5 ms·
Unanswerable multiple choice question
If you choose the answer to this question at random, what is the chance it will be correct?
A) 25% B) 50% C) 0% D) 25%
- techiferous 16y agoMy random answer is "splorichoo".
- pook 16y agoIt is answerable... with a swift kick to the balls of the person asking it.
- kqr2 16y agoBut there's only a 50% chance that the person asking that will have balls.
- Chirag 16y agoYour H0(null hypothesis) may be wrong.
- ZachPruckowski 16y agoI would speculate that of the people to ask annoying trick questions, the vast majority of them are smug males.
- stcredzero 16y agoThere are lot a of females who like to deflate smug males with trick questions.
- ZachPruckowski 16y agoHahaha, fair enough.
- donohoe 16y agoB
- mahmud 16y agoB is the new C http://i.imgur.com/LZBup.jpg http://i.imgur.com/LZBup.jpg
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- spicyj 16y agoBut then you're implying that you'll get a correct answer 1/2 of the time, which means that the answer is B, but then the answer is correct only 1/4 of the time, and you've got yourself in an infinite loop.
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- InclinedPlane 16y agoIf the correct answer is 50% then there needs to be 2 possible answers of 50%, otherwise picking randomly will only result in that answer being selected 25% of the time, rendering the "correct" answer false.
- volare 16y ago"... then in the long run half of the time you will hit on the right answer" So the right answer would be B, but you only have 25% chance of choosing that ... infinite loop.
- andyjenn 16y ago...an infinite loop, so no chance of answering correctly - C.
- joubee 16y agox^y/y = z x= chance of a correct answer (1/4) y= number of random attempts 1/4^2 divided by 2 = 1/32 (The odds of picking the correct answer twice in two attempts) and so on..... the more you try the less chance you have of succeeding so just give up and cheat off the guy next to you. I made this crap up so what's the chance of it being right? a)0% b)0^ c)what he wrote d)no chance
- katovatzschyn 16y agoAppears to be a clever case of the first incompleteness theorum.
- tdmackey 16y agoGödel's first incompleteness theorem states that any effectively generated theory capable of expressing elementary arithmetic cannot be both consistent and complete. In particular, for any consistent, effectively generated formal theory that proves certain basic arithmetic truths, there is an arithmetical statement that is true, but not provable in the theory (Kleene 1967, p. 250) per http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gödels_incompleteness_theorems http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gödels_incompleteness_theorems Just because you title something an "Unanswerable question" doesn't mean it actually is, and certainly doesn't mean the first incompleteness theorem is relevant.
- jaekwon 16y agoIs "The above question has no solution", which is choice C, not a Godel sentence?
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- jaekwon 16y agoCan you prove or disprove this statement? "Godel's first incompleteness theorem is a Godel sentence" Anyways, it is my belief that Godel's Incompleteness Theorem is false by definition of Truth. That is, what is true is provable and vice versa. Once you depart from this definition, you get statements that are paradoxical, and by my definition of Truth, the Godel Incompleteness Theorem is certainly paradoxical (thus False).
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- RevRal 16y agoThe answer is. . . A plus D. (Seriously, if I saw this on a test I'd just circle A and D then write "= 50%".)
- gurtwo 16y agoI say B. Now prove me wrong.
- jey 16y ago"You're wrong because the answer key says so. Were you not paying attention when I gave the answers to use during the 'review' session?"
- pathik 16y agoB
- wendroid 16y agoYour rubric doesn't denote whether I can answer more than one item for the question therefore based on "you can only choose one" then 25% is the chance of being right, as the correct answer is still one of A,B,C,D.
- david 16y agoWell, any multple choice question is going to be unanswerable if none of the choices given are a correct answer. Since I think most would define a multiple choice question as one with a list of answers from which you pick the correct one, I say this question fails to validate. Thus not only is this multiple choice question unanswerable, it's not even a multiple choice question. Try wrapping that around your head.
