Interview Question
Country: India
I do not believe that this answer will help find the right gate because:
If i ask the truthful guard "what would the other guard say if i asked him which one is hell?" he would say that the liar will point in my direction.
But if you ask the liar "what would the other guard say if i asked him which one is hell?" he would say that the truthful guard will point in my direction.
We don't know which guard is guarding which gate.
@Last Anonymous: I don't understand your argument. The liar and truthteller will point to the same door, regardless which one you ask. That allows you to determine the correct door.
Here's a famous scene from the movie "Labyrinth" that features this problem: youtube DOT com/watch?v=2dgmgub8mHw
Ask one of them: "Does the gatekeeper guarding the gate of heaven always speak the truth?"
If the gatekeeper says "No", the other gate is the gate to heaven. If he says "Yes", the gate he is guarding is the one.
Case 1:
Heaven gatekeeper speaks the truth and Hell's gatekeeper lies.
As per our question, Heaven's gatekeeper will reply "Yes",
Case 2:
Heaven gatekeeper lies and Hell's gatekeeper speaks the truth.
In this case, Heavens gatekeeper will again reply "Yes"
@Travis: how do u know that a truthful one guarding the heaven gate.
there is no certainity for that. The liar may be guarding the heaven gate..
You'd need another question to actually determine who's guarding the gate to heaven. You've assumed that the one guarding heaven is the truthteller, but there was no such constraint.
What Travis is presuming i guess is that God will not allow a liar to guard the doors to heaven (i wish it was Stairways to Heaven instead) :P
why ask such complicated things?
simply ask 2+2=?
if he says 4, heaven, something else, hell
The problem does involve 2 gatekeepers. One always lies and one always tells the truth. The solution to the problem is to ask either of the gatekeepers which door the other gatekeeper would say leads to heaven. Then, you choose the other door.
Here is the reasoning: If you happen to ask the gatekeeper who always lies, he will point to the door to hell because he knows the other truthtelling gatekeeper would point to the door to heaven. If you happen to ask the truthtelling gatekeeper, he will also point to the door to hell because he knows the gatekeeping liar would say the door to hell is the door to heaven. So, in either instance the gatekeeper points to the door to hell and you can safely choose the other door.
"What have I got in my pocket?" No, no. Wrong scenario.
"What walks on 4 legs in the morning, 2 legs in the afternoon and three legs in... nope, not that one either.
Erm... "Knock, knock?" Hmmmm....Oh, dear.
I know! "Hey, did you know that the other guardian says he can kick your arse?" Then while they're fighting, peek inside each gate and pick the one that looks like Heaven. Hah!
"What have I got in my pocket?" Wait. Wrong scenario.
"What walks on 4 legs in the morning, 2 legs in the afternoon and 3 legs in...." No, not that one either.
"Knock, knock?" Nope. Hmmm.
Oh, I know! "Hey, did you know that the other guardian said he could kick your arse?" Then while they're fighting you peek through each gate.
Ask him: "If I ask you: 'Are you guarding the heaven gate'? what would you answer?"
If he responds 'yes' then this is the heaven gate; hell otherwise.
Possibilities:
1. This is heaven gate and he is the truth teller. He will answer 'yes'.
2. This is heaven gate and he is the untruth teller. If you were asking this, he would reply 'No' (as this is lie), but if you ask him what he would reply, he will lie again and say 'yes.'
3. This is hell gate and he is truth teller. He will answer 'No'.
4. This is hell gate and he is liar. He would answer 'yes' to the original question, and he will lie and answer 'No' to your question.
So in any case they will both say 'yes' if this is heaven and 'no' otherwise.
I would ask, I am god, please show me heaven door?, 100% correct answer with the below 4 cases. Since I have a chance to ask either guy once, I will get response only from one guy in every case I am a winner.
Case 1:
Hell door-> Truth guy: No you are not god but the other door is way to heaven.
Heaven door-> False guy
Answer: since he said I am not god, I will know he is the truth guy pointing me towards heaven correctly.
Case 2:
Hell door-> Truth guy
Heaven door-> False guy: Yes, you are god, the other door is way to heaven.
Answer: Since he said I am god, I will identify him as a false guy and not other door is way to heaven but his door is.
Case 3:
Heaven door-> truth guy:you are not god but my door is way to heaven.
Hell door-> false guy:
Answer: Answer: since he said I am not god, I will know he is the truth guy pointing me towards heaven correctly.
