Here's a fun little riddle.
If you've figured it out or already know it, don't immediately post the answer! Let it run for awhile so it doesn't ruin it for anybody.
Took me about 20 min's to figure it out while driving from soCal to norCal.
*********************
A village of fifty (50) smurfs has been discovered by an oversized hungry giant. The giant is going to eat every smurf, but he gives them an opportunity to live. The following morning, the giant is going to line up all 50 smurfs facing the same direction, so that the 50th smurf can see every smurf in front of him, the 24th smurf can see the 23 smurfs in front of him, etc. He's going to randomly put either a black or white hat on each smurf. A smurf cannot see his own hat, but of course can see the hats of the smurfs in front of him. For a smurf to survive, he must call out the correct color of his hat. If he is right, he lives, if he's wrong, he dies. The 50th smurf (the one who can see the other 49) will start first by calling out either black or white, and then the next smurf will go, and so on. The night before the execution, the smurfs devise a plan so that the greatest number of smurfs will certainly live.
What strategy do they devise so that the greatest number of smurfs will live?
If you've figured it out or already know it, don't immediately post the answer! Let it run for awhile so it doesn't ruin it for anybody.
Took me about 20 min's to figure it out while driving from soCal to norCal.
*********************
A village of fifty (50) smurfs has been discovered by an oversized hungry giant. The giant is going to eat every smurf, but he gives them an opportunity to live. The following morning, the giant is going to line up all 50 smurfs facing the same direction, so that the 50th smurf can see every smurf in front of him, the 24th smurf can see the 23 smurfs in front of him, etc. He's going to randomly put either a black or white hat on each smurf. A smurf cannot see his own hat, but of course can see the hats of the smurfs in front of him. For a smurf to survive, he must call out the correct color of his hat. If he is right, he lives, if he's wrong, he dies. The 50th smurf (the one who can see the other 49) will start first by calling out either black or white, and then the next smurf will go, and so on. The night before the execution, the smurfs devise a plan so that the greatest number of smurfs will certainly live.
What strategy do they devise so that the greatest number of smurfs will live?