drhg6413]

It's very simple. If the hanging isn't perform till Thursday that means it will be perform on Friday which is a suprise but he would knew it one day earlier.

[@sauce242]

It's not a Paradox, it's just bad logic.

[@scapeghost4212]

Luke - Ario its like the "achilles and the turtoise" paradox.

[@unevilGenius]

The prisoner's logic is correct. And the definition of "being surprised by sth" is pretty obvious, namely not being able to deduce it. This is a valid paradox. You're just searching for the error on the wrong end.

[@Theron101]

Ya know have you guys ever thought that the judge told him that so that the prisoner could trick himself into thinking he wouldn't be exucted so that in the end it would be a surprise any day of the week

[@nvmffs]

You're just not smart enough to figure it out. The only real way to surprise him would be to hang him on monday, not wednesday so I'm not sure who came up with that paradox but he needs to think more before he starts creating "paradoxes".

[@unevilGenius]

If I got 1$ for every1 who comments here without understanding the logic explained in the video while accusing others of being "not smart enough", I could retire.

[@Jackerco]

So... Basically, the flaw in his logic was pretty easy for me to spot. He can't be executed on Friday, that's for sure. But the flaw in his logic is when he starts to think that they can't execute him any day of the week because he would expect it. That's what he thinks, but when he comes to that conclusion, that means he's wondering what day they will do it in that case, and that's how he got surprised, he started to wonder which day they would execute him he had no way of telling. They kinda double played him. They knew that he would find out about the flaw in their statement. So when he did, he couldn't tell which day they would execute him anyway. So to make this easier to understand, Im just going to do a roleplay ''You will be executed someday this week, but you wont know which day so you will be surprised when we come to hang you.'' Later in his cell the prisoner starts to think ''Well they can't execute me on friday, I would expect that since I wouldn't be dead by Friday Morning. With that logic, I couldn't be killed on Thursday either since I wouldn't be dead by the morning, the same applies to every single day of the week...'' ''But in that case, if they can't execute me any day of the week if they want to surprise me, But I know they will execute me.. Which day will they execute me then?''

[@Jackerco]

Solved.

[@alaaalnaser1]

you're a Legend sir someone give him a medal plz :D

[@Sewblon]

But how is that different from saying that the judge's statement is self-contradictory?

[@Jackerco]

Gregory Bogosian its not.

[@magtonex7388]

What Jackerco is saying, is that the prisoner's assumption about Thursday is a type B error. Approach this problem as testing a null hypothesis. It can be confirmed that the prisoner cannot be hanged on Friday, as he would expect it since its the last day. However, you cannot confirm that you will be hanged after 12:00, Wednesday, as it is not determined if he will be hanged Thursday or Friday. The only time that the assumption that he cannot be hanged on Friday can be considered is when this specific condition is met, hence why a paradox is created. If we observe the environment, or the available days left for the execution, we must reevaluate the hypothesis whenever the environment changes, or else the hypothesis is invalidated. Because the prisoner doesn't reevaluate this hypothesis given the environmental changes, it leads to him being surprised. In other words, he can be hanged Monday through Thursday, because the environmental factors include 2 days left for him to be executed. The problem in the thinking of the prisoner is that he is thinking backwards, and not forwards. You cannot accurately determine which day the execution is on when there is more than one option. It is until there is only one option that this can happen. Thus, the execution is a "surprise" until after 12 o'clock, Thursday, when only one option remains.

[@bjornhettema460]

Wait, what? Youre not correct. When it is thursday, and he isnt gonna be hanged, then he knows that its gonna be on friday. So it cant be friday. BUT when it is thursday the thief cant know yet whether he is gonna be hung by thursday or friday, so thursday remains an option!

[@bjornhettema460]

I mean wednesday*

[@Kartkid024]

Correct. That's why the Criminals logic was flawed.

[@bjornhettema460]

Kartkid024 wait, is this outdated then? or is it just nonsense?

[@Kartkid024]

bjorn hettema What I got from it was not too many people think the way the criminal does. The criminals thinking is it can't be Thursday because that is the last day to surprise him as he already knows it can't be Friday. So his thought is if that is the case then since he knows he can't be hung on Thursday (as it wouldn't surprise him) then the hanging can only be taken between Monday and Wednesday (as he now knows it can't be done Thursday or Friday). Will since those are the only 3 days remaining, he just reapplies the same theory, since Wednesday is the last day that you can hang him, then come Wednesday he would know he is getting hung, therefore he would have to be hung on Monday or Tuesday. Since Tuesday is the last day then well....you get it. The theory makes sense if you sit and think about it, but the reason it isn't true is because they can surprise him simply off the fact he doesn't think you can surprise him.

