Box

While thinking about the effect, or lack of effect, of brainwashing exercise, my friend VW outlined his story of light bulb in his blog. (See http://vwswong.blogspot.hk/2012/07/light-bulb.html)

The story is not new. I vaguely remember my friend actually described it some time ago in his blog and explained the mathematical solution in some detail. To a real scientist like him, it therefore comes no surprise to learn that he was slightly disappointed with the "outside-the-box" answers of his fellow trainees.


You may ask: What would I answer if I were asked this question in the interview?

Alas, maybe to your surprise, my reply would be very much similar to the second one of RL. In fact, my formal answer is: As a group of prisoners under the stated situation, there is no reasonable chance that we could be released if we play the game according to the rules provided.

I shall explain my conclusion tomorrow.