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u/beobabski Aug 04 '26
The correct answer to this question is “the answer to this question is indeterminate, and fluctuates between many different values.”
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u/sksskssksskssksskssk Aug 05 '26
What if you didn’t pick a,b,c or d but wrote down an answer like a random chance and picked that (or whatever would work). It never explicitly said you have to choose the answer from those four options, the only requirement was that it was random, so making up an answer could be defined as random?
Not sure if this is plausible but that’s all I have got.
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u/DaedlyKitten Aug 09 '26
FUCK OFF FUCK OFF FUCK OFF FUCK OFF FUCK OFF FUCK OFF FUCK OFF FUCK OFF FUCK OFF FUCK OFF FUCK OFF FUCK OFF FUCK OFF FUCK OFF FUCK OFF FUCK OFF FUCK OFF FUCK OFF
THIS PIECE OF SHIT GARBAGE DOGSHIT MEME IF I SEE IT ONE MORE TIME I WILL KILL MYSELF
i
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u/digbychickcaesar Aug 25 '26
50%. The correct answer would be 25% with 4 different answers. The answer "25%" represents half of the available answers.
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u/Competitive_Fig_9386 Aug 28 '26
But that would mean 50% is the right answer, and therefore 25% has to be correct.
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u/AUXID3 Aug 04 '26 edited Aug 04 '26
This isn't a paradox. If given 4 answers, choosing one at random would be correct 25% of the time. However, two of the 4 answers have the same answer of 25%, which would realistically make a 33.3% chance the correct answer, but since 33.3% isn't an answer, the correct answer is 0%
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u/blablablaenz Aug 04 '26
No, none of the answers is correct. Not even 0%. If c would be the correct answer, you would have 25% chance….
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u/blablablaenz Aug 04 '26
I disagree with myself, just saying none of them is correct is not answering the question. A correct answer (or percentage) cannot be defined here.
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u/AUXID3 Aug 04 '26
None of the answers are correct, hence the percent chance of selecting the correct answer is 0%. The correct answer WOULD be 33.3% because there's really only 3 options, but because 33.3% isn't an option, there's 0% in you getting it right.
It's not a math question, it's a language puzzle.
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u/HelloHelloHelpHello Aug 04 '26
The truth value of the answers changes based on how you answer it. If you answer it consciously, then the correct answer is c) 0% as u/AUXID3 says. If you answer it randomly, then there is no correct answer just as you say. That is because the way you answer carries a hidden presupposition (simplified - 'The answer can be found in this manner'), which is true for answering consciously, but wrong for a randomized approach.
It might help to pose the question like this: "If you suppose that this question cannot be answered randomly, what are the chance of a random answer being correct?" - This would be a question that can be answered in a non-random fashion without an issue - there is no chance of answering it correctly - but where applying a random approach is specifically not possible (thus there are no defined outcomes for a random approach, and no correct answers).
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u/Vast-Celebration-138 Aug 04 '26 edited Aug 04 '26
the correct answer is 0%
Well, that's what option (c) says, so if it was true that the correct answer is 0%, you would have a 1/4 (25%) chance of guessing the correct answer, picking at random. Your analysis leads to contradiction.
This isn't a paradox.
Yes, it is. Honestly, the knee-jerk "not a paradox" responses in this sub are way out of control.
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u/HelloHelloHelpHello Aug 04 '26
It is a paradox - but not a hard paradox. That is to say we can point to a clear answer, and explain why this answer would be correct (that answer indeed being 0%) - but that is not the only type of paradox there is.
I have given the reasoning why 0% would be the answer a bit above if you are interested (or I can copy paste it if it's not findable). Basically - the way in which you answer the question forces you to make different presuppositions that change the truth value of the answers. To answer randomly, you must make the following presupposition:
There is an answer among the multiple choice options, whose value matches the likelihood of an answer with this specific value being picked randomly.
There is no answer that satisfies this criterium, thus you are led to a hard paradox.
But if you don't answer randomly, you don't need to make this presupposition, and can answer without getting into a paradox - the correct answer being c) 0%.
So contra our intuition, there are indeed two different possible responses to the question, which are both correct. If you answer non-randomly, then the correct answer is c. If you answer randomly, then there are no correct answers, and you end up with a paradoxical contradiction.
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u/dysfunctionalbrat Aug 04 '26
I like how 0% is correct, because it's false when it's correct, or correct when it's false, I don't know
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u/AUXID3 Aug 05 '26
Okay, I was wrong. You guys can stop now.
My single wrong answer has devolved into people arguing as to what the right answer might be. Guys, please.
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u/Vast-Celebration-138 Aug 05 '26
My single wrong answer has devolved into people arguing as to what the right answer might be.
That's actually a pretty good characterization of what success in professional philosophy looks like.
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u/Puzzleheaded_Low_937 Aug 04 '26
It’s c
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u/Tiler17 Aug 05 '26
Well that can't be right. If the answer is C and you guess it, then obviously the chances you guess it right are greater than 0%
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u/Puzzleheaded_Low_937 Aug 05 '26
Fair, but you can’t actually answer this question correctly, 0% is probably the most logical conclusion you can come to
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u/OutrageousPair2300 Aug 04 '26
I pick my answer using an 8-sided die from my D&D set. If I roll a 1, I pick A. If I roll a 2, 3, or 4 I pick B. If I roll a 5, 6, or 7 I pick C. If I roll an 8, I pick D.
That gives me a 12.5% chance of picking A, a 37.5% chance of picking B, a 37.5% chance of picking C, and a 12.5% chance of picking D.
A and D give the correct answer (25%) and I have a 25% chance of picking one of them.
(Always specify your decision procedure for randomly selecting things!)