[@kierank5081]

but he knows its friday when he isn't hung on thursday

[@Powerbob-bh8si]

The reason he is surprised is that the person will no longer be expecting it after he thinks they won't do it

[@carcar4425]

The fact that they told him that Monday - Friday he would be hung, means that it is not a surprise since they told him he would be killed that week

[@somethingtojenga]

So if you know that you'll die sometime in your life, will you never be surprised by it?

[@carcar4425]

pon33villin You have a point but there is a huge difference between years and 5 days

[@somethingtojenga]

wallace fx The time is irrelevant. If you calculate that you have a greater and greater chance of being killed on a certain day as days pass, then not being killed on those days will become increasingly surprising. On Thursday, if you're not executed, are you telling me you won't be surprised? Then on Friday, you'll be surprised because the judge was lying about the surprise, and knowing that he's a liar, you could deduce that he might not even execute you at all. But then he wouldn't have been lying if killing you on that day IS a surprise. Or is it?

[@doesitmatter94]

You're not understanding the concept of this at all

[@rewrr2rope2e27]

You're tying to point out that the surprise factor is the flaw in the logic.

[@michaelhand8771]

Most of the comments are just restating various parts of the video

[@ZelphTheWebmancer]

That is half of the internet in a nutshell

[@zoz0boy]

you sir xD

[@abdelarmstr5173]

Exactly. They completely miss the issue at hand!

[@hexane360]

Right now most of the comments are "duh the guy was stupid" or "the flaw is the guy was surprised".

[@FilipMilenkovic01]

Because he is sure that he won't be exectuted at all it takes him by suprise that he get's executed.

[@canned_doughnuts_5222]

the prisoner says he can't be hung, so they hang him, therefore , he's surprised and hell be hung in the week... simple?

[@kobrowsky]

That's why some people are against the death sentence. To avoid this paradox.

[@TheSpiritBeing]

It's easy. You can't carry on the logic past Friday. That is the only one that can be eliminated. It has remained unsolved because people agreed with the prisoner's faulty logic. It would have even been a surprise to the prisoner if he were executed on Friday, because he had determined that was impossible. Therefore it would have come as a surprise to him if something impossible actually happened.

[@Niqoleh]

TheSpiritBeing Not really. I mean, the prisoner will be indeed surprised but only by the DECISION of the judge to actually execute him on Friday. He would be like: "Oh, so that judge actually decided to execute me on Friday even when I thought he wouldn't". But he still KNOWS that he will be executed that day because there aren't any days left. regardless if he was surprised by the judge's choice he still knows he is going to be executed that day so it is not a surprise.

[@TheSpiritBeing]

It just means He will be surprised by it on Thursday, instead of being surprised about it on Friday when he'll be killed. There's still an element of surprise. I mean honestly how surprised can he really be? He already knows it's coming at some point in the week. At no point will it *truly* be a surprise. The only way the judge could have made it a surprise for real, is to not tell him definitively that he will be executed. If he had phrased it, "If you are executed, it will happen by Friday. Otherwise, you will not be executed." Then It will be a surprise. But he knows it's coming for sure as the judge had phrased it, so a judge would be an idiot to think the prisoner would actually ever truly be surprised by the fact that he's being executed. P.S. you're super pretty... Just sayin.

[@DaDerpyBro]

Actually, that's where you're wrong. Here's my theory. Please note, this is assuming that they take him to be hung early in the morning, in a situation in which he won't be given much time to consider whether he'll be killed on Thursday or not. Sadly, we weren't given enough information to determine whether or not they do this. Considering the possibility that they don't, and they'd do it mid-day, then he would only be unable to be hung on Friday. However, this is unlikely, unless they still haven't confirmed whether or not he's done enough to be hung. He can't be killed on Friday, due to the contradictory statements. He knows this because he knows that the day's on Friday when he realizes he's alive by the end of Thursday. He assumes he can't be killed Thursday because he'll know it can't be that because he'll be alive Wednesday, and Friday's already taken out of the equation. However. His thinking probably takes place on Sunday, or such. The cycle continues on, but he is only at peace on Friday because he's alive by Thursday, and knows that Friday is the last day, which triggers the contradictory statements. He thinks that because Friday is taken out by the contradiction, he can't die on Thursday because he'll also know by Wednesday. So on and so forth. However, he still can die on Wednesday, Tuesday, or Monday, being surprised. Once he reaches Wednesday, he has two options, and doesn't know for sure. Thus, being alive through Wednesday doesn't trigger the contradictory statements. Final statement aka tl;dr He can't die on Friday, because he'll know it's Friday once he gets to the end of Thursday. However, he knows he also can't die on Thursday, because he'll know it's Thursday once he gets to the end of Wednesday. Past that, though, he isn't secure. On Wednesday, he knows it could be either Thursday or Friday. He doesn't know for sure, which means that the two statements agree. Thus, he can be killed anywhere within Monday and Wednesday.

