Can you solve the fantasy election riddle? - Dennis E. Shasha

Practice more problem-solving at brilliant.org/TedEd
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After much debate, the realm has decided dragon jousting may not be the best way to choose its leaders, and has begun transitioning to democracy. Your company was hired to survey the citizens of the land and predict which candidate will win. There’s a lot riding on this: if you get it wrong, heads- well, your head- will quite literally roll. Can you predict the winner? Dennis Shasha shows how.
Lesson by Dennis E. Shasha, directed by Igor Coric, Artrake Studio.
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[@TEDEd]

Visit brilliant.org/TedEd/ to check out Brilliant’s 60+ courses in math, logic, science, and computer science. They feature storytelling, code-writing, interactive challenges, and plenty of puzzles for you to solve. And as an added bonus, the first 833 of you to use that link will receive 20% off the annual premium subscription fee.

[@EntergeticalakaBot]

First! Hello, TED-Ed!

[@bellamydog7640]

Second! Hi Ted Ed! I love your videos! Especially riddle videos! Also, can you do a video on why people like certain pets more than others. Ex: Dogs>Cats>Fish

[@devathma]

Hate you ted.

[@parthadeb5604]

Hey what about for second one we do account Head for none and tail for either one the polls might give a bit close result not sure please justify

[@abhishah7139]

Hey, this one doesn't make sense. If you're asking everyone to flip a coin, and always say "Troll" if it lands head, you're effectively not counting them at all because you don't even know if they support troll or tree. Say out of 100, 55 actually support trolls and 45 actually support tree. Now 50% of the population on random will get heads (always trolls). Let's suppose all who got heads actually preferred troll. You're result would still be 55 troll and 45 tree. Now you'll remove 50 trolls as 50% were forced troll. Your final result is 5 troll and 45 tree, a huge win for tree. But in reality, troll is still the majority. You're getting skewed results because you nullified 50% of voters. That's bad. This one doesn't make sense to me.

[@SonicLoverDS]

"Okay, so I want you to flip this coin twice. If you get two heads, say you support the troll. If you get--" (door slams)

[@anandaerma2710]

A more accurate possibility

[@user-vn7ce5ig1z]

Ugh, been there (though in my case, it wasn't a door slam, it was a phone slam). ¬_¬

[@ricardobautista-garcia8492]

Directed by Ted Ed.

[@vedanshroongta8165]

Lmao

[@mariofan6100]

😂😂😂😂

[@63emiliya]

The correct answer is to A: Ask the citizens to write down their choice anonymously B: Come home C: Count the results D. Tell the eyebrow your results E. Flee the country F. Start your job somewhere else

[@bivcbmtgstgtssscqcrddgtrsm2257]

Yeah, why didn't he just do that?

[@fluffy695]

@Meow Cat ok, so why can’t do it? An anonymous poll?

[@fluffy695]

@Meow Cat why they lie if it’s anonymous

[@63emiliya]

@Meow Cat Wouldn't they lie in the poll presented by Ted as well? They could just as easily lie there too or change their minds afterwords

[@fluffy695]

@Meow Cat do you even know what anonymous means

[@arandompersonontheinternet5557]

Ted Ed : The Tree won! Me, who saw that the video still has 3 minutes of runtime : *Something’s wrong, I can feel it*

[@rubinthepig1218]

*I S E N S E A D I S T U R B A N C E I N T H E F O R C E*

[@collectorofmyst2107]

I feel it in the water. I feel it in the earth. I can smell it in the air.

[@JoseLuisRodriguez-vd8uj]

Is just a feeling I got "6minutes" "6minutes"

[@itsjovo1874]

@@JoseLuisRodriguez-vd8uj like somethings about to happen 👀

[@strawbunny-girl2709]

I felt it to

[@PrashantKumar-nz6ih]

Plot twist: The dragon was actually hired by the troll to kill the tree and he knew that majority will vote for him in the next election as he's a better candidate than the dragon. The dragon didn't want to win, he was just helping his friend.

