Mind Sharpeners

Here's a puzzle for all you SOLOists.

Three men get lost in the woods and have to stay overnight. As the air turns cold, the three go off in search of firewood. One man comes back with five logs of the same size, another with three of the same size, and another empty-handed. In order to be fair, the one who couldn't find any logs decides to pay the others. He has eight dollars.

What does he pay each of them and why?

Post 1

Tuesday, June 11, 2002 - 6:23am

Well, under the assumption that the two men who brought back logs brought back logs of the same size (since you did not indicate other wise), the third man should pay a dollar a log, so that the first man gets five dollars for five logs, and the second gets three dollars for three logs. Why? More effort was required to retrieve five logs.

Post 2

Tuesday, June 11, 2002 - 6:37am

I would say what he pays depends on what the others ask of him and if indeed they want to sell the logs at all. Money is nice to have when you don't freeze your butt off. In this instance though it would be of very little use to the freezing men. I doubt I would be tempted to sell the logs and my chance of survival for mere slips of paper.

Post 3

Tuesday, June 11, 2002 - 8:39am

Well, Trinity, if they're all sitting by the same fire, then I'd say that the third guy is doing the right thing by paying for a share of the heat.

Post 4

Tuesday, June 11, 2002 - 10:16am

Oh I assumed the question was not about sharing the fire so much but buying the logs of them. I guess I misread or misunderstood. Sowwy :o/

Post 5

Tuesday, June 11, 2002 - 3:40pm

Well, even if the three men were to build separate fires (which would be a waste), the two with wood need not sell all their wood to the third. They might sell him only one log, or two.

And don't apologise for misunderstanding.

Post 6

Tuesday, June 11, 2002 - 5:58pm

Oh I just know this is a trick question!

Now, if I was the logless man, I would just ask if I could sit by the fire with them and offer to tend it -- in addition to offering them money if such was their want. I'd even offer to cook campfire coffee for them as 'payment', and if I knew how to catch a groundhog, I'd offer them roast groundhog as well. *grin*

However, that is what I would do 'as a man' for the example. I'm fairly certain I could offer other inducements that didn't involve money if they were interesting men. LOL!

I can't wait to see more replies on this -- I think these brain teasers are an awesome idea .. a great way to test what we believe applied to interesting situations ...
Joy :))

Post 7

Wednesday, June 12, 2002 - 1:19am

Here's a hint, since Jason grilled me with this one a while back. Since all the logs are going into the firepit, the man has to pay for his third of the fuel. The question then becomes how does he divide the eight dollars up, given that he will be reaping the benefits of a third of the fuel? Remember that the other guys didn't each come back with equal amounts. And, that they'll also each be using a third of the fuel.

What if he had come back with one log?

Jason, do you have any I haven't heard? :-)

Post 8

Wednesday, June 12, 2002 - 10:38pm

Sure...
A duck walks into a bar and goes up to the bartender. The duck says, "Got any duck food?" The bartended replies, "No, we just serve spirits here." The duck nods and leaves.

The next day the duck comes back and goes up to the bartender. The duck says, "Got any duck food?" The bartended replies, "No, we just serve spirits here." The duck nods and leaves.

The next day the duck comes back and goes up to the bartender. The duck says, "Got any duck food?" The bartended replies, "No, we just serve spirits here. How many times do I have to tell you? If you come in again asking me for duck food, I'm going to nail your feet to the floor!"

The next day the duck walks up to the bartender and says, "Got any nails?"
The bartended says, "No."
"Got any duck food?"

Post 9

Wednesday, June 12, 2002 - 10:40pm

Actually, I posted this question because I thought that Objectivists would get into a discussion about property rights. I just wanted to be amused.

Post 10

Thursday, June 13, 2002 - 12:34am

Unless there's some trick to the log puzzle I've missed, I solve it as follows. I assume all logs are the same size and the men receive equal benefit from a single fire. Suppose that A supplies 5 logs, B supplies 3 logs and C has $8. Then C should pay for a third of the logs while A & B should each be compensated for logs supplied in excess of a third of the total, i.e. A should be paid for 5 - 8/3 = 7/3 logs and B for 3 - 8/3 = 1/3 of a log. Thus C pays $7 to A and $1 to B - they might haggle over the value of a log, but A should still be paid 7 times as much as B.

Post 11

Friday, June 14, 2002 - 1:15am