Logical Riddle

[Saijin]

There is an island with two tribes. One of these tribes always tells the truth when they are asked a question, the other tribe always lies. The people from these tribes look exactly alike, and can't be distinguished from each other except for by how they answer questions.

The two tribes own a golden statue decked with jewels and diamonds. They are both very possessive of this statue and guard it at all times, taking turns every day to guard it.

You are an adventurer who has travelled far to see this statue. When you get to the village with the statue, there is a tribesman standing guard in front of 2 tents. The statue is in one of the tents, but you don't know which one. The guard says that you must pick one of the tents, and if you pick the wrong one, you'll never be able to see the statue again. You don't know which one of the tribes the guard is from.

What question can you ask the guard, to make sure that you pick the right tent?


Edit:
To clarify, you can only ask one question.

Don't have time to answer now, but several people here have gotten the answer already, Dashen and Leizak, etc.
Good replies everyone (mostly).

Edit 2:
Just to officially give out the answer, the right question to ask would be "If you were from the other tribe, would you say that the statue is in this tent?" The truth teller would have to tell a lie then, and the liar would still tell a lie as well, so the answer would be the opposite of whatever they answered. This is probably explained better by some of the other posters in this thread.

Although, I have to admit that, with the way I worded the riddle, Kogase also had a different and correct answer to the riddle.

 

[imported_Tick]

No. Diaf.

 

[Crono]

You better post the answer today <-first threat ever

 

[Forsythe]

Ask him if it's golden, then you know which one he is?

 

[mdchesne]

Originally posted by: Crono
You better post the answer today <-first threat ever

it's an easy one, don't worry

 

[LeiZaK]

which tent would a guy from the other tribe tell me it was in,... meh

edit: and pick the opposite of what he says

 

[BigJ]

This is a variation of the hangman riddle, isn't it? (Where he can get out of being hung by saying one statement).

If so, I'm not going to ruin it.

 

[Ramma2]

Shoot guard, steal statue, run away with elder's daughter.

 

[Come to Meh]

ask him which tribe he is from?

 

[imported_Tick]

Originally posted by: Ramma2
Shoot guard, steal statue, run away with elder's daughter.

/thread

 

[Inspector Jihad]

ask the guard if he's asleep...if he's from the truth-telling tribe he'll say no and then you can ask him which tent the statue is in. If he answers yes then that means he's from the lying tribe so when you ask him about the statue, he'll point you to the wrong tent...so just go to the other one.

 

[Inspector Jihad]

Originally posted by: Come to Meh
ask him which tribe he is from?

they'll both say they're from the truth tribe...

 

[Come to Meh]

Originally posted by: Inspector Jihad
ask the guard if he's asleep...if he's from the truth-telling tribe he'll say no and then you can ask him which tent the statue is in. If he answers yes then that means he's from the lying tribe so when you ask him about the statue, he'll point you to the wrong tent...so just go to the other one.

and yours made more sense? lol OK

 

[BlueWeasel]

Originally posted by: Inspector Jihad
ask the guard if he's asleep...if he's from the truth-telling tribe he'll say no and then you can ask him which tent the statue is in. If he answers yes then that means he's from the lying tribe so when you ask him about the statue, he'll point you to the wrong tent...so just go to the other one.

Although the OP doesn't specifically mention it, I think you can only ask one question.

 

[BigJ]

Originally posted by: Come to Meh

Originally posted by: Inspector Jihad
ask the guard if he's asleep...if he's from the truth-telling tribe he'll say no and then you can ask him which tent the statue is in. If he answers yes then that means he's from the lying tribe so when you ask him about the statue, he'll point you to the wrong tent...so just go to the other one.

and yours made more sense? lol OK

It's actually the answer to the question as it was proposed (follow it through and it works), but isn't the real answer because in the original riddle you're only allowed to ask one question.

 

[Inspector Jihad]

Originally posted by: Come to Meh

Originally posted by: Inspector Jihad
ask the guard if he's asleep...if he's from the truth-telling tribe he'll say no and then you can ask him which tent the statue is in. If he answers yes then that means he's from the lying tribe so when you ask him about the statue, he'll point you to the wrong tent...so just go to the other one.

and yours made more sense? lol OK

?