[@pustota7254]

true

[@eisgnom7383]

That's not a plot twist that's pretty close to actual campaign strategies

[@eomoran]

The spoiler effect is a thing. One example of this is in Australia where the Liberal party often doesn’t run candidates in Green or Labour areas to have them battle it out, making it easier for Liberals to get seats elsewhere. Sometimes one oft the two major parties will even find a way to financially support third parties as well

[@asheep7797]

@@eisgnom7383putin

[@bethjacobx]

first i have to give away my life savings to a lying wizard, and now i have to walk around a whole kingdom and poll every house? this fantasy world seems like a lot of trouble...

[@youarentyouwhenurhungry2379]

*this eyebrow better pay me a lot...*

[@TheFerretofEarth]

@@youarentyouwhenurhungry2379 if this eyebrow doesn't, imma splash water on it

[@user-hq4zk6eg5n]

@@TheFerretofEarth bruh

[@janicedsilva16]

@@TheFerretofEarth I mean that’s not a bad idea.

[@user-qi6pv9jh7o]

@@TheFerretofEarth "spit on it and sit on it" Err, it's not about salary-holding eyebrows?

[@daichi1069]

The riddle is brilliant and all but are we not gonna talk about the disembodied all-powerful eyebrow?

[@drenz1523]

Without eyes, he will be useless then

[@amogh6534]

Gollum, Mordor Polling Agency and Sauron

[@kevinlane1219]

I would have used a fireball for this riddle, instead.

[@kyanleong8014]

it’s brilliant cos it’s sponsored by it

[@user-fd4qf1yu1f]

Orange troll= Trump 'Experienced' tree= Biden Dragon= kamala *it's called PREDICTIVE PROGRAMMING everyone!* and once martial law is declared, he'll once again rule above this great country! btw, happy 200 years since the Greek independence to all!!! LONG LIVE the *UNITED STATES* LONG LIVE *HELLAS!* and may GOD BLESS US ALL!!!

[@TheOriginalEwan]

Therapist: “Eyebrow of Sauron isn’t real, it can’t hurt you.” Eyebrow of Sauron:

[@jessicacat1206]

There is so much imagination involved in this riddle! Like, the all-powerful EYEBROW? I'm loving this!

[@TristanSamuel]

This poor guy is subject to theft by a conman, oversleeping, and multiple *literal* death threats, just give him a break!!

[@alex_zetsu]

Wait, oversleeping and death threats I remember, who was the conman? Did you mean the wizard forced to tell lies?

[@TristanSamuel]

@@alex_zetsu Yes, he told lies and got money

[@TheFerretofEarth]

Poor little dude

[@brnchiggins]

This polling company must have some awesome worker's benefit package given their employees don't just quit.

[@invurret9533]

next time put the riddle against the troll in power.

[@vighneshchavan9226]

*"an giant orange troll & an experienced tree"* "I have seen that one before"

[@FutureCommentary1]

Totally a coincidence.

[@Philth_E]

Look at how good that experienced tree we have is doing!

[@virenparekh6712]

Donnie vs sleepy Joe

[@akumaking1]

@@Philth_E you mean the cadaver

[@richardgonzalez6409]

I bet the dragons Initials are K or H

[@golazomedia531]

Just give those voters a little piece of paper and a pen, write down their favourite candidate secretly so that they don't feel ashamed, roll and put it into a box. Open the box at your home, count and translate it into a data. Repeat the polling process 5 times so the data can be closely accurate. Thank God your neck could easily be saved.

[@Inkyminkyzizwoz]

That's what the actual election will do, so what's the point?

[@golazomedia531]

@@Inkyminkyzizwoz point is the solution in this video is not so practical.

[@benurm2390]

@@Inkyminkyzizwoz The actual election will do it with everyone, not just a few people. Also there's a concern that people wouldn't take the poll seriously since it doesn't elect anyone, but I don't see how that is a problem.

[@xiangli9588]

Wouldn't work because they aren't able to tell that you are 100% honest. You could count the number of votes in the box, take their vote, and recount it and know who they voted for. This added layer of protection doesn't add any layers of protection, so your solution may as well be you take their vote and say it's anonymous.