[@TheSpiritBeing]

It's hanged. I know it sounds dumb, but it's hanged. Now I can keep reading without being distracted.

[@TheSpiritBeing]

It would be illogical for me to counter because a judge would never do this. It's ridiculous and further, it would be considered cruel and unusual punishment.

[@jeffwells641]

The problem is the prisoner is ignoring his own reason as a factor in his surprise. He's leaving out relevant information with which to make his deduction, and so comes to a blatantly false conclusion. The fact that he came up with a conclusion that says he never gets hanged (and therefore the Judge is lying) it should have been a great big red flag that something was wrong. He should have then called into question everything the Judge said, including the statement that he would be surprised, and the statement that he would be hanged next week. If he thinks he might not be surprised, then the prisoner cannot throw out any day, and so can be surprised on any, even Friday. His previous conclusion was based on the idea that he wouldn't be hanged at all, which means a hanging on Friday would still be a surprise if he made it that far. Essentially, if the prisoner is hanged on any day he has ruled out with his reason, he will be surprised. What's really funny is the Judge doesn't have to know or care whether the prisoner is a deductive thinker, his statement is always true. The options are basically as follows: 1.) The prisoner is a deductive thinker and has taken his own reasoning into account, and so knows that he cannot successfully guess the day of his hanging, and is therefore surprised on the day the Judge has him hanged 2.) The prisoner is a deductive thinker and has not taken his own reasoning into account, and so thinks he cannot be hanged on any day, and is therefore surprised on the day the Judge has him hanged 3.) The prisoner is not a deductive thinker, and has no thoughts about which day he can or can't be hanged, and is therefore surprised on the day the Judge has him hanged There is a fourth option, which will occasionally prove the Judge to be a liar: 4.) The prisoner is not a deductive thinker, and chooses at random one day which he believes he will be hanged. Four times out of five he chooses the wrong day, and so is surprised on the day the Judge has him hanged. One time out of five he chooses the right day, and so is not surprised on the day the Judge has him hanged, proving the Judge to be a liar.

[@chrisawesome3891]

Jeffery Wells 1/5 times the prisoner was surprised he was right

[@atomatopia1]

I'd say that in order to surprise him most, the judge sets the clock in his cell block ahead one hour. When it gets to midnight Friday night(on his clock), he thinks he's safe and that the judge was bluffing. However, at approximately 11:15 Friday night (real time) he is startled to hear guards unlock his door. It's Friday night. And he's surprised to be hanged.

[@mkb6418]

He still can be surprised even if the execution is in Friday. However, in this case he will be surprised in THURSDAY, not in Friday. Case solved.

[@jordanneal576]

The problem is that he was trying to deduce the day that he would be killed from the outset, but his conclusion was a complete failure to that end. He only deduced that he would be killed on none of the days, which means he could be killed on any day. So really his logic only served to prove the second statement, that he would be surprised. That being said, the card analogy is correct in demonstrating that putting the hanging on the last of a limited set proves the statement of surprise incorrect.

[@brucelee6834]

Bertrand Russell started the illuminati confirmed logic lol!

[@mikaeleriksson1720]

+bruce lee fucking triangles, man!

[@thepurityofchaos]

i em teh poep

[@witherblaze]

Wait, if 2=1 and 1=0, 2=0. He is not the pope. Try again.

[@jickles16]

He was surprised because he thought they wouldn't be able to surprise him. Being completely confident in his own logic, he was surprised that they ended up hanging him on a day he figured they wouldn't be able to surprise him on

[@phrenz1796]

he was suprised because he thought for sure they could not execute him on Wednesday. or any other day. bow down to your genius.

[@lkmlmlioj]

theobsidiangem 4858 you're right, I just dont understand why its called a paradox, its just bad judgement from the prisoner, stupid "philosophers"

[@mrDavis-zm3xc]

EXACTLY

[@hexane360]

you literally just restated the problem. no one was arguing about that. you haven't offered a solution though.

[@imaminxkitty]

You've solved the riddle. Not the paradox.

[@phrenz1796]

Camie what do you mean?

[@Streaky100001]

I would suggest a flaw in the prisoners logic, in that by ruling out any day he immediately creates a day that he can be surprised on, I mean ok, he has ruled out everyday, so he is not expecting to be hung on Monday, so when the executioner comes knocking it's a surprise, and from there on his logic breaks down, since he is already alive longer than he deduced he should be.

[@chriscarlisle8997]

+Streaky100001 I had the same solution. I think most people have that same solution and it is correct, only that philosophers and nerds are thinking into this way too deep.

[@justaguyiguess910]

THANK YOU! For quite a while, I thought that I was the only one who thought that way about it.

[@hiimshana]

but what if prisoner was not kill

[@bryanbachand9940]

hi im shana then your Grammer was, I'm assuming your native language is not english, is it spanish?