 

[DaShen]

Ask where the other tribe would say the golden statue is

Go to the other one.

**Reason**
If Golden Statue is in Truth
Truthful tribe will say the other tribe will say the statue is in the Liar's Tribe Tent.

Liar Tribe will say the other tribe will say statue is in Liar's Tribe Tent.

If Golden Statue is in Lie
Truthful tribe will say the other tribe will say the statue is in the Truth's Tribe Tent.

Liar Tribe will say the other tribe will say statue is in Truth's Tribe Tent.

**Why?**
By asking the Truth person what the liar would say, you in essense make the Truth person lie. or have a false statement. truth + lie = lie

By asking the Lie person what the truth person would say, you make the liar lie. or make a false statement. lie + truth = lie

 

[kogase]

The riddle tells us that the statue is definitely in one of the tents. However, the guard is the one who tells us that picking the wrong tent will result in you never seeing the statue again. Therefore, if he's from the truth telling tribe, he will tell you which tent it is in if you ask. If he's from the lying tribe, you can in fact enter both tents and still get the statue, because he was lying in the first place about never seeing it again. So simply ask which tent the statue is in.

 

[OdiN]

Originally posted by: Saijin
There is an island with two tribes. One of these tribes always tells the truth when they are asked a question, the other tribe always lies. The people from these tribes look exactly alike, and can't be distinguished from each other except for by how they answer questions.

The two tribes own a golden statue decked with jewels and diamonds. They are both very possessive of this statue and guard it at all times, taking turns every day to guard it.

You are an adventurer who has travelled far to see this statue. When you get to the village with the statue, there is a tribesman standing guard in front of 2 tents. The statue is in one of the tents, but you don't know which one. The guard says that you must pick one of the tents, and if you pick the wrong one, you'll never be able to see the statue again. You don't know which one of the tribes the guard is from.

What question can you ask the guard, to make sure that you pick the right tent?

Ask what color the golden statue is and what tent it is in.

If he's the truth teller he will tell you it is gold and what tent it is in. If not, he will tell you the wrong color and that it is in the wrong tent.

/thread

 

[BigJ]

Originally posted by: kogase
The riddle tells us that the statue is definitely in one of the tents. However, the guard is the one who tells us that picking the wrong tent will result in you never seeing the statue again. Therefore, if he's from the truth telling tribe, he will tell you which tent it is in if you ask. If he's from the lying tribe, you can in fact enter both tents and still get the statue, because he was lying in the first place about never seeing it again. So simply ask which tent the statue is in.

What if he says he can't answer that question

 

[kogase]

Originally posted by: BigJ

Originally posted by: kogase
The riddle tells us that the statue is definitely in one of the tents. However, the guard is the one who tells us that picking the wrong tent will result in you never seeing the statue again. Therefore, if he's from the truth telling tribe, he will tell you which tent it is in if you ask. If he's from the lying tribe, you can in fact enter both tents and still get the statue, because he was lying in the first place about never seeing it again. So simply ask which tent the statue is in.

What if he says he can't answer that question

What if pineapples milk porcupine teets? It wasn't in the riddle.

 

[daniel1113]

N/M

 

[DaShen]

REPOST
Ask where the other tribe would say the golden statue is

Go to the other one.

**Reason**
If Golden Statue is in Truth
Truthful tribe will say the other tribe will say the statue is in the Liar's Tribe Tent.

Liar Tribe will say the other tribe will say statue is in Liar's Tribe Tent.

If Golden Statue is in Lie
Truthful tribe will say the other tribe will say the statue is in the Truth's Tribe Tent.

Liar Tribe will say the other tribe will say statue is in Truth's Tribe Tent.

**Why?**
By asking the Truth person what the liar would say, you in essense make the Truth person lie. or have a false statement. truth + lie = lie

By asking the Lie person what the truth person would say, you make the liar lie. or make a false statement. lie + truth = lie

 

[Lonyo]

Damned cheating *1$%

 

[DaShen]

I didn't cheat I knew answer, but I reposted my response. Silly Lonyo