[@benatconde5742]

Ok, the joke of "One sssilver dollar" made me laugh more than I thought

[@Snommelp]

I mean, I know it's a riddle and not an actual polling strategy, but I feel like the real pragmatic solution would be to simply say "all respondents are 100% anonymous and there is no way to trace your answer back to you"

[@MissLilyputt]

Makes much more sense than using coins, hoping that you don’t get the door slammed in your face and having to make presumptions about how many times they got heads. What makes them even think that they will flip the coin to begin with?

[@isabelhuang_1]

They use this method in real scientific studies where the subject has to interact with an experimenter, or for topics that are especially controversial, to give subjects another layer of protection

[@superlukey3]

@@isabelhuang_1 We actually used this in my Compilers course too. A week before a project was due, the instructor told everyone to make their computer generate a random boolean, tell the truth if it was a 1, and answer "Yes" to whatever the next question was if it was a 0. The question was, "Have you not yet started the project?" and he said that it's great because if you really haven't started the project you can just say to your friends "My computer made me say it!" if you are embarrassed, and it's more accurate than asking the question outright in his experience (even if we all covered our eyes).

[@someoneunknown8778]

What would your response be to: "Prove it."/"I don't believe you."/"You expect me to believe that, despite me telling my vote to your face, you do not know what I voted?"? Remember, you don't just need to convince them their vote cannot be identified by 3rd parties, you also need to convince them *you* cannot identify it.

[@Lala47362]

ppl would still be embarrassed about having to say it directly to someone though

[@LuminixsGameGallery]

“Can you solve this riddle” YOU KNOW DAMN WELL I CANT.

[@unholycrusader69]

w h a t

[@LuminixsGameGallery]

@@unholycrusader69 auto correct. I fixed it.

[@destroyerofworlds4663]

no need to yell...

[@user-em4lz3zw2m]

Bye bye to your head then

[@DendrocnideMoroides]

@@LuminixsGameGallery what was the auto correct?

[@ElitePraetorian421]

"A giant orange troll and an experienced tree statesman"... I see what you did there lol

[@avivastudios2311]

I dont get it.

[@Cyberlisk]

For the second part, I think it would be more intuitive for the people (as they already answered your first poll) to flip the coin, and on tails tell you the truth, on heads a randomized answer, determined by a second coinflip.

[@Serennekin]

The problem is though is that you don’t know which answers are the randomized answers and which answers are the real answers. So you wouldn’t be able to narrow down anything. Say you decide to delete 50% of the answers to account for the randomized ones. You could very much be deleting the flips that told them to tell the truth, but you wouldn’t know it. You need a way to be fully certain that you can remove answers that are statistically likely to be wrong, while being able to keep majority of the truthful responses.

[@Adventurer32]

@@Serennekin But you do know which answers... you know that 50% of the time they'll get heads, meaning its a random answer. 50% of those answers will be for each candidate. Then just remove 25% from each parties total percentage of the vote to get the real ratio. Exact same as in the video.

[@karlcole5617]

that ends up having the exact same probability for everything

[@karlcole5617]

@@Serennekin doesn't matter, has same ratios

[@mrjoestar2862]

The answer is simple, just tell the voters that at least one of them has green eyes.

[@jackywong9504]

Wrong. Tell them that they will free your brother.

[@RozArialind]

it just works

[@linusovery-smith4246]

@@jackywong9504 what if they say ozo though?

[@pixelartkid7965]

@@linusovery-smith4246 run over the bridge with the lab assistant.

[@jasonwalter7133]

I'm just picturing Dwight reading off the beginning of riddles and this comment thread as Ryan's interrupting responses. Dwight: A pirate... Ryan: Give a coin to pirates 3 and 5 and keep the rest for yourself. Dwight: DAMNIT!!

[@angelrobles7201]

For what I've read, no one is asking the real question here: How did a snake (an armless, legless being) manage to win a jousting competition? Also, who is it representing? The elven? The treefolk? The goblins?

[@milklimousine4348]

Maybe there was a snake related coo

[@malachibest463]

The tree represents the treefock troll for the goblins and dragons for the elves

[@Anastas1786]

Not having limbs is no impediment to a dragon jouster when he speaks a language partially-intelligible with the Dragon Tongue.

