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        riddles >> what happened >> The box paradox
        
(Message started by: alien2 on Sep 30^th, 2019, 3:44am)

Title: The box paradox
Post by alien2 on Sep 30^th, 2019, 3:44am

Two friends like to puzzle one another. At one occasion one says to another: "If you open this box, you’ll find a pencil inside; yet the pencil is not in this box. How can this be?!" After a bit of pondering, he answers correctly. What was his answer?

Title: Re: The box paradox
Post by towr on Sep 30^th, 2019, 8:53am

[hide]
Inside could mean inside the room, instead of inside the box.

Or the speaker could just throw the pencil in the box as it's opened by the other person.

Or, there might just be a pencil lead (the pencil's inside) in the box.

Or he might answer "correctly"
[/hide]

Title: Re: The box paradox
Post by alien2 on Sep 30^th, 2019, 10:47pm

No intended answer as of yet; but thanks for participating.

Title: Re: The box paradox
Post by Grimbal on Oct 4^th, 2019, 9:37am

He opened the box, and ...
[hide] He half-expected a pencil lying there, but he discovered his friend lying. [/hide]

or
[hide]It is physically impossible to open the box. Therefore any sentence like "if you open the box then ..." is true. [/hide]

Title: Re: The box paradox
Post by alien2 on Oct 5^th, 2019, 1:46am

on 10/04/19 at 09:37:00, Grimbal wrote:

He opened the box, and ...
[hide] He half-expected a pencil lying there, but he discovered his friend lying. [/hide]

Nice try. He wasn't lying though. You're thinking too much. The answer is pretty transparent, and it concerns an omitted fact.

Title: Re: The box paradox
Post by towr on Oct 5^th, 2019, 11:31am

Are you hinting that [hide]the bottom om the box is transparent and the pencil is underneath the box[/hide]?

Title: Re: The box paradox
Post by alien2 on Oct 5^th, 2019, 11:51am

Not at all. It is an ordinary box.

Title: Re: The box paradox
Post by Grimbal on Oct 5^th, 2019, 1:15pm

The box is a TV set.

Or it is a zen paradox. Is a piece of wood and lead a pencil if nobody knows it is there, nobody identifies it as a pencil and nobody knows it can be used to draw?

Title: Re: The box paradox
Post by Grimbal on Oct 5^th, 2019, 1:19pm

"correctly".

I don't know if it was the intended answer, but I answered the question correctly.

Title: Re: The box paradox
Post by alien2 on Oct 6^th, 2019, 3:03am

It is an ordinary pencil in an ordinary box. Uberpuzzlers of your caliber baffle me. You are able to solve quite difficult mathematical riddles, whatnot, an then you bog down regarding this pretty simple riddle. Yes. There is an omitted fact, but it is not a TV or a satellite or whatever. No technology is involved. Star Trek is alright, unless it becomes a habit. At the moment we are not that technologically advanced.

This might be a hint: Russia, something about it (or from it), considering a certain association, analogous to this riddle, in a way.

Title: Re: The box paradox
Post by towr on Oct 6^th, 2019, 10:22pm

on 10/06/19 at 03:03:38, alien2 wrote:

You are able to solve quite difficult mathematical riddles, whatnot, an then you bog down regarding this pretty simple riddle.

Difficult mathematical puzzles generally have a way for solving them, whereas this "pretty simple riddle" requires reading your mind. There isn't a systematic way to arrive at an answer here. Well, I suppose I could name every word or pair of words in the English dictionary and hope the answer is among them, but that's still guesswork.

Title: Re: The box paradox
Post by alien2 on Oct 7^th, 2019, 9:58am

You needn't use the English dictionary, not at all. This was a hint.

Title: Re: The box paradox
Post by Grimbal on Oct 12^th, 2019, 2:02am

You hint not an English dictionnary.
You hint Russian.
Pencil in russian is karandash.
So it is not a pencil in the box, it is a karandash.

Or like russian dolls, in the box there is not a pencil but a box. In THAT box there is a pencil.

Title: Re: The box paradox
Post by alien2 on Oct 12^th, 2019, 8:01am

on 10/12/19 at 02:02:47, Grimbal wrote:

(...)
Or like russian dolls, in the box there is not a pencil but a box. In THAT box there is a pencil.

Yes!

I knew that you, Grimbal, would NOT disappoint me. In a sense, sometimes I feel as though I am your wife, even though I am not gay. I feel a certain connection between us, which transcends our international differences. Thank You again. And: you're welcome!