05/30/2024 ***************************************** Hey, do you like math puzzles? If you're like ME, you HATE math puzzles. They never really demonstrate any meaningful mathematical principle, they're just designed to make you feel stupid. It's never anything practical that you can use to balance your checkbook or figure out how many miles per gallon you get. No, it's always some obscure, contrived math twist nobody's ever heard of - and who really cares anyway? But the worst thing about math puzzles is that they're always being presented by some condescending JERK who just wants to lord it over you as to how smart THEY are and how stupid YOU are, just because THEY know the answer to some stupid, meaningless, contrived riddle and YOU don't. And you know they're not really any smarter than you are. And you can bet your bottom dollar they didn't solve the puzzle either when they first heard it - of course they'll never admit that! Now they're just using it to put you down and make you feel stupid. Man - some people's kids! ***************************************** So anyway, with that in mind, here's today's math puzzle :-) There's a prisoner in the notorious French Devil's Island prison and he escapes. The guards are close behind him so he has to move fast! He comes to a fork in the road - he knows that one way leads to freedom but the other is a dead end and he'll end up caught again. But he doesn't know which is which. There's a native standing there at the fork. Now there are two tribes on the island, one tribe always tells the truth but the other always lies. He doesn't know which tribe the native is from. With the guards so close behind, he only has time to ask the native ONE quick question. What ONE question should he ask the native to be sure he'll pick the right fork? I'll tell you the answer next week, but if you go crazy needing to know, email me and I'll tell you right away :-) ***************************************** “When you come to a fork in the road, take it!” - Yogi Berra. ....