Ready for a brain teaser? In this puzzle from TED-Ed, you are the protagonist in a Back to the Future scenario. You have to go back in time to set somethings right, but apparently you are not meant to get it right, because you from the future, uh, your future, is also there. This time travel paradox can be a bit confusing, but I think you can find your way out of it, at least theoretically. We really don't have time-traveling Deloreans. If you want to solve the puzzle on your own, stop the video at two minutes in. They will give you the answer and explain it thoroughly after that. Whether or not you solve the puzzle on your own, I think we can all agree that this would be a great set up for a full-length movie.
Friday, July 07, 2023
The Time-Traveling Car Riddle
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6 comments:
Interesting puzzle, thanks for posting.
I'm actually a little annoyed/disappointed that it was presented as a "time-travelling car riddle" when it had nothing (relevant) about time travel. Seems like a bait-and-switch.
It's not even a geometry/mathematics riddle ... the whole premise is built around our socially-constructed rules around cardinal directions on Earth, and the odd behavior those rules exhibit near the poles.
The original version of this puzzle goes like this:
A man walks a mile due south from his campsite. He encounters a bear, and immediately runs a mile due east. The bear is gone, so he then walks a mile due north to his campsite. What color was the bear?
White
Stephen King wrote an interesting book about time travel, well worth a read.
11/22/63
I got the solution, not because of my mental agility, but because decades ago I read Martin Gardner's books Aha! Insight and Aha! Gotcha..
No bait and switch, time travel is how they got into that dilemma in the first place. The puzzle is to get them out with the equipment they have. Don't predetermine what you're up against before you find out what's asked.
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