Case 4:
Heaven door-> Truth guy
Hell door-> False guy: Yes, you are god, the my door is way to heaven.
Answer: Since he said I am god, I will identify him as a false guy and not his door is way to heaven but other guy door is.
Please let me know how is my answer? Thanks!!
I would ask, I am god, please show me heaven door?, 100% correct answer with the below 4 cases. Since I have a chance to ask either guy once, I will get response only from one guy in every case I am a winner.
Case 1:
Hell door-> Truth guy: No you are not god but the other door is way to heaven.
Heaven door-> False guy
Answer: since he said I am not god, I will know he is the truth guy pointing me towards heaven correctly.
Case 2:
Hell door-> Truth guy
Heaven door-> False guy: Yes, you are god, the other door is way to heaven.
Answer: Since he said I am god, I will identify him as a false guy and not other door is way to heaven but his door is.
Case 3:
Heaven door-> truth guy:you are not god but my door is way to heaven.
Hell door-> false guy:
Answer: Answer: since he said I am not god, I will know he is the truth guy pointing me towards heaven correctly.
Case 4:
Heaven door-> Truth guy
Hell door-> False guy: Yes, you are god, the my door is way to heaven.
Answer: Since he said I am god, I will identify him as a false guy and not his door is way to heaven but other guy door is.
Please let me know how is my answer? Thanks!!
I would ask, I am god, please show me heaven door?, 100% correct answer with the below 4 cases. Since I have a chance to ask either guy once, I will get response only from one guy in every case I am a winner.
Case 1:
Hell door-> Truth guy: No you are not god but the other door is way to heaven.
Heaven door-> False guy
Answer: since he said I am not god, I will know he is the truth guy pointing me towards heaven correctly.
Case 2:
Hell door-> Truth guy
Heaven door-> False guy: Yes, you are god, the other door is way to heaven.
Answer: Since he said I am god, I will identify him as a false guy and not other door is way to heaven but his door is.
Case 3:
Heaven door-> truth guy:you are not god but my door is way to heaven.
Hell door-> false guy:
Answer: Answer: since he said I am not god, I will know he is the truth guy pointing me towards heaven correctly.
Case 4:
Heaven door-> Truth guy
Hell door-> False guy: Yes, you are god, the my door is way to heaven.
Answer: Since he said I am god, I will identify him as a false guy and not his door is way to heaven but other guy door is.
Please let me know how is my answer? Thanks!!
I think most of us are getting confused with the question wording: " what is the way to heaven" instead the question wording would be when asking the question to both the guards is : " If i ask other guradian for the way of heaven, what would he tell me"
This is the exact question, you can find a video on youtube as well with descriptive answer....
Only think that brings you to the heaven is that how much good your work is in earth because no one is smarter than God if you ask lier gatekeeper where the gate to hell he lies and shows way to heaven but problem is that you don't know who is lier and who is truth.
Conclusion
The answer of both guards are opposite so only your luck will save you
Go up to one guard and say "In the hypothetical situation that I asked you if you were guarding the gate to heaven, would you say "yes" or "no"? The guard who always tells the truth will say "yes," because his answer to your question will be truthful, and the true answer is "yes." The guard that lies will say "no," because in actuality he would answer "yes" to the stated question, but he can't tell you he would answer "yes," because that would be telling the truth.
Ask one of them " If the person guarding the gate to heaven is a gatekeeper? "
If the gatekeeper is the liar, gatekeeper's answer will be No, and you that other gate is the gate to heaven.
If the gatekeeper is the truthful one, then gatekeeper's answer will be yes and you that the same gate is gate to heaven.
Simplest possible answer :-"Are you a human being"
the liar will say no
while the true man will say yes!
since the truth is heaven and the lie is hell u ask one of them "if i ask the other guard what gate he's guarding, what will he say?" if they say heaven then go in that one. if they say hell go in the other one.
explained: neither would say that they are guarding hell. therefor the one who supposedly is guarding hell is guarding heaven.
Ask one of the guard:" what would the other guard say if i ask him which way is the hell?"
- nirojpokhrel November 22, 2012And whatever answer he gives that is the way to heaven.
Explanation:
If you end up asking the question to the truthful one, he will tell the true and he knows the other guard is going to lie so he will so the way to heaven.
If you end up asking the question to the liar he will lie what the answer will be and he lies and instead shows the way to heaven.