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Three Little Boxes

The best option is to ...

  • Keep the brown box.

    Votes: 4 16.7%
  • Switch to the green box.

    Votes: 13 54.2%
  • Both options are equivalent.

    Votes: 7 29.2%

  • Total voters
    24

Kathryn

It was on fire when I laid down on it.
OK. I just got it.

Just please don't ask me to explain how. But it just clicked.
 

The Sum of Awe

Brought to you by the moment that spacetime began.
Staff member
Premium Member
I keep the brown box.
Reason is, that I would be angry that I did not take the green box finding out that it contains the gold - but I would be even much more angry if the brown box contains the gold and I gave it away.

Yep. Same.
 

Falvlun

Earthbending Lemur
Premium Member
Badran's answer is the "non-mathematical" reasoning that makes the most sense to me. It is unlikely that you just happened to pick the correct box. There is more of a chance that the gold is in one of the two other boxes you didn't pick since there's two of them and only one of yours.
 

bobhikes

Nondetermined
Premium Member
I looked it up, and the result was the exact opposite of that.

MythBusters Results — Outcomes from all MythBusters Episodes


Mythbusters went through the trials and it worked out as the math says it would.

50 trials is not enough to prove this. The mythbusters do not always get it right either.

What ever you people want to believe, I have learn something in this thread how to deceive people at odds. It can be used to my advantage.
 

bobhikes

Nondetermined
Premium Member
First any probabilty test to be close to accurate would involve 1000 or more attempts.

Monty Hall likes you.

There are 3 boxes he opens one before you pick your odds are 50/50

Monty Hall doesn't like you

He opens the box after you pick but allows you to pick either box after he opens one. According to the RF analytics the odds are better to pick the one you don't have.

The great thing and why this lives for ever is that it doesn't matter its a 50/50 outcome and unless you do 1000 or more tests you can fight about this forever but people like Monty Hall can use it to take advantage of you.
 

Vinayaka

devotee
Premium Member
I got it in the middle of the night, although I went for the 50 50 option to start with. If you think of it (correctly), the only time luck is involved is the first stage. If you get 'lucky', (one chance in three) and pick the right one, then you will lose because when you switch it, you get one of the wrong ones.

However, if you pick either of the wrong boxes, (2 out of 3) then the host removes the other wrong box, giving you 100% chance to win, when you switch. (2 of 3)

So you're only making a decision on the first guess. After that its just routine.
 

bobhikes

Nondetermined
Premium Member
I realize the issue now

The OP is slightly different then the Monty Hall problem.

The Monty Hall problem, monty Hall will always open a bad box, He will never open the good box this skews the odds and links the two problems.

If the box was opened was truely random, it would sometimes be the best box and the two choices would not be linked and it would be a 50/50 result for the second choice.

So I'm good now with the 2/3 results as long as the box opened in question is a known result.
 

Alex_G

Enlightner of the Senses
As has prob been said already, always switch.

3 boxes, 2 incorrect and one correct.
Situation 1, you pick a box that’s incorrect to begin with. The other incorrect box is revealed, leaving the correct box available to switch to.
Situation 2, you pick the other incorrect box to begin with, again the accompanying incorrect box is eliminated, leaving the correct box available to switch to.
Situation 3, you actually pick the correct box first time, one of the other incorrect boxes is eliminated, leaving an incorrect box to switch to.

Situation 1 and 2 warrant a switch, and situation 3 warrants a stick.
Statistically you are better of switching when all is in the dark.
 
Last edited:

lunakilo

Well-Known Member
This was done on Mythbusters, they showed that keeping the brown box ended in gold more times than switching to the green box.
What!

Link to youtube clip please or it doesn't count...

I looked it up, and the result was the exact opposite of that.

MythBusters Results — Outcomes from all MythBusters Episodes


Mythbusters went through the trials and it worked out as the math says it would.

Edit: No Mythbusters comfirmed that people stick to their first choice even if that is not the smart move
 
Last edited:

lunakilo

Well-Known Member
OK. I just got it.

Just please don't ask me to explain how. But it just clicked.
I know how you feel.
I discussed this with a group of friend one night after too many beers.

I said that I was convienced the math was correct even if it didn't make sense to me intuitively.
Then one of my friends said:

"What if there are 10 doors?
say, you pick number 7.
The game host then opens 8 doors (all but number 3 and number 7)
What is the chance he gold is NOT behind door number 3?"

"If 10 doors is not clear enough for you try 100"

That is when I got it :)
 

lunakilo

Well-Known Member
I got it in the middle of the night, although I went for the 50 50 option to start with. If you think of it (correctly), the only time luck is involved is the first stage. If you get 'lucky', (one chance in three) and pick the right one, then you will lose because when you switch it, you get one of the wrong ones.

However, if you pick either of the wrong boxes, (2 out of 3) then the host removes the other wrong box, giving you 100% chance to win, when you switch. (2 of 3)

So you're only making a decision on the first guess. After that its just routine.
Very good way of explaining it :clap
 

Penumbra

Veteran Member
Premium Member
Edit: No Mythbusters comfirmed that people stick to their first choice even if that is not the smart move
They covered both in the same episode.

-Whether people tend to switch or not.

-Whether switching affects odds of winning.
 
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