[@nietelnmaster]

uhh Brian it's an Internet thing y'know... it's not about grammar... Is this your first experience here?

[@gcwrestling888]

My favorite thing ever is when people try to correct the "grammer" of others.

[@hiimshana]

Bryan Bachand it's called meme, and I'm not Spanish. I'm Italian and my English might not be the best but the mistake was made on purpose

[@autismftw9349]

hi im shana i see what you did there.....

[@hnjuygtf]

You cannot negate thursday just like that. Can get rid of friday, but when it comes to thursday, friday reappears!

[@thepurityofchaos]

The trick is that if something is deduced to not be surprising and is logically correct, then if a day is chosen it will always be a surprise since he will not expect it to be on that day, hence if it is on that day it surprises him, the judge did not lie.

[@thepurityofchaos]

agh i cant say it right

[@jacobisme1996]

i like to think that because the prisoner decided that there was no way for the judge to hang him with him being surprised (and therefore never getting hanged at all) he will ALWAYS be surprised, for even on friday at 11:30 he will think "man, i won't get hung today" and then BAM he dead, and is surprised

[@GloWormAT06]

So if the prisoner solves the puzzle and decides he is "unsurpriseable" then he can be executed on any day, even Friday, and be surprised by the outcome. If the prisoner doesn't reason his way through the puzzle, then he would always be surprised, so long as the execution doesn't happen before Friday. I like it.

[@gaminggamer3334]

Aiden i thought it would be like that just on wednesday... what could have happened is he happened 2 have a back door and the judge went through the back door and A LOT of people with swords went through the front and btw the judge has a sword too.

[@jacobisme1996]

That is way better than what i thought up... i am embarrassed to have commented at all now.

[@wizoneri2062]

Here's something: They said somewhere between Monday and Friday. He thought he was safe from Monday to Friday, but it was only that week. The prisoner now thinks that he is safe after that week is over. The next week, at Wednesday, he gets unexpectedly told that he is about to be executed, leaving him surprised. '-'

[@hunterverge3093]

I think that the judge knew he would do this and planned for it so he was surprised when his logic failed him and he was hung on Wednesday.

[@charalampost7162]

I see you had made several comments about this and that is why I decided to answer. The problem with the prisoner's paradox is that the prisoner's logic violates one of the most fundamental laws of logic: you cannot prove that something does NOT exist or will NOT happen. The prisoner used his logic to prove that something is impossble to happen. Yet it did. Which proves that his logic was somehow flawed. Otherwise he would be right and the judge would not be able to act as he promised. How was he mistaken? he used a logical pathway to prove that something is impossible. Logic cannot show that something is impossible or cannot happen. It is the same as: can you prove that you are NOT an elephant? You can try it and see that it is extremely difficult to do so. This is why the burden of proof always falls on the person who makes a positive statement (in other words that something CAN happen or DOES exist). The same arguement has been used in the existence of God, alliens, fairies etc Can you prove that there is no God? No. But this is because logic cannot be used to prove negative statements safely. So it is for the person who claims that something DOES exist to prove the statement otherwise it is one of the endless posibilites that can happen/exist.

[@heartone219]

because he declared all days as "expected", that brought it back to all of them being equally unexpected

[@renardmigrant]

What I was thinking was, once you've ruled out all 5 days then of course it's going to be a surprise whichever day then come for you. It wraps round in other words, once you've eliminated all 5 days then they all become possible again. Except Friday as shown in the video.

[@Mutantcy1992]

+Martin Gardner "It wraps round in other words" hence why it is called a meta paradox

[@rmsgrey]

Why not Friday?

[@jorisk322islol]

So friday is impossible, which means on thursday it wouldn't be a surprise, so it can't be on thursday, etc.

[@rmsgrey]

XYZ Suppose it is Thursday evening, and the prisoner has proven to himself that it can't be on Friday. Is he expecting them to come for him on Friday, or is he expecting them to not come at all? If he would still expect them to come for him on Friday, then he still hasn't ruled out Friday after all, so he can't use having ruled out Friday to then rule out Thursday. If he wouldn't expect them to come on Friday, then he has ruled out Friday, but shouldn't have since they can still surprise him on Friday...

[@xAvatarHAx]

Or in other words, if he survives Wednesday he doesn't know whether they will come for him on Thursday or on Friday, neither of them would be a surprise to him by his logic. However since he doesn't know which one of those days it would be, he can't tell for sure if they will come on Thursday or on Friday. By his own logic he would expect them to come on Thursday, but then if they don't he will be surprised by not being executed on that day (which is basically him being surprised for being executed on Friday). When they do actually come for him on Friday he will obviously be fully expecting it, but he was surprised by it a day earlier.

