I am having a deja vu experience.  Has this one gone through the listserv
before in the last couple of years?  Or maybe I have become clairvoyant--I
could use THAT skill.  :)

On Mon, 21 Sep 1998, Keith Maxwell wrote:

> Colleagues,
>
> I have used the following problem in my Legal Environment classes to
> illustrate the difference between inductive and deductive reasoning. Can
> you solve it?
>
> The king wanted his daughter to marry the smartest knight in the land. All
> knights were tested and 3 tied with the highest score. The king then had
> the 3 sit at a round table. He asked them all to close their eyes, which
> they did. He then announced that he was placing a beanie on each of their
> heads positioned in such a way that, when they opened their eyes, they each
> could see the beanies on the others' heads but not their own. The king told
> the knights that the beanies might be either red or white. The king said,
> "When you open your eyes you are to raise your hand if you see either 1 or
> more red beanies. When you deduce the color of the beanie on your own head,
> then lower your hand and rise. Now open your eyes." The king had in fact
> placed red beanies on all 3 knights' heads. All 3 raised their hands. In
> about 10 seconds one of the knights lowered his hand, rose, and explained
> his deduction that his beanie was red. What could he have said?
>
> >>>>>>>
>
> Just as I do in class, I will disclose my analysis of the problem on
> condition that there are at least 6 serious attempts to solve it. I will
> respond to each unsuccessful attempt with a critique which will contain a
> clue.
>
> Any takers?
>
>
>                 "It's impossible that everything
>                   that is possible is happening"
>                         - Richard Feynman
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> Professor Keith A. Maxwell            |
> Legal and Ethical Studies|            |  Voice:         253 756 3703
> School of Business                    |  Fax:           253 756 3500
> University of Puget Sound             |  Internet:      [log in to unmask]
>
> Tacoma, WA 98416                      |
>