[@angelrobles7201]

@@Anastas1786 True... But how did it manage to carry the lance, yet sit properly in the back of the dragon? I've started thinking it paid all of its money to that swindling, always-lying magician...

[@a.w.4708]

He represented Barack Obama if I understand it correctly (he can also be an alter ego of troll) cause it is all just not so subtle metaphore.

[@MrNotSpecified01]

I think the key condition that should have been mentioned is that polled people will be 100% honest on the result of their coin flip. Otherwise, everyone could have lied about flipping the coin and stated their real preference, and if you remove 50% of troll votes based on the assumption that they were all honest about the coin, you'd be very wrong.

[@lololyoo5091]

1:36 one SSSilver Haha, get it? Cuz it’s a snake

[@reaperz5677]

"An orange Troll and an experienced tree" This is an American politics metaphor, isn't it?

[@4444Ferris]

I dont know... if the results of the election make the people to scape to Narnia and the troll mandates a wall in betwin the fantaasy forest and the enchanted jungle... or maybe that would be to much on the nouse

[@zonzaykay]

And the dragon is blue and murdered people to get there... The tree is bernie perhaps? Maybe I'm just reading too much into it

[@alex2005z]

Is the dragon spoilers?

[@DanksterPaws]

@@zonzaykay are you suggesting an assasination of Biden. I mean him falling up the stairs kinda looked like it, was just missing gunshot noises

[@ntlespino]

Could be British but with that member of Parliament in between

[@steviegoodgravy8624]

“Giant orange troll”.. subtle

[@user-vn7ce5ig1z]

What? It's just his natural skin, definitely not a bad tan. 🤷

[@mbici6969]

It's probably sun burn from his wall-building shenanigans

[@funveeable]

Trolls don't build walls. They aren't intelligent enough so they tend to be hired as guards.

[@lisahenry20]

@@user-vn7ce5ig1z well someone edited a picture of trump to make see what he'd look like without the tan-I mean natural skin and I don't know whether it's just because we're used to how he looks, but the picture looked worse.

[@oberlin27]

It doesn't even need to be. Anybody supporting an orange troll isn't watching anything mildly educational on here XD

[@littleluketheninja6712]

1:30 Some random guy: What have you got in your pocket The: Polling agency: A coin? Some random guy: Good *Points gun* now give it to me

[@mohamedsamroud7678]

Ted riddles be like : If Tom had 8 apples and Jack had an umbrella, What is the distance between Jupiter and Andromeda? 😭

[@khaitranngoc4176]

This sounds like a poem

[@Inkyminkyzizwoz]

*are

[@ideally07]

I really like how there's actual lore to these riddles

[@JESUSISLORD.........]

But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart. 1 Samuel 16:7, now how do we distinguish these people? Matthew 7:19‭-‬20 Jesus says Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. God bless.😊😊😊😊

[@nessabrewer2237]

🔥A L L P O W E R F U L E Y E B R O W🔥

[@unholycrusader69]

S P A C E S B E T W E E N E A C H L E T T E R D O N ' T M A K E A C O M M E N T F U N N Y

[@unknownyuserishy8335]

Eye + eyebrow = ?

[@selmanusta2961]

@@unholycrusader69 Y E S I T D O E S

[@CanIHaveACookiee]

@@unholycrusader69 Y E S I T D O E S

[@unholycrusader69]

@@CanIHaveACookiee O H W H A T E V E R

[@boo7260]

i just came up with telling the people to decide who’s heads and who’s tails and whichever it lands on is what they say. i think that’ll give them the opportunity to say who they actually support while they think you think it’s just what they flipped

[@WlngDlngBat]

To expand on the quote from the very beginning, since it’s one of my favorites of all time: “I mean, if I went 'round, saying I was an emperor, just because some moistened bink had lobbed a scimitar at me, they'd put me away!”

[@finnlewis6207]

Strange women lying in ponds distributin swords is no basis for a system of government!

