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I love how "you" are very clearly Sisyphus, literally the man who got his punishment for trying to defy death and live longer, while it's definitely in character I do think he's probably the one person no Olympian would help in this case, except like in the video Hermes for his respect of his cleverness tricking Thanatos and Persephone, although it would make sense that Hades "forgot" to let him know
Last place is guaranteed, as there is no one on your left, you can't die and if worst comes to worst you will be alone and end up forcing them to get you as they said that each time they would eat a spirit, not a place
@@emmanueljansen9896 1:34 The third rule states that the heads can bite empty spots even if you're last/alone. If you're last in the line up and on the far right podium somehow, and Cerberus bites the middle, you're now all the way on the left since you move in the line up based on where it bit. If you're somehow alone on the podium, it looks like you're on the far left then, giving you an even lower chance of being eaten. Last sounds like the worst spot in my opinion.
I have been a spy, a cop, an intern, an intergalactical explorer, a pilgrim, a egg thief, a detective, a pirate, a normal explorer, and world saving hero but Sisyphus is a stretch.
The 50/50 reasoning escaped me. I looked at it as, spot 3 was clearly the best, but since there was no way to guarantee you’d end up in spot 3 if you were further back in line, the best option is to immediately place yourself in spot 3.
After pausing and considering, my only question was "do those initial 3 spots count, because those would be the best" and I rewound the video to see where he numbered them just to confirm. That's when I solved it! That makes my solve rate probably close to 1% (I'm rounding up), lol.
There is a better trick in going the opposite direction in the you only stay in the underworld if one of the head chooses someone behind you so if you are last in line your chances go back up to 100 at the very last spot meaning Hermes is literally trying to get you to give up the best spot
@@michaelbalcom5233 Nah. Rule 3 allows for the heads to bite an empty space. Also, you aren’t even in line - you didn’t get the message. So before Hermes helps you, you have 0 chance of getting bitten.
@@michaelbalcom5233 I had the same exact answer. Then I went back and read the rules and they slipped in the rule about not biting air. I think we were right as the rules were stated, but then I messed up and read them☹️
It's a game of chance. You pick a position in line out of 100, and, one at a time, one of three things happens: (1) No. 1 wins, and everyone moves forward one. (2) No. 2 wins, no. 1 loses, and everyone moves forward two. (3) No. 3 wins, the two in front lose, and everyone moves forward three. Also, by rule 3, empty spots don't affect your chances, and you can lose even with no one behind you.
For those that might or might not know, the character used for this puzzle is the cruel trickster, King Sisyphus, who cheated death twice and was punished in the underworld by forever rolling a massive boulder up a steep hill, and never reaching the summit.
@@catandcomparator Hey demigods, care to explain? Or should I do it? Okay, fine. The first time: Once, there was this guy called Sissy Fuss. Thanatos(aka Death) showed up at his door. SF knocked Death out and tied him underneath his bed. Ares noticed. He saved Death and they killed SF together, and off SF went to the Underworld. The second time: SF somehow ended up in Hades's palace, and he said to the god that his wife hasn't done the proper funeral rites and if he could go up to the world of the living and scold her. Hades, who was under the impression that mortal souls can't lie, agreed. SF lived another 30 years(it's not enough. I interview every soldier who fought by your siiiiide.) Then Thanatos reminded Hades about SF, and so the tricksy mortal died again. His punishment? Roll a boulder to the top of a hill. But it either rolled down the other side or rolled over SF.
I chose #6 for the same reason. I didn't realize choosing #3 directly was an option, and wanted to maximize odds of getting there. You get 1/3 chance to end up there directly, and two second chances if you fail.
@@deggery-oneaboveall3365 The audio works out for it, but the animation doesn't set it up correctly. It clearly shows a lineup to the podiums. Podiums aren't part of a lineup.
@@moodymoofin186 No problem here, you're not getting scored, merely getting sent back to earth or getting to stay in hades. No big deal, just enjoy the riddle ;). If you realize there's an ambiguity, that means you get a second riddle! (though much of the time, one of the two is uninterestingly simple)
@@RaikaTempest So at first I thought this was the right answer too but if you look at the "pause now" screen they add an extra clause that says that even at the end of the line the heads can bite an empty spot and you can still be trapped in order to nip this answer. Then I looked at image where they showed the line of 99 people and they very explicitly show that the people on the spots were part of the line and you could take their spots. That's when I figured out the answer.
I figured that there is not a “good” spot in the queue and there isn’t a good way to know where you’ll get to start off on the three pads. So your best chance was to start on the far right pad since it would guarantee you at least 2 shots. I wasn’t sure if the pads counted but it was the only thing that made any sense to me so I rolled with it.
Agreed, but if you werent able to choose a "podium" spot and had to be in the actual line to get up, the third from the podium is actually hhe best too because you maximize the number of opportunities you have to get to the third podium spot
Another way of thinking about this is that, since you're always going to end up in one of the three positions below Cerberus's heads, and one of them is objectively better than the other two, you should just take that spot since any other position only has a chance of getting you the best odds, whereas starting there gets you them automatically.
