Door Number Two
Time for the new puzzler.
Well, this one is an old puzzler. But we are using it again, so now we will consider it new.
We are using this one again because it is perhaps one of the best puzzlers of all time. And it has been so long since we used it, the people who heard it before have surely forgotten.
Here we go.
You may remember the game show called Let's Make A Deal.
This show originally aired in the 1960s and then they did a remake in 2009.
Anyway, in the game, the contestant was presented with three doors.
Door #1, Door #2 and Door #3.
Behind one of the doors was a wonderful prize, and behind the other two doors were crummy prizes known as zonks.
Okay so here is the puzzler.
Pretend that you are the contestant.
The host tells you to pick a door. Your chances of picking a zonk is 2 in 3, and your chances of picking the good door is 1 in 3.
So you pick Door #2. The host says, "I'm gonna show you what is behind one of the doors that you didn't pick."
So because he is the host, he knows where the good prize is, and where the bad prizes are. So he shows you Door #1, which is a zonk.
He then says to you, "Would you like to keep Door #2 which you've chosen, or would you like to switch to Door #3?"
So, should you switch to Door #3? Or should you stick with your original choice, Door #2?