[@ramseynjire]

I couldn't help noticing that the prisoner's hanging paradox is similar to Marilyn Vos Savant's famous controversial riddle. In Vos Savant's riddle, the contestant had to choose between 3 doors. The doors either had a goat, or a car, which was the prize of the game. Upon making their selection, the host would open one of the other doors and reveal a goat behind it. This would leave two unopened doors: The one the contestant had initially chosen, and the other one that hadn't been opened. The host would then give the contestant the opportunity to switch their choice from the door they had initially chosen to the other, alternative door. The riddle was whether the contestant should switch or not, given the unfolding of events. Vos Savant, in her popular column, said that the optimal choice was to switch. Almost immediately she was inundated with angry letters from readers, some of them distinguished mathematics professors, saying she was terribly wrong. It eventually turned out she was correct and it was even proven mathematically. The riddle revealed one thing, however: the difficulties the general human population has with grasping the concepts of probability. You see, with Vos Savant's puzzle, the initial probability of picking the door with a car behind it is 1 out of 3, since there are three doors. This places the probability of NOT picking a car at 2 out of 3. The minute that probability is established, the proportions remain the same, regardless of how many mysteries are revealed in the interim. After picking a door, the probability that the contestant has picked the door with the car behind it is 1 out of 3 and the probability that they haven't is 2 out of 3. After the host reveals that there is a goat behind one of the 2 remaining doors, the probability that the car is not behind the door the contestant picked is still 2 out of 3. But since we know now that only one other unopened door is left, this means there is a 2 out of 3 probability that that door has the car behind it as opposed to the 1 out 3 chance that it is behind our door. This is why it is better to switch. The general population does not reason in this way, however. After the goat has been revealed, there are now 2 doors left: our own and the other unopened one. Our minds automatically revise the probabilities so that there is a 50-50 chance that either door has the goat and it does not then make sense to switch. This automatic revision of probabilities is our Achilles' Heel. It is also the prisoner's. To choose a slightly different example: imagine that you were told with absolute certainty there was a 60% chance it would rain on any day over the next 10 days. This would naturally mean that there was a 100% chance it would rain on 6 days out of the next 10 days. But you do not know which 6. Now say you pick a random day, say day 10, and guess that it won't rain on this day. Over the course of the next 8 days, it rains on 5 days so that by the eve of day 8, there is only one day of calm left and one day of rain. You now have a choice. You can change your guess for the calm day to day 9 or you can stick to day 10. Vos Savant's reasoning applies here again. When you picked day 10, there was initially a 40% chance you had picked a calm day and a 60% chance you had picked a rainy one. As the weather slowly revealed itself in the interim, you naturally feel the urge to revise your probabilities and say that by the eve of day 8 there is a 50-50 chance it will rain on either day 9 or day 10. There isn't. Let us try and apply this reasoning to our prisoner: There are 5 days, and the probability of him being hanged on any day is 20% (1 out of 5). Moving forward through time, every morning the prisoner will know there is a 20% chance of a hanging, and an 80% chance of no hanging. The catch is that which 20% will contain the hanging is unknown. The prisoner does not know on which day they will meet their demise. Say the prisoner plays our little game and guesses that hanging day will be day 5. If no hanging occurs for day 1 through 3, they should reason that there is still a 20% percent chance their hanging will occur on day 5 and and an 80% chance that they are wrong and it will, in fact, occur on day 4. That means that on Wednesday they should strongly consider looking forward to a hanging on Thursday. This corresponds with the prisoner's original reasoning. The hanging cannot happen on Friday because by Thursday evening the probabilities will have collapsed to certainty and there will be no element of surprise. Sadly, however, this is the only thing this argument has in common with the prisoner's. The prisoner falls prey to the same fallacies as the rest of us. He assumes that by Wednesday evening there is a 50-50 chance of a hanging on either Thursday or Friday. He then eliminates Friday due to probabilities collapsing on Thursday evening and remains with 4 days. He then repeats his revision of probabilities so that there is a 50-50 chance of a hanging on either Wednesday or Thursday by Tuesday evening. He continues this retroactive collapsing of probabilities until he concludes that there can be no hanging on any day and he sleeps in peace on the eve of day 1. What if we followed through using the reasoning from Vos Savant to the very end? Moving backwards: If the prisoner assumes there is a hanging on Friday, there is an 80% chance he is wrong. By Wednesday evening there is a strong probability the hanging will be on Thursday, which means his initial pick, Friday, cannot be eliminated so easily. By Thursday evening, there is an 80% chance that he will be hanged on either Wednesday or Thursday, which means the initial strength Thursday had as a candidate has been reduced as it now shares that 80% probability with Wednesday. Friday is also a poor choice as it only has a 20% probability of being right. He must now reason that there is an equal chance of the hanging occurring on either Wednesday or Thursday, and a greater chance of the hanging occurring on either of these days as opposed to Friday. By Monday evening this probability has now been spread to 3 days. There is an 80% chance the hanging will occur on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday. Neither of them is a strong candidate as they all share an equal chance (80%/3). They still have a greater probability of containing a hanging than Friday (80%/3>20%). On Sunday evening, there is an equal chance the hanging could occur on any day. Upon applying this reasoning we realise that the prisoner still faces uncertainty on the day of the hanging. The prisoner's reasoning isn't wrong. He is applying the tools he has been taught to use from his school days. What is wrong is that we don't understand probability theory very well yet. Even this argument probably has holes and I wouldn't be surprised (pun intended) if someone quickly found them. Until we do, paradoxes like these will continue to plague us.

