Ok so the title gives away where the crux of the joke/puzzle is. The waitress starts by asking ‘Does everyone want a beer?’ Key word here – ‘Everyone’. So the first guy can either answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’ for himself, HOWEVER, he can’t answer ‘yes’ to the question because he doesn’t know if EVERYONE wants a beer. He could answer ‘no’ here though, because even if he is the only want who doesn’t want a beer, that would mean the answer to ‘Everyone want a beer?’ would be ‘no’. So the first guy simply says ‘I don’t know’, implying that he wants a beer, but doesn’t know if the others do. This all applies to the second person as well. He doesn’t know what the last guy will say, even though he himself wants a beer, so he simply says ‘I don’t know’. The last guy, deducing from his friends’ positive answers, simply says ‘YES!’ He knows that they want beers because none of his friends previously said ‘no’ to the waitress, so logically, THEY WANT BEER!
I will pay you 100 of my american dollars to give me just one example of how this was demonstrated in real life. If you can not, you have just proved to me that this is illogical.
HAHA this is great, thanks for the explanation Andrew!
Julien, so the next time you and a group of friends go out to a restaurant, and the waitress comes over to the table super fast and asks “Would anyone like something to drink other than waters” just watch. Likely, no one will say anything because who wants to be the first person to order a drink. But then, your buddy who is always good to order a beer will announce he’s having a Sam Seasonal, and it’s on!
That guy’s boldness (or love for Sam) gives all others social permission to order their drinks of choice.
Similar real life use case… but not exact. No need to send $100, just laugh the next time it happens to you :)
I often answer the question “Do you know what time it is?” with a simple yes or no. usually those questioning me give me quizzical looks as if they apparently did not understand their own question.
Time to tell others!
ya … I don’t get it
*spoiler*
Ok so the title gives away where the crux of the joke/puzzle is. The waitress starts by asking ‘Does everyone want a beer?’ Key word here – ‘Everyone’. So the first guy can either answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’ for himself, HOWEVER, he can’t answer ‘yes’ to the question because he doesn’t know if EVERYONE wants a beer. He could answer ‘no’ here though, because even if he is the only want who doesn’t want a beer, that would mean the answer to ‘Everyone want a beer?’ would be ‘no’. So the first guy simply says ‘I don’t know’, implying that he wants a beer, but doesn’t know if the others do. This all applies to the second person as well. He doesn’t know what the last guy will say, even though he himself wants a beer, so he simply says ‘I don’t know’. The last guy, deducing from his friends’ positive answers, simply says ‘YES!’ He knows that they want beers because none of his friends previously said ‘no’ to the waitress, so logically, THEY WANT BEER!
I appreciate the explanation, Andrew. Thanks.
I will pay you 100 of my american dollars to give me just one example of how this was demonstrated in real life. If you can not, you have just proved to me that this is illogical.
HAHA this is great, thanks for the explanation Andrew!
Julien, so the next time you and a group of friends go out to a restaurant, and the waitress comes over to the table super fast and asks “Would anyone like something to drink other than waters” just watch. Likely, no one will say anything because who wants to be the first person to order a drink. But then, your buddy who is always good to order a beer will announce he’s having a Sam Seasonal, and it’s on!
That guy’s boldness (or love for Sam) gives all others social permission to order their drinks of choice.
Similar real life use case… but not exact. No need to send $100, just laugh the next time it happens to you :)
I often answer the question “Do you know what time it is?” with a simple yes or no. usually those questioning me give me quizzical looks as if they apparently did not understand their own question.
Sometimes one of my wife’s friends will call up and say, “Is Beth there?”
Me: “Yes.”
[awkward silence]
Wife’s friend: “Could I speak to her?”
Me: “Oh, you want to talk to her? Why didn’t you say so? I thought you were just checking up on her whereabouts. Sure, let me get her…”
Most of my wife’s friends think I’m a jerk.
aw, liked it better when it was just a joke, still will probably tell people about it though :)
bahaha~! I got it right away :]