Exactly that. It was my first impression but it is so obvious that the third spot is better that I couldn't believe it was the key to the riddle. I overthought for 10 minutes about how that could be wrong. Turns out it wasn't... weird riddle...
But isnt being the last in line the best way to ensure your freedom? Once you get to the podium, either you shuffle forward because a head eats someone else until youre left alone and eventually eaten or Cerberus eats you straight up. You have 100% chance of escaping this way, right?
@@jamesgonz0077 this would be the case except the rules say that if a head bites an empty space to the right of you, you still have to stay in the underworld
I like how this implies that you (yes, you, whoever watched the video and and is currently reading this comment) are the king who was clever enough to cheat Hades once, and Hermes wants to see that happen again because he’s a chaotic little guy.
So I knew the third spot on the pedestal was best but I didn't think it counted as being in line. My line of thought was how to maximize your chances of getting placed on third pedestal. I figured being third from the pedestal was ideal. Considering that there are more combinations that add up to three in a 1,2,3 sequence. For example 1,1,1... 1,2... 2,1....3
I had 2nd from the pedestal or 5th simply because the average ((1+2+3)/3) is 2 spots per bite and therefore the 5th spot is most likely to get you into the third pedestal.
That would be correct but getting to third spot and getting to 0 spot do not always go hand in hand. For example you are more likely to get from 12 to 3 than 11 to 3, but more liikely to get from 11 to 0 than 12 to 0
Slight problem, at 1:22 it shows that there are 3 people already on the podium but at the end of the riddle the podiums are empty right after you take your place in line. Had I known the podiums would start empty, I would have been able to get the answer
Oh my god, same! My calculation was different because of the filled 3 current slots by the spirits. So we would be dead if we answer the riddle *right* according to TED-ED
Yep, I agree. And here's the "Maths"(/ Statistics) on it: Position 3 is actually as bad as any other position if you consider that there's a 66.66% chance you're not going to land under the third head when stepping on the podium, meaning wherever you are, you'll have the same odds because it's literally just random and depends on how many leave in front of you before you get on the podium and the amount of people leaving in front if you is an average of 1.5 and entirely by chance that it's all 3. And again, the odds for that are 66.6% Which brings us back to position 3 being as bad as 2 and 1, it's all just a matter of how many leave in front of you. The smartest answer would be to choose by observing for a longer time and count which head has been used. This will tell you which head has been eating the fewest. That head is, statistically speaking, the most likliest to feed next. Of cause, it's still a Bernoulli scheme but adding statistics to it gives you the results of best odds to get out of the underworld. Either the riddle is explained wrong or the answer is false or there's something I still don't quite get.
@@pandafish1985 Observing the heads wouldn't help whatsoever because previous instances don't predict future outcomes. Each time the heads bite, there is equal chance of any one biting. this means that the overall results would likely be _close_ to 1/3 each, but not quite. When you flip a coin a million times you're not guaranteed to get 50% heads and 50% tails, but the outcome will likely be close.
@@refrashed that's right. Each instance has the same chance. That's why I specified "statistically" a billion of times. But if you're observing a bernoulli scheme, you can some point say that it's more probable (STATISTICALLY!) that a certain incident is going to happen rather than another. That's how statistics work. Exactly like in your coin example. The result will likely be close, meaning that if you're getting heads a bunch, there's a good chance your next toss is tails... And that's hoe it evens itself out. Except that coins are a bad example because most of worlds coins have a heavier heads side than the tails side.
I thought the solution is to realize that you can only "die" if the dog bites someone behind you. So you can choose to be in the last place in the queue, so whenever you reach the podiums, there won't be any souls behind you, so sooner or later (maximum of 3 bites) the dog will eat you, of course it only works if the dog isn't biting at empty podiums.
I also thought this was the solution; glad to see I’m not alone. I guess it must somehow be bending the rules (or Cerberus can bite down on empty air instead if there are fewer than three people in the line)
Yep, I once saw this Tumblr post that went something along the lines of: Hera: Why are there so many demigods? Zeus, desperately trying to change the subject: Uh, oh, hey look at those clouds, yeah just look at the clouds, those are pretty cool clouds...
I started with looking at the three spots and easily deduced that 3rd is the best of those 3. And, since you have no idea which head will bite, there is no spot further back in line that can guarantee you landing on the 3rd spot. Ergo, you must take the 3rd spot as your choice for the best odds.
I understand the third spot is the best but after the first three guys all the following people will also take the third spot, that is why i said 4 haha because i am the most appeticiable of them because i am new i guess xD
Enjoying these puzzles, and this one was probably my fastest to the right answer. I worked out that being put anywhere in line would not change or fix my odds at all, so I simply skipped ahead to the first three places, and you explained the rest well enough. Look forward to more.