[@Da_maul]

The logic on the prisoner's end only holds up on the "they won't hang me on friday" because every day is it's own unique case.

[@JuggerLMN]

Well, Friday and Thursday

[@annamishonova4269]

The riddle is nice, but this voice is JUST MESMERIC I LOVE IT

[@MegaBanne]

It is not as much of a paradox as it is irony.

[@SeptembersOblivion]

if you say it's irony then you don't know what irony is. It's a paradox.

[@savcob6291]

Solved it using the multiverse theory...

[@The-Rest-of-Us]

Haha, would that be the KZbin-commentator school of thought?

[@savcob6291]

***** credit claimed...

[@MrWhiskey1]

Well i solved it using his logic with another paradox. After the prisoner deduces that he will never be surprised when he is executed, when he finally is executed no matter what day it is he will be surprised.

[@jcrowley1985]

Under that thought, the prisoner would know with 100% certainity that there are infinite alternate possibilities that he was not executed as well as infinite possibilities that he was executed. So he still wouldn't be surprised. In fact, he would be certain that he was executed on EVERY day of the week.

[@Azrage]

+jcrowley1985 true, but he doesn't know which day he is executed in this universe

[@theagentxero9743]

Outro song is Unity by TheFatRat, please be sure to credit him. (his webpage does make this request)

[@The-Rest-of-Us]

+TheAgentXero You're right! Was going to do it, but then forgot in the heat of the moment. Thanks! (Put it in the description) EDIT: I realised it's actually Xenogenesis

[@Lovebird_music]

+Tommy WizOh Yeah you can say that again

[@markfarren349]

+Tommy WizOh Hows your sex life

[@Hafunek]

Wiii Another TheFatRat Fan :D

[@PrincipalSkinner3190]

It seems to me that the prisoner was only right about Friday.

[@NixasHearts]

I didn't entirely get you're explanation and I could be really stupid, but isn't this really simple? The prisoner fell victim to his own logic. The judge suspected he'd try and deduct the day and would come to the conclusion they couldn't execute him without him staying true to his word. But they executed him anyway. On Wednesday. So he was surprised.

[@Andoxico]

He assumes he cannot be hung Friday then Thursday then Wednesday etc however, he assumed he will not be hung any of the days therefore he will be surprised when they knock on his door no matter what day.

[@Andoxico]

Pro Meliora But the prisoner has convinced himself that he will not be executed so no matter what day he's executed he will be surprised.

[@Andoxico]

WreckNRepeat His flaw is in giving Friday then Thursday etc a 0% chance of being his execution day

[@Andoxico]

WreckNRepeat I really don't see why this is such a big deal. I understand why it's hard to explain the flaw in his logic; it's like explaining why people are stupid. Basically the judge says "You will be executed on any of five days and be surprised when you are." and the prisoner replies "No I won't." Convincing yourself you will not be surprised makes you vulnerable to being surprised. It's not the judge's statement but the prisoner's logic that is self-contradictory.

[@Andoxico]

WreckNRepeat It doesn't seem flawless at all. Completely ruling out Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday because he "proves" he wouldn't be surprised on Friday or Thursday is the flaw. He was surprised on Wednesday because there's no certainty that they wouldn't have executed him on Thursday.

[@david21686]

@WreckNRepeat *Thank you*. A lot of people in these comment sections just aren't getting it. In any case, I have to disagree with this video; this video simply does not resolve the paradox. >"However, given that both of the judge's promises came true, and that the judge was 100% certain that they would come true, it seems like surely his promises couldn't be contradictory. But they are. And if you want, I can explain that in more detail in my next post." Please do explain it.

[@rateater420]

I really like the narrator of this video? Do you want to hang out?

[@The-Rest-of-Us]

Sure, where do you live?

[@bifurcatereptilianasjkfdfj2732]

is that a pun i sense?

[@MrERRada]

I see what you did there

[@neelsuresh2346]

+The Rest Of Us 😂

[@bantaar]

Not on Friday. And then, not... no, wait. I don't wanna get into this.

