Email or username:

Password:

Forgot your password?
devopscats's posts Post Back to profile
Top-level
Log 🪵

@devopscats I just tried this with Bing Copilot.

You: Solve a puzzle for me. A man is on one side of a river. He needs to cross to the other side. He has a boat. The boat is in good repair, with no tricky capacity limitations, and a working trolling motor. What steps should the man take to get across? Copilot: Certainly! This i a classic river crossing puzzle. Let's break it down: 1. Take the goat across the river. This is the first step because leaving the goat with the wolf or cabbage would be problematic. 2. Return empty-handed. The farmer goes back to the original side alone. 3. Take either the wolf or the cabbage across. If he takes the wolf, he'd have to return for the cabbage, risking the goat being eaten. If he takes the cabbage, the goat might eat it. 4. Return with the goat. The farmer brings the goat back to the original side. 5. Take whichever wasn't taken in step 3 across. Now he can take the wolf (or the cabbage) over. 6. Return empty-handed again. The farmer goes back alone. 7. Take the goat over one last time. The final step ensures that all three items are safely across. In total, there are seven crossings: four forward and three back. The key is realizing that you can bring things back, which isn't explicitly forbidden in the problem. This puzzle encourages creative thinking and is similar to the Nine Dots puzzle . Happy crossing! Learn more: 1 enwikipedia.org ; 2 socratic-method.com ; 3 physicsclassroom.com ; 4 en.wikipedia.org
15 May at 22:33 | Wall-to-wall | Open on mastodon.sdf.org
2 comments
Log 🪵

@devopscats It has a pretty good punchline, though:

You: Who does the goat belong to? Copilot: The puzzle doesn't specify ownership of the goat. However, for the purpose of solving it, the man is assumed to own the goat. You: And the goat is assumed to exist. Copilot: Indeed, the goat's existence is crucial for this puzzle. Without the goat, the problem wouldn't be as interesting!
15 May at 22:40 | Open on mastodon.sdf.org
Log 🪵

@devopscats I should note that the only similarity between my river-crossing puzzle and the nine-dots puzzle is...

[Spinning wheel icon appears, as solution processes.]

...they may be used to test the puzzle-solving capability of applicants in bullshit employment interviews.

15 May at 22:47 | Open on mastodon.sdf.org
Go Up