- LaPingvino 16y agoI choose E) 20%
- jonsen 16y agoThe answer is C because it's B.
- ErrantX 16y agoA B C D (as it is not specified that only one must be chosen) EDIT: the problem is ill defined...
- clvv 16y agoSaw this one before and if that was the source of this, then the answer will be E) 0% What a nice one!
- rontol 16y agoB) for me
- jjs 16y ago0% chance. Answering randomly may give you a result that coincidentally matches the truth, but you have provided no logical or epistemological support for your choice, nor any chain of reasoning that leads you from the available evidence to a conclusion that there even is a correct answer. You have a 25% chance of randomly choosing the "right" answer, (C) 0%, but no paradox is created because you answered without establishing knowledge of the answer, and therefore your answer cannot rightly be called correct.
- rontol 16y agoNormally it would be 1 out 4 = 25% but if all answer given in the list is wrong then 0% The answer is not in the list thus unanswerable?
- sqrt17 16y agoSince A and D give you the same result, the question is a "check all that apply question". Excluding contradictory combinations, there are four answers: * nothing checked (i.e., none of A,B,C,D) * A+D * B * C Assume the correct choice is among these four answers (it is, since we also include a "none of these" option); then you have a one-in-four chance to get it right. Hence, A+D is right. If this is not a "check all that apply" question, then having both A and D is contradictory and the person posing this question deserves a whack on the head.
- goodside 16y agoA more distilled version: Which of the following is the answer to this question? A) B B) A
- yaroslavvb 16y agoExcept here you could say "both are correct" or "neither are correct", whereas in the original question those also cause a paradox
- JoeAltmaier 16y agoIf "I" choose the answer, I use a weighted 4-sided die that comes up "B" half the time. So B is correct.
- cb18 16y agoWhere is correctness defined? What is the antecedent for 'it,' the 'answer' or the 'question'? Does this phrase even make sense? I suspect it is supposed to be some 'recursive cleverness,' or just not make sense? C) 0% because for something to be correct it follows that it fits a given definition of correctness of which none is given. now the recursion has started to work based on the above reasoning So if C)0% is the "correct answer"(that is, there is no correct answer) then choosing an answer at random will be correct 25% of the time, if you shift to viewing 25% as the "correct answer" then you have a 50% chance of randomly selecting a "correct answer" what is the chance [the question] will be correct? C)0% q1=what is the chance [the question] will be correct? what is the chance [an answer to q1] will be correct? 25% q2=what is the chance [an answer to q1] will be correct? what is the chance [an answer to q2] will be correct? 50%
- paraschopra 16y agoI refuse to play silly mind games which make me feel incompetent.
- stcredzero 16y agoA good way to discourage learning in fields like mathematics, science, and programming.
- paraschopra 16y agoMost problems in mathematics, science, and programming aren't as silly as this one.
- danteembermage 16y agoCompletely different question: This question is posed to a large number of people who all attempt to answer is correctly. "What fraction of respondents answered the same as you? a) 25% b) 50% c) 0% d) 25%" If you choose the answer to this question at random, what is the chance it will be correct? What if you change it to "What fraction of respondents not including you answered the same as you"?
- Ashtone 16y agoIf I choose to answer this question at random (with the constraints of having to choose one of the choices) then the chance of it being correct is going to be 25%, because I am answering at RANDOM, therefore not using any intellect and not applying any sense to the question. However, the question merely states IF you choose, not that you have to. Therefore, I am entirely correct by answering either A or D. Thus it is not unanswerable and is incorrect in stating so.
- jheriko 16y agoi don't get it... maybe i'm being incredibly dense but it looks like it should be B. this makes the correct answer 25%, so the probability of getting it right at random is 50% because 2 out of 4 answers are 25% - so the answer is B = 50%, and indeed the chance of choosing B is 25% answering the question at random is not the same as answering the question posed - so the fact that the two answers are not equal shouldn't be a problem. right? edit: i hate paradoxes, i'm pretty certain i'm wrong, but i can't put my finger on precisely why. :)