7. Three prisoners are informed by their jailer that two of them have been chosen at random to be released. Prisoner A asks the jailer to tell him privately which of his fellow prisoners will be set free, claiming that there would be no harm in divulging this information because he already knows that at least one of the two will go free. The jailer refuses to answer this question, pointing out that if A knew which of his fellow prisoners were to be set free, then his own probability of being released would decrease from 2/3 to 1/2 because he would then be one of the two prisoners who might be released. What do you think of the jailer's interpretation of probabilities?

A First Course in Probability (10th Edition)
10th Edition
ISBN:9780134753119
Author:Sheldon Ross
Publisher:Sheldon Ross
Chapter1: Combinatorial Analysis
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Problem 1.1P: a. How many different 7-place license plates are possible if the first 2 places are for letters and...
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7. Three prisoners are informed by their jailer that two of them have been chosen at random to be
released. Prisoner A asks the jailer to tell him privately which of his fellow prisoners will be set free,
claiming that there would be no harm in divulging this information because he already knows that
at least one of the two will go free. The jailer refuses to answer this question, pointing out that if
A knew which of his fellow prisoners were to be set free, then his own probability of being released
would decrease from 2/3 to 1/2 because he would then be one of the two prisoners who might be
released. What do you think of the jailer's interpretation of probabilities?
Transcribed Image Text:7. Three prisoners are informed by their jailer that two of them have been chosen at random to be released. Prisoner A asks the jailer to tell him privately which of his fellow prisoners will be set free, claiming that there would be no harm in divulging this information because he already knows that at least one of the two will go free. The jailer refuses to answer this question, pointing out that if A knew which of his fellow prisoners were to be set free, then his own probability of being released would decrease from 2/3 to 1/2 because he would then be one of the two prisoners who might be released. What do you think of the jailer's interpretation of probabilities?
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