[@flickeringvideo]

The problem is that all his reasoning happened in one moment before the week commenced. But the passing of time is crucial to creating the surprise, rendering his reasoning hypothetical. He can reason all he likes, but regardless of how seemingly infallible his reasoning is he still doesn't know the day. That's the surprise. To deduce he can't be surprised he had to say 'if' 5 times. That's plenty of opportunity for surprise because all those 'ifs' have to be played out in the passing of time.

[@MrNotSpecified01]

His logic works for Friday and Thursday we know he won't be hanged friday for a fact, this makes it so that if he is not hanged by wednesday, he will not be surprised on thursday therefore, making monday to wednesday the days of hanging.

[@Niqoleh]

MrNotSpecified thats what i think as well

[@wonderingfilms1201]

MrNotSpecified ..But then he can't be hanged on Wednesday as he would know for certain that on Tuesday having not be hanged, he is definitely gonna be hanged on Wednesday.

[@alexvince7054]

Wilder Liddle Not true, because On Tuesday, if we take out the possibility of him dying on Friday, that leaves Wednesday and Thursday. The way that we took out him dying on Thursday was assuming he was alive on Wednesday. Since he has no way to be asserted that he will live through Wednesday, he cannot be sure that he will die on Thursday, however irrelevant that would be- Because he'd already be dead. Basically, for him to know he's not going to be surprised Thursday, he has to be alive on Wednesday. Surprise.

[@darikozz]

Exactly what I was saying to myself, thank you.

[@wonderingfilms1201]

No I believe you have missed the point. The point in this problem is to show the fallibility of logic. Using that straight line of seemingly intuitive logic, it would seem that on no days would he be hanged as a surprise. Obviously this doesn't make sense though, and it is flawed. It is simply an attack on logic showing that rational thought cant always be followed entirely (Kant, Descartes). It is similar to the problem of the two runners: Runner A - Achilles. Runner B - a Tortoise. -The two are set to race. (say 100 meter race). -The tortoise is given a slight head start. (say 10 meters). *At this point one would still assume that Achilles would easily win. -However, Achilles would have to cover half the distance of the tortoises head start (5 meters). -During which time the tortoise will have travelled a further distance (eg 1 meter). -Now Achilles has to reach half the distance of the tortoise again (so another 3 meters in this case). -During which time the tortoise, once more has moved further, and so is obviously still ahead (say even as little as 0.6 meters). -Surely by THIS logic this will continue indefinitely no matter how small the halfway gap may get, the tortoise will be in front. But clearly, like the hanged prisoner, this is a mis-use of logic. The correct logic here would be Achilles travels at say 10 m/s and the tortoise 1 m/s. And so with the 10 meter head start Achilles clearly still wins (Achilles would cover 100 meters much faster at 10 seconds, than the tortoise would 90 meters at 90 seconds). So again, like this example, the logic shown seems entirely plausible but is simply the wrong application of logic, showing that what may seem logical, is not always correct.

[@piluex2]

the solution is pretty simple. the prisoner tried to be asmartass,it didn't turn out well.

[@ThePCguy17]

Conclusion: don't be a smartass, even if you're already on death row. It won't end well.

[@asdf30111]

But he ended up living from his point of view. I do feel sorry for the corpse of tomorrow.

[@CallMeMark231]

piluex2 Thats exactly what I was thinking too.

[@111asel]

Simplest reason- He deduced that he wasn't going to get killed, so when the judge said he was, he was surprised because that went against his reasoning, but abides by the rules. Problem solved.

[@asger888]

The logic failed because he was killed when he thought he wasn't going to get killed. Using the prisoner's logic, IF he got killed on any other day than friday it would be a surprise.

[@111asel]

WreckNRepeat His logic failed because he didn't include the fact that the judge could still kill him at any day, even though he had deduced opposite. So he didn't include everything in his analysis.

[@111asel]

WreckNRepeat When you don't include all the factors, a judgement becomes nothing. If I was to make a cup of tea, forgetting to have sugar in it would still make it a tea, but you'd wonder where you went wrong in making the tea when it tastes bitter, although that scenario is easier to comprehend.

[@111asel]

WreckNRepeat The prisoner acknowledges the fact from the start, but does not include it in his reasoning, since if he did, he'd realise that it would be surprising to him if he died on a day he ruled out.

[@thatrespectablehuman1884]

+WreckNRepeat if that's the question then that's an easy one, let's say it's the end of Tuesday night and he is just knowing it can't be Wednesday then his logic has already failed, because he doesn't know if it's going to be Wednesday or not, his logic failed at the point where he counted out any days but Friday

[@buck8266]

His reasoning is correct on not being killed on Friday but all other days is flawed because after Wednesday he could be executed in Thursday or Friday or after Tuesday he could be executed in Wednesday,Thursday or Friday.

