What's a boy to do?

Wolfgang wrote:
An interesting problem was recently brought to my attention.

Let us say that you and I are standing next to a table on which I have
placed three boards identical in every respect except that each has a
different number painted on it.....1, 2, and 3, respectively.

I say to you that if you turn your back I will place a five dollar bill
under one of the boards and a slip of paper that says "you lose" under each
of the others. You then turn back to face the table and point to or name
the board you think has the five dollar bill under it. If you're right, you
win the five bucks.

We proceed. You pick, say, board number one. I say, "O.k., tell you what,
I like you so I'm going to make this easier for you," and I remove board
number three to show you that it has a "you lose" tag under it. Obviously,
the five dollars must be under one of the other two. "So," I say, "would
you like to stick with your original pick, or change your mind?"

It is a given that the game is not rigged in any way and you are not being
fooled by anything ambiguous or otherwise misleading in the description.

The question.......what should you do?

Assuming that I trust you, it doesn't matter. It's 50/50 chance
you can stick with your current pick or switch.

Given it's you, it REALLY doesn't matter since the $5 is probably
in your pocket.
- Ken

wrote:
Wolfgang wrote:
An interesting problem was recently brought to my attention.

Let us say that you and I are standing next to a table on which I have
placed three boards identical in every respect except that each has a
different number painted on it.....1, 2, and 3, respectively.

I say to you that if you turn your back I will place a five dollar bill
under one of the boards and a slip of paper that says "you lose" under each
of the others. You then turn back to face the table and point to or name
the board you think has the five dollar bill under it. If you're right, you
win the five bucks.

We proceed. You pick, say, board number one. I say, "O.k., tell you what,
I like you so I'm going to make this easier for you," and I remove board
number three to show you that it has a "you lose" tag under it. Obviously,
the five dollars must be under one of the other two. "So," I say, "would
you like to stick with your original pick, or change your mind?"

It is a given that the game is not rigged in any way and you are not being
fooled by anything ambiguous or otherwise misleading in the description.

The question.......what should you do?

Assuming that I trust you, it doesn't matter. It's 50/50 chance
you can stick with your current pick or switch.

Given it's you, it REALLY doesn't matter since the $5 is probably
in your pocket.

Uh huh. Was there anything else?

Wolfgang