[@blueeye2281]

That poor little tree fellow was allowed to walk for the first time and that flying lizard literally sent him to gulag.

[@janicedsilva16]

Tragic, amiright?

[@CrayRT]

Wait... are you the all powerful eyebrow?

[@blueeye2281]

@@CrayRT No I'm the throne of the all-powerful eyebrow. the all-powerful eye.

[@steampunkastronaut7081]

@@blueeye2281 Great respose. An eye is just the throne for the eyebrow.

[@nisargvaghela7311]

"An orange troll and an experienced tree" Where have I seen that before...

[@TechTactics4253]

Where?

[@derpylemon852]

d o n a l d t r u m p

[@nisargvaghela7311]

@Simple Weirdo Joe Biden IS NOT MY PRESIDENT

[@kazekori9593]

@@nisargvaghela7311 Same i dont live in america

[@honestiguana]

How does TED takes a lesson from someone who sees Biden as an experienced statesman? LOL

[@aggrave790]

Can't wait for the next installment in the TCU (Ted-Ed Cinematic Universe)

[@wjzav1971]

Can we get a third part to this fantasy world? I honestly want to see where this goes.

[@1.4142]

One coin to rule them all, one coin to find them. One coin to flip them all, and in the darkness bind them.

[@Pax.YouTube]

We shall return the coin where it was forged.

[@aditimuthkhod1252]

In the land of Dormor where the troll-supporters lie!

[@Jubypuff]

Where that vote deciding coin was used

[@janicedsilva16]

On it your life depended

[@AnotherOneOfThoseUsernames7693]

Three for the Tree-folk under their leaves Seven for the goblins in their halls green

[@blueeye2281]

Ah finally found my soul partner, the all powerful eyebrow.

[@elbowsbuns1896]

Match made in heaven ♥️ can I come to your wedding?

[@blueeye2281]

@@elbowsbuns1896 yes absolutely! Date will be published as the blue brain wishes. But it is certain that it will be held on the blue face.

[@brianne4215]

i love these! i love the little series thats integrated into the riddle series! always impressed by the quality of your videos Ted-Ed

[@reddbool1ng192]

"You know the answer, but do you understand it to remember it again?" I love the riddles they have here i watched it awhile back and still dont know or remember the answer, its a great to go back n enjoy the video again

[@vaishnavaramjass]

Ted: Can you solve this riddle? Me: Ik I can’t but I still wanna see the answer

[@johndoberman4970]

That's the wrong mindset dude, spend some time trying to solve all of them. I used to be really bad at it too but would at least spend a few minutes thinking about it before seeing the answer, now I can solve almost all of them.

[@elijahronbelt3407]

@@johndoberman4970 thank you for the motivation

[@mice2188]

So many Lord of the Rings references in this video. I love it.

[@x-Abraham-x2]

Ikr!

[@a.w.4708]

It would be better if there would be only LOTR one...

[@cipher3966]

Everyone gets the Harry Potter ones but never the Lord of the Rings

[@spencerthegarfieldfanboy]

0:25 why is this so funny to me “All powerful *EYEBROW* “

[@Quantum_Onions]

1:38 threaten that you will beat the person with the coin if they don’t tell the truth. Think smart, not hard. 😂

[@deanodama.5111]

Finally a riddle again! I love you, Ted ❤ you really make me handle this pandemic since so long

[@heizousbabygirl4972]

I love the continuity in these

[@BiblioBaker]

Hey Ted Ed! I’ve been watching for like 7 years now and I think your so educational. I love showing my kids your videos!

[@andre_garay]

Easy! You just have to tell everyone “At least one candidate has green eyes” , then you have to wait until the election.

[@firedropcutie]

Finally, a sequel to a riddle! I hope the green eyes riddle gets a sequel next

[@ShiaTheBunnyGirl]

Can you free the dictator from the 100 green eyes?

[@khushiSingh-zw8rz]

Loved the LOTR references... All powerful eyebrow and incredibly gollum-like stranger going "what have you got in your pocket?) ;)

[@Rawiral]

KZbin recommended this to me, i dont want to watch your videos anymore but it keeps recommending to me and i cant stop clicking the videos...