[@redmattuk]

But if he's alive Wednesday at 1pm he knows he can't be killed on Friday, as it won't be a surprise, so he becomes certain it must occur on Thursday as the only valid option... But then if it's certain that it will happen; it won't be a surprise, so he most certainly won't be killed on Thursday. And it keeps going back like this. That's why he was so surprised he was killed on Wednesday.

[@bryan_mancia2549]

redmattuk true

[@simonbrown285]

but he was suprised because he used logic and his logic was wrong and then they allowed him to be suprised because he thought he wasnt getting hung at all

[@IkomaTanomori]

The prisoner's own deduction made the judge correct. because the prisoner expected not to be executed on any of the days, it was a surprise no matter which day it came on. The uncertainty is ensured by the superposition, which in standard logic looks like a contradiction. But we know now that some things at small scales can be two things at the same time. The same logic applies here as to quantum uncertainty - until the prisoner is either executed or not on a given day, he both will and won't be executed that day. Until noon each day, the wave form doesn't collapse.

[@debries1553]

The flaw in reasoning could be, as far as I can tell, that the unpredictability only holds prior to the start of the week. At the end of each day, if the prisoner was not hung, he has to re-evaluate the system. He gained information, namely that one of the days was excluded. on day 0, he knows that on one of the next 5 days he will die. on day 1, if he survived, he knows that on one of the next 4 days he will die. on day 2, if he survived, he knows that on one of the next 3 days he will die. on day 3, if he survived, he knows that on one of the next 2 days he will die. on day 4, if he survived, he knows that on one of the next 1 days he will die. So, he knows he will die tomorrow. Therefore, the judge poorly worded his expression. He should have said, that the prisoner could not tell which day he would die beforehand. There are only 2 ways I can think of to around this, and keep the statement valid: 1) the prisoner will always be surprised, because either a) his reasoning brought him to the first conclusion of the video, thus meaning he was indeed surprised. or b) he did not apply reasoning, thus being surprised in all cases. Bit of a lame solution, but still. 2) there is an infinite number of days, such that it is never impossible for you to survive a day. This way, you can never be certain that you will die the next day.

[@111asel]

No, the judge was right. If the prisoner had deduced he wasn't going to die, using his if statements, then it would've come as a surprise to know that he would anyway.

[@frisosmit8920]

But if you can beforehand say what you think is the day you get executed every day, then you can say:Day the day you think you're going to dieMonday tomorrowtueseday tomorrowWednesday tomorrowetc. That way you can even for an infinite number of days say which day you're going to die.

[@astromecmc]

The judge used the prisoner's rationality against him.

[@jacksainthill8974]

Loved the Russell bonus. :)

[@lkmlmlioj]

This is easy. The way the judge tricked the prisoner is by making him think he won't be executed, and when the time came, he was surprised. You see, when the judge said he will be executed one day of the week and its a surprise to which day it is, he lied because you cant be surprised. Fact is, if I dont get killed today, I must be getting killed tommorow, and that thought should go through his mind each day, the only thing that would be a surprise is the fact that he didnt get killed on monday for example. BUT, the prisoners bad judgement made him think he wasnt gonna get executed at all, and look at him now, dead as fuuuuk

[@DJogdog]

In the paradox, the prisoner was hanged on Wednesday.

[@3Dusers]

felician and lofty doesent know what "example" means in your comment lmao

[@tenzdhen]

I get this is a paradox and the prisoner fell in the judge's trap... but what OP says is pretty smart IMO. All you have to do is assume there is a probability of hanging today and you won't get surprised; hence survive. Afterall, the only 2 keypoints are (1) getting hung on noon of monday to friday and (2) hanging will be a surprise. The day-elimination logic is cooked up by the prisoner, not the judge... and hence the paradox.

[@sageacris]

Well even without his logic, it wouldn't be a surprise, because he still knows he's going to die? Also he said between Monday and Friday, so right in between was Wednesday, and if it is in between, It cannot be Monday or Friday.

[@Marioboy777]

1. It is a surprise what day it is, not that he will die. 2. It can be Monday, it can only not be Friday, or the paradox will occur.

[@samsoliday1213]

but consider the following, what if the judge deduced that anyone would come to the conclusion of not being executed as a result of the same logic the prisoner used. as a result he could scedule it on any day and it would be a surprise

[@tomlxyz]

Why can't it be Friday? If he is sure that it can't be Friday but they execute him on Friday he sure will be suprised.

[@tams805]

He wouldn't be surprised, as if by the end of Thursday he has not be executed, then it must be on Friday.

[@tomlxyz]

Tams80 Unless he thinks what is shown in the video and thinks that he's never executed.

[@seriesexplained]

I'll just ask the judge. And FYI the prisoner had Dunning Kruger Effect.