8. Three prisoners are informed by their jailer that one of them has been chosen at random to be executed, and the other two are to be freed. 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, since he already knows that at least one will go free. The jailer refuses to answer this question, pointing out that if A knew which of his fellows were to be set free, then his own probability of being executed would rise from 1/3 to 1/2, since he would then be one of two prisoners. What do you think of the jailer's reasoning?

A First Course in Probability (10th Edition)
10th Edition
ISBN:9780134753119
Author:Sheldon Ross
Publisher:Sheldon Ross
Chapter1: Combinatorial Analysis
Section: Chapter Questions
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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Three prisoners are informed by their jailer that one of them has been
chosen at random to be executed, and the other two are to be freed. 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,
since he already knows that at least one will go free. The jailer refuses to
answer this question, pointing out that if A knew which of his fellows were to
be set free, then his own probability of being executed would rise from 1/3
to 1/2, since he would then be one of two prisoners. What do you think of the
jailer's reasoning?
8.
Transcribed Image Text:Three prisoners are informed by their jailer that one of them has been chosen at random to be executed, and the other two are to be freed. 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, since he already knows that at least one will go free. The jailer refuses to answer this question, pointing out that if A knew which of his fellows were to be set free, then his own probability of being executed would rise from 1/3 to 1/2, since he would then be one of two prisoners. What do you think of the jailer's reasoning? 8.
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