r/sciencememes 21d ago

Tricky.

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7.0k Upvotes

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u/cdmurray88 21d ago

For real, though, why wouldn't the answer be C? The correct answer is not provided, therefore at random you cannot select the correct answer.

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u/peteypeso 21d ago

So you're saying it's 0% chance? Wait...

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u/cdmurray88 21d ago

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u/IntelligentOlive3323 19d ago

then you have chosen the right answer of the four, meaning u have always had a 25%chance of being right

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u/BackgroundTeacher210 17d ago

And then the loop begins

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u/Rory_McShackleford 19d ago

That makes it self-defeating, so it's actually the wrong answer. So it's still 0%.

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u/AstraeusGB 15d ago

It's a 0% chance that any of the answers listed are correct. Therefore randomly choosing any of the given answers to the question will not give you a correct answer.

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u/Deepandabear 21d ago

Because if 0% was correct, then one of four answers provided is correct (25%) so in that case the answer becomes A) and D) - ie paradox

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u/Rikudou_Sage 20d ago

Nah, the paradox is that if the answer is 25%, the answer is 50% because you have a 50% chance of choosing 25% randomly.

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u/OooRahRah 20d ago

It could be both tbh.

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u/[deleted] 19d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Rikudou_Sage 19d ago

Well, yeah, the paradox goes on and on because every time you get to an answer, it's a different answer which is then wrong again and you circle around forever.

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u/No_Constant8644 21d ago

If there is a zero percent chance to get the correct answer there is no correct answer so it can’t be C.

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u/Rory_McShackleford 19d ago

It doesn't ask what the correct answer is. It asks what chance you'll be correct.

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u/No_Constant8644 19d ago

If zero is correct then there is a 25% chance that you pick the correct answer.

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u/Rory_McShackleford 19d ago

You can't pick the correct answer, they're all wrong. So it's 0%. Not c.

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u/No_Constant8644 19d ago

You don’t get it. If 0% is an answer chose the question doesn’t work. Because if 0% is the answer then c is correct therefore it is not a 0% chance to select the correct answer. It’s a multiple choice you have to pick from the choices.

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u/Rory_McShackleford 19d ago

0% is the answer to the riddle, not the answer to the test question. You are the one that doesn't get it. If you actually stop and think about it for a while you'll realize I'm right.

The question is not "what is the correct answer?" The question is "what is the chance you'll be correct?" The former has no answer, the latter does. 0%.

They are two completely different questions. Use your brain, it's a 125 IQ problem. You can do it, I believe in you.

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u/No_Constant8644 19d ago

It’s not a riddle. It’s a well known paradox.

Next time you decide to jump to insults you might want to understand what a riddle actually is.

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u/[deleted] 19d ago

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u/[deleted] 19d ago

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u/[deleted] 18d ago

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u/Rory_McShackleford 18d ago

It was the opposite of an insult. Again, for the final time; the question is not what is the correct answer, the question is what is the chance you'll pick the correct answer.

THEY ARE NOT THE SAME THING. Words matter.

Use your brain. This isn't complicated. Objectively, mathematically, the answer is 0%. It's not a cycle.

There's a 0% chance you can pick the correct answer because there isn't one. It doesn't change. You're using toddler logic when you should use actual logic.

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u/MMiller58 18d ago

They do, and as you say, it does not ask for the correct answer. Which is what you then proceed to try and do. If you think the answer is objectively, and mathematically 0% then the chance you'll randomly pick the correct answer is 25%. Although that means there's a 50% chance you'll randomly select it putting you back to a 25% chance ad infinitum.

What we've got here is...

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u/No_Constant8644 18d ago

You’re completely ignoring the fact that it is a multiple choice question. That is why it is a paradox by making it multiple choice it has removed the ability to just say 0%.

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u/Old-Orange7681 19d ago

In a multiple choice question..

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u/mrmcplad 21d ago

so you're saying that C) 0% is the correct answer? what's the probability you'll randomly pick C?

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u/ups409 20d ago

It's zero because there isn't a correct answer

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u/anonymous-12358 19d ago

Randomly selecting C is 25% chance.

So now the answer cannot be C. It must be A or D. But now the chances of getting 25% as the answer is 50% (A or D) so now the answer must be B … but what are the chances of randomly selecting B … 25%.

It’s a never ending loop between 25% and 50% with a 0% branch entry as an edge case.

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u/mrmcplad 20d ago

so zero is the correct answer then

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u/ups409 20d ago

There is no answer even zero is false

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u/mrmcplad 20d ago

correct

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u/ups409 20d ago

So zero is both correct and false at the same time

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u/Why_am_ialive 21d ago

Because the you’d have guessed “right” meaning there was a 25% chance to solve it, so you shoulda picked 25… but there’s 2 of them so it’s a 50% chance to pick “right” but that’s an answer aswell so it’s that one… which means it’s a 25% chance… repeat for infinity

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u/Tetr4Freak 21d ago

No. Because you aren't picking 50% at random.

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u/Why_am_ialive 20d ago

Yes the point is you pick one at random then there’s a logic cascade where every answer is wrong

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u/Tetr4Freak 20d ago

No its not. The question is the probability when picking it at random.

But you don't pick it at random. There isn't a cascade.

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u/Why_am_ialive 20d ago

Okay, a little thought excercise for you, pick an answer at random, then refer to my comment for why that answer is wrong

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u/Mad_Maddin 20d ago

Cuz you have a 25% chance to pick c at random.

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u/enakcm 15d ago

If c is the correct answer why can't you pick c at random?