6
$\begingroup$

Someone is about to be executed because he killed someone and he is asked how he wants to die by a strange question:

If you say something true now, you will be executed with electricity, if you say something false you will be executed with a gun.

Then our guy says something and they could not kill him.

What could he say?

Improve this question
$\endgroup$
  • 4
    $\begingroup$ Is it something troll like "The power just went out" $\endgroup$ – Quintec Sep 30 '17 at 19:44
  • $\begingroup$ @thecoder16 then I would add lateral-thinking tag for it :) $\endgroup$ – Oray Sep 30 '17 at 19:45
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Have you ever noticed how similar the puzzling.se logo is to workplace.se? Especially when shrunk down for the HNQ sidebar. $\endgroup$ – user253751 Oct 1 '17 at 5:14
  • $\begingroup$ @immibis yep $\endgroup$ – Beastly Gerbil Oct 1 '17 at 9:23
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ @BeastlyGerbil And specifically what it looks like when you see a question from workplace.se about how to get away with murder... $\endgroup$ – user253751 Oct 2 '17 at 1:54
14
$\begingroup$

He says

"I will be killed with a gun"

So:

If the statement is true he should be killed with electricity, making it false.

If it is false he will be killed with a gun, making it true.

Hence it is a paradox and they let him go as the statement can be neither true or false.

Alternatively as @sousben points out, he could say

'You will not kill me with electricity' - which is the logical reverse of the other statement and therefore does the same

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
  • $\begingroup$ oops i was overthinking it way too much $\endgroup$ – Quintec Sep 30 '17 at 20:05
  • $\begingroup$ @thecoder16 hehe I liked your answer though :P $\endgroup$ – Beastly Gerbil Sep 30 '17 at 20:06
  • $\begingroup$ it could have been "this sentence is a lie" or similar $\endgroup$ – ALinuxLover Sep 30 '17 at 21:05
  • $\begingroup$ @ALinuxLover that works too. $\endgroup$ – Beastly Gerbil Sep 30 '17 at 21:08
  • $\begingroup$ They might just throw him back in his cell rather than execute him. $\endgroup$ – jpmc26 Oct 1 '17 at 1:32

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.