One Sunday, the warden, a man of his word, informed a condemned criminal that he would be executed the following week at noon. “You will learn about the execution at the last moment, when the executioner enters your cell at noon,” the chief promised.

The criminal thought about his words logically and... was happy. “They can’t execute me on Sunday, otherwise I’ll figure it out on Saturday, and it won’t be a surprise. This means that the last possible day of my execution is Saturday. But if I am not executed on Friday, again, I will guess about it. The same thing happens with the rest of the days.” The prisoner came to the conclusion that the warden would not be able to execute him on the promised terms. And when the executioner came to him the following Wednesday, it was a complete surprise for the poor fellow.

Comments (2)

Reiner December 17, 2012 Is the stupid American series “House” now considered “science”?? This was made for morons.

Alisa Maksimova December 18, 2012 I don’t agree.
If the wording were "Everyone always lies", then both a puzzle and a self-reference, please.

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7 interesting scientific paradoxes