[@Yevgen4000]

0:19 this says a lot about society

[@Luffy_wastaken]

0:28 Wow! You made a accurate prediction of how I look!!!

[@elbowsbuns1896]

Oof

[@elbowsbuns1896]

Same

[@hopeadjei5293]

i’ve been wating so long for another riddle. i never get them right but there fun to watch 😃

[@manya6879]

Stranger: What have you got in your pocket? Apparently you: * pulls out silver coin * Also stranger: Mmmmm, shiny 🤩

[@manya6879]

He looks a lot like Golum ok 🤣

[@-GMKirankumar]

My Precious🤣

[@Imirui]

“all powerful eyebrow” great character 50/50 100/100 would watch again

[@grantzolldan]

So this relies on perfect probability from the coin flips AND that everyone tells the truth about their coin flip. Seems preeeetty flimsy, especially if it was a close race.

[@randomname285]

It says in the conditions that everyone will tell the truth (its a logic problem not a pragmatic one), and if you repeat it enough times the law of large numbers dictates you'll be able to get the error from a perfect probability split small enough to predict the results with the required accuracy, especially if there is 10 points between the candidates as seen here

[@vishvpower9330]

In pragmatic world you would ask them to go in the house and assign each side an candidate and ask them to vote for it and tell you the same.This will give them deniability bcs coin decided and thus they will tell thier true preference(if they really want us to live)

[@grantzolldan]

@@randomname285 Yeah you're right for the most part. I probably wouldnt have commented if they hadn't used a few hundred people as an example.

[@smk77097]

But we're using the coins. Which means you don't know how many of the people actually support the troll/dragon because they're coin could have flipped to tails or heads. And the vid said everybody wants to help you. So I don't see why this wouldn't work.

[@felixjangross]

I wonder if it would be better to use the standard deviation to estimate a range instead of just the mean, and then use that range to determine a dominance of one of the candidates. That would at least eliminate the perfect coin flip probability.

[@arnavaggarwal5497]

In the second part, 25% of total votes are due to coins being HH or TT, thus we subtract equal number of votes from both sides (25% of total). If our opinion poll is x>y initially , then after subtracting equal number from both sides, it will still be x > y, thus making this extra step redundant. We can directly say that 105 votes for troll beat 95 votes for dragon.

[@TheDressIsntGold]

I love this riddle! Probably my new favorite

[@lillianruan9801]

Short answer: No. Long Answer: Still no.

[@carsondubs]

This is like 2016. Orc is Trump, Bernie is the Tree and Hillary is the Dragon that "legally" kills the Tree for the canidate spot

[@The2Cat7Guy]

I love these riddles! They are so fun!

[@galaxykitten6849]

“All powerful eyebrow” youtubers have gone to new lengths to escape copyright lol this is gold

[@jessikamccowan]

The coin definitely helps with how you can accurately get an idea of what possible outcomes are available, at least mathematically. Getting to understand human emotions towards politics is a different beast entirely and always too complex. Love this illustration on both sides

[@joermnyc]

Your job isn’t to beat the dragon, your job is just to outrun the orange troll.

[@Pati-bk8xr]

I for once knew this one because they actually use this method in conservation when surveying things like bush hunting in rural communities.

[@vincenturquhart1370]

They are finally doing double riddles where you don't have to go to brilliant to see the answer to the second one

[@cialibb]

i remember learning about the first half of this riddle in my statistics class in hs! it's a common technique, except participants will mark whether they got heads or tails on a sheet out of sight instead of leaving the percentages to chance

[@maxastro]

If you poll a large enough number of people, you don't need to know who flipped what - the results will be indistinguishable from an even 50/50.

[@RGC_animation]

That's why you flip the coin yourself.

[@RGC_animation]

@@maxastroPretty sure it isn't, or else every single video on KZbin would basically have the same amount of likes and dislikes (also rip dislikes).

[@maxastro]

@@RGC_animation It's not random chance whether someone likes or dislikes a video, though.

[@RGC_animation]

@@maxastro Oh you mean coin flipping, ok then.

