Sometimes collective information reveals something that no individual response could confirm.
The natives in a circle
Riddle statement
An anthropologist is surrounded by a circle of natives.
Each one belongs to one of two tribes:
- those who always tell the truth;
- those who always lie.
Each native is asked the same question:
“Does the person on your right always tell the truth?”
After listening to all the answers, the anthropologist still does not know who belongs to which tribe.
But she does discover something surprising: the proportion of liars is determined in a unique way.
What is that proportion?