Howabout a real riddle?

Invictus ChiKen · Post by **Invictus ChiKen** » 2005-12-24 10:32pm

To the room. Turn a switch. wait for a while 10 15 turn it off turn on another switch walk in. If the light is on BINGO if not go and feel the bulb.

To the plane one. The survivors are the people in whatever the plane slamed into.

tumbletom · Post by **tumbletom** » 2005-12-25 07:51pm

Invictus ChiKen wrote:To the room. Turn a switch. wait for a while 10 15 turn it off turn on another switch walk in. If the light is on BINGO if not go and feel the bulb.

To the plane one. The survivors are the people in whatever the plane slamed into.

Lol you guys are overanalyzing my riddle. Akhlut got it, though

Invictus ChiKen · Post by **Invictus ChiKen** » 2005-12-25 08:03pm

That's what I hate about riddles. You can have a million correct answers and everyone of them be wrong...

Tokaji Kyoden · Post by **Tokaji Kyoden** » 2005-12-26 12:48pm

Tokaji Kyoden wrote:
Some of you have gotten the answer, and others :points up: haven't. You can't leave the door open! The only period of time the door can be open is when you are walking through it, or when you are holding it, and then it must be closed.
How about flicking on all the switches before entering the room then?

Then how would you know which switch turned on the light?

Ender · Post by **Ender** » 2005-12-26 03:30pm

The more it eats, the hungrier it gets - what is it?

Kuroneko · Post by **Kuroneko** » 2005-12-26 03:52pm

Too easy--black hole.

Ender · Post by **Ender** » 2005-12-26 03:56pm

Kuroneko wrote:Too easy--black hole.

Crap, I guess there are 2 answers then

Kuroneko · Post by **Kuroneko** » 2005-12-26 04:25pm

Ender wrote:
Kuroneko wrote:Too easy--black hole.
Crap, I guess there are 2 answers then

How literal is it? One could think up several other possibilities, from Wendigo to the U.S. budget.

Post by **Surlethe** » 2005-12-26 04:36pm

Ender wrote:The more it eats, the hungrier it gets - what is it?

Greed?

Ender · Post by **Ender** » 2005-12-26 04:43pm

Kuroneko wrote:
Ender wrote:
Kuroneko wrote:Too easy--black hole.
Crap, I guess there are 2 answers then
How literal is it? One could think up several other possibilities, from Wendigo to the U.S. budget.

Very literal - its an old Norse riddle. The answer is fire

wolveraptor · Post by **wolveraptor** » 2005-12-26 11:45pm

Ender wrote:The more it eats, the hungrier it gets - what is it?

A black hole.

drachefly · Post by **drachefly** » 2005-12-29 12:57pm

Kuroneko wrote:
drachefly wrote:As for the first: Turn on one of the switches for a long time so the bulb would get hot. Then turn on the second of the switches for a short time so the bulb would get warm. Then run in to the room and feel the bulb (gingerly).
That works, although it is not optimal--it is possible to do this with a hot/cold distinction only. There is the additional difficulty of estimated how much cooling the bulb would undergo while you wait the second time vs. how fast it heats up.

I realized that once I read your solution; but I didn't go back and 'fix' it, since I figured my solution should read as what I said.

drachefly · Post by **drachefly** » 2005-12-29 01:02pm

Ender wrote:The more it eats, the hungrier it gets - what is it?

A colony of bacteria. As it grows, the food requirements grow accordingly. Kind of works for juveniles of just about any species, too.

tharkûn · Post by **tharkûn** » 2005-12-30 05:22pm

The more it eats, the hungrier it gets - what is it?

Anything which has a positive growth rate and positive curvature thereof. Examples include black holes, celestial bodies coallescing, most higher order chemical reactions, virtually all biological populations until they reach carrying capacity, most animals prior to birth, feedback circuits, etc.

Sriad · Post by **Sriad** » 2005-12-30 05:41pm

Ender wrote:
Kuroneko wrote:
Ender wrote:Crap, I guess there are 2 answers then
How literal is it? One could think up several other possibilities, from Wendigo to the U.S. budget.
Very literal - its an old Norse riddle. The answer is fire

I thought of fire, but black holes, Wendigo, and the U.S. Budget are all great answers.

tharkûn wrote:
The more it eats, the hungrier it gets - what is it?
Anything which has a positive growth rate and positive curvature thereof. Examples include black holes, celestial bodies coallescing, most higher order chemical reactions, virtually all biological populations until they reach carrying capacity, most animals prior to birth, feedback circuits, etc.

True, but many of these have cyclical hunger events: biological answers especially will be not hungery for a while after eating, while fire (large ones at least, that wouldn't be smothered by added fuel) and celestial bodies grow imediately.