[@alien-x0815]

3:14 uhhh what a constitution

[@shivanshgarewal2833]

When I see the name "Dennis E Shasha " I immediately remember of Our potato girl

[@andrevth]

I don't know why but I found "all powerful eyebrow" deadass hilarious 😂

[@MarlowPreston]

So the Orange Troll is obvious, but is the Tree Bernie, and the Dragon Hillary?

[@benjaminford8173]

The dragon would be Biden IMO

[@lilorange3647]

Something tells me that the dragon is Harris, takes over right after biden wins and is super unpopular immediately after... hope this comment ages well ;)

[@maltt8715]

well the dragon and hillary have one thing in common they both murdered someone

[@eddycabreja3332]

Man, now I really want a continuation for the Ragnarok riddle, or the penniless pilgrim riddle, or the sorting hat riddle.

[@mathguy37]

Or the popular one

[@darealmrman2266]

the trojan war is actually he prequel tp the ragnarok riddle iirc

[@kolobanovmedal]

Finally season 2 of all those riddles.

[@thomaslaganda1840]

Thanks for this type of riddle, much more interesting!

[@ingewidya4724]

I never clicked faster than a ted ed video notification pop up about a riddle that i definitely can’t finish 😂

[@dailydoseofmedicinee]

One of the brain benefits of puzzles is that they increase the production of dopamine, a neurotransmitter that regulates mood, memory, and concentration. Dopamine is released with every success as we solve the puzzle.👍

[@unholycrusader69]

Mmmmmmm h a p p y b r a i n j u i c e

[@georgeuferov1497]

> with every success Well, no dopamine for us on this channel

[@sourtm5916]

this is the only riddle where i actually figured out what you would have to do.

[@Spirit451]

Brutal! Absolutely brutal! In one ear and out the other.

[@l3wismoreman9227]

Set in the same world where we had that riddle in that jostling tournament

[@amrica5298]

For the second, I’d have them flip 1 coin. If heads, they give their real answer. If tails, they flip again to give a predetermined answer. Same statistics, 1/4 fewer flips on average, easier for respondents to remember without 2x2 chart. This single coin flip model (not the one I proposed above) is how they poll disgraceful questions about spousal abuse and other crimes.

[@shreyaskumaragarwal3343]

The Giant Orange Troll. I get what you did there. 😂😂.

[@rainbowsomeone]

The first ted ed riddles in a v long time I’ve been able to solve 😁

[@mrchoco4605]

Giant orange troll: Trump Experienced tree statesman: Biden Nice one, Ted.

[@lauren9536]

you need to stop watching politics, you're gonna make some ppl angry

[@a.w.4708]

@@lauren9536 yet he is right... This Riddle is REALLY suggestive in this term.

[@abledkey]

I think it was supposed to be Trump as the Troll, Bernie as the tree, and Hillary as the dragon 😂

[@casshernsins8333]

@@abledkey exactly. As Bernie would’ve won the dnc candidacy but the dnc shorted Bernie and gave it to hilary

[@reymundalagos9889]

Two riddles in one video? Thanks!

[@Ankit1903]

Brilliant! King Rattle and sssilver coin 😂 Apart from the puzzle itself, I love the attention to detail

[@firmi_2119]

Thank you IGCSE Statistics for making this the first riddle I could confidently answer correctly.

[@anatine_banana_69]

This has a Monty Python reference in the title card yet TED-ed failed to include one in the last video, The Spanish Inquisition

[@z.m.6053]

Pretty unexpected, eh?

[@rextanglr4056]

It's not everyday when TED-Ed makes a sequel riddle. Also, plot twist: a wizard resurrects the treefellow and found out who killed them. What now?

[@lauren9536]

the dragon dies because murder is not pog

[@rubinthepig1218]

They vote for dragon and they eject him

[@crestfall123]

LotR references: 1. Dormor - Mordor 2. The gray guy who asks what you have in your pocket - Gollum 3. One sssilver dollar - My preciousssssss That's all I saw. Lmk if you saw something I didn't

[@slickysaturn7243]

Bro summarised democracy, choose between the troll and the dragon

[@bogdangiusca5057]

For the second riddell.(p.s did not watch) If you had everyone flip the coin twice If its two heads they say the dragon If its two tails they say the troll If its a combination they tell you there opinion. 50% of the votes are acuret. We subtract 25% from each candidate. Edit: can't believe i got ut right.

[@danielsahlberg4576]

Did you come up with this after watching the first riddle? I did...

[@bogdangiusca5057]

@@danielsahlberg4576 yes i did

[@KnakuanaRka]

I came up with a different solution to the second part: everyone flips the coin twice. If they get two heads, they lie, otherwise they tell the truth. This makes 1/4 of both groups lie, so you could make a system of equations to determine exactly how many people actually support each side§, but the side with the majority of votes should say the same. § If T and D are the number of people who vote for each candidate, and T’ and D’ are the number who actually prefer each candidate: T = .75T’ + .25D’ D = .75D’ + .25T’ 3T = .75D’ + 2.25T’ (multiplying the first equation) -(D = .75D’ + .25T’) 3T-D = 2T’ T’ = 1.5T -.5D And the equation for D’ is analogous. So to determine the number of people who actually prefer a candidate, multiple the number of votes for them by 1.5, and subtract half the number of people who didn’t vote for them.

[@jakistam1000]

That's a better solution, because larger fraction of population will present their accurate beliefs, leading to more accurate poll. Of course, you could have them flip the coin even more times. If, for example, everyone would flip the coin 5 times, and lie on 5 heads, then 31/32 of the polled would say their actual preference. You shouldn't overdo it, though. If you asked everyone to flip the coin 20 times, and lie on all heads, the odds of them lying is 1 in a million. That's not really plausible deniability.

[@KnakuanaRka]

@@jakistam1000 Well, given what you said about plausible deniability, that does make the video's suggestion better than mine. With the video's solution, 25% of the total population is made to lie in favor of each side, so even if everyone who voted genuinely was in favor of one side, they'd still have good deniability (eg, if it was 25% forced troll, 25% forced dragon, and 50% true dragon, there's still only a 2/3 chance that someone who voted dragon said so genuinely), and in a more even vote, both sides have about a 50% chance. With my option, however, 25% of both sides lie, so in an even race, any one person's vote has about a 75% chance of being sincere, making it less deniable. If the vote is less even, the minority gets more deniability, but only a little, and the majority's deniability gets even worse; getting to even the worst-case 67% of the other method for the minority requires an imbalance of at least a 40-60 split, while the best-case 50% requires a 25-75 split.

[@kedamono42069]

I love riddles with a part sequel

[@EHMM]

This is like the Jousting Score Problem Part 2

[@vex3488]

How could you subtract all the head results as you don’t know if they would have supported either candidate? There is the possibility that all the head flips supported the troll or tree fully, leading to a great margin of error.

[@alam5055]

Well, of course it could happen that most of the tree or troll supporters get heads, but with such a large number of asked people it's very unprobable. Looking at this probability-wise, a troll supporter and a tree supporter have the same probability of getting the heads, so the number of troll and tree supporters that get the heads will be similar as number of troll and tree supporters that get the tails - not necesarilly the same, but there shouldn't be any drastic differences. And the margin of error is acceptable as you don't have to be 100% accurate with your predictions. So that's why we can substract all head results

[@zhocolatte]

an eyebrow? I- ok I'm just gonna be happy its a riddle-

[@Mostly_Roblox]

the all-powerful eyebrow 😆😆😆

[@hannahwatermelon]

I'm sorry, 30 seconds in and there is an all-powerful EYEBROW?? I love these videos

[@star_friend]

The one real candidate it's a fire eye at the peak of mountain.

[@bearschmidt3180]

Yep ! The illuminati

[@MilindaPereraGoogle]

Thank you TED-Ed for this great explanation of the idea behind what's formally known as Differential Privacy. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Differential_privacy.

[@barrotem5627]

This riddle was so weird... I couldn't get myself to think of it lol 😁

[@sushilrai1929]

I liked the markings on the coin...... "One Sssilver dollar"...awesome attention to a smlaa detail...