I misheard the riddle, so I thought that the judgement was in trios, where the two that weren't chosen got out of line rather than moving forward, so I thought the solution was to remain in place, in spot 100, because after 11 judgements, you would be left alone on the platform, so Cerberus was sure to chomp down on you.
@@labigbande6674 But, Syphilis did lie too persephone, kidnap Thanatos, and killed the people he was invited too party with so Zeus had Hades deal with him
@@Sarah12471 Do you have a strong accent or something? How'd you come to that pronunciation? And why spell it based on pronunciation as opposed to how it's written? /nm
I was very close to getting this right, I didn't understand that the three spots directly under Cerberus counted as "the line". I thought "soul 1" was the first person waiting to get on the pedestals. I knew that the first pedestal (from the right) was the best spot to be in, I was just trying to figure out how to ensure I got there.
Same. The wording (audio and text alone) made it clear, but the images shows podiums, which wouldn't be part of the line. You'd still end up with "3rd position", by the same logic used on the podiums, but it's a different "3rd" than what's shown.
As soon as the question was asked, I instantly thought the last place in line was best, because if there's no one to your right to get chomped, you won't get sent back. I actually don't see why that wouldn't work, unless Cerberus would chomp at the empty space behind you just to screw you over. It works no matter which platform you end up on, too.
Oh, an easy one that I got Your turn only really starts when you’re in the first 3 positions, so there would be no reason to start anywhere else in the line as that would just induce randomness. And starting at the back of the 3 gives you at least 1 additional chance, so the best position would be third in line.
That's bad riddle, by what you told on 0:55, the line already started, and you need to choose in the NEXT 99 positions but then in the solution the cerberus' selection hasn't started yet and the first three spots are empty, we didn't get this information to resolve the "riddle".
How does it matter really? If it is as shown in 0:55 and you have to choose out of 99 it is completely random at that point and you might as well choose the 1st one next to get on to the podium
Totally agree, it's also not true that being 3 step closer to cerberus give you a Better chance. The Logic behind that starts from a much more general scenario, where the odds cannot be worst (so equals or greater). But in this scenario, they are ALWAYS equal. The only exception would be if the platforms are empty and so being the third mean you have 100% chances to go to the right platform if you are third in the queue. But from the fourth and beyond, the chances are equals.
@@OneRichMofo Because the goal is not to get to the podium, but to its 3rd spot. And having an empty podium to start with allows to secure it, as shown in the solution. Which is very different to how the problem was stated, with a podium already filled, and therefore no way to secure that spot. The question becomes how to maximize the chances to get to that 3rd spot, and I'm too bored to look at whether there's a solution for it. Aren't chances equal no matter where in line?
Hey i got it by thinking in terms of probability of the heads biting a spot. 33,33% chance of the head biting the spot you are in. Every trio has a number designated as 1 2 3. The 1st and 2nd spots in any given point in the line increase the chances for every 3rd spot to be bit even after moving, so by defintion every 3rd spot has largest probability to get bit. Since there are a 100 spots and only 3 heads with differing outcomes after the line finishes, 100! * 3 is used to determine the outcomes of your spot being bit, leaving an aburd number of 9.33e+157 outcomes in front of you where a guaranteed 33% of it is you getting bit. So reduce the number of spots in front of you by a large number as the last spot is the worst possible spot to be in. The least amount of spots you can be placed in is in the very first trio of 123 right in front of Cerberus. Initially every spot at that exact moment has same probability to get bit. The number of outcomes for any of those 3 spots is only 12 different outcomes for those initial first bites. The 1st spot gives only 1 chance. A very low 33%. The 2nd spot gives you 2 chances to live and 1to instantly die. 3rd spot gives last 6 outcomes where you die only 2 out of those outcomes.
no, because regardless of whether you're last or not, the heads will bite down randomly, and even if you're the last spot in line it could bite down on an empty spot. the highest probability of success would still be the 3rd spot.
The best option is just to ask Hermes to switch you with the soul standing at the spot where a head is about to eat the occupant. 100% guarantee of success. Otherwise is just a matter of luck and probability. PS: or just ask Hermes for weapon capable of killing Gods and mythological creatures.
*Spoiler Warning* Riddle: Where in line should you be? Me: I don't know, third I guess (probably going to be wrong anywa-) Riddle: CORRECT! Me: *NANI!?*
“Got a message for you, coz. It says ‘It sure is nice here up on this mountain, not having to escape the underworld. Come join us soon, won’t you?’” -Hermes, Hades
I think it makes sense to stay at the 99th space. That way, you will always end up in the best spot and and there will be nobody behind you for the dog to choose. Hades demands that Cerberus MUST feed on souls to set them free. Because the 99th spot is the last in line, the rate of success should be 100%, right? This would happen no matter how many souls would be in line (unless there is a stated limit to the amount of freed souls), so the best answer would always be: "Put me LAST in line".
I thought of just going to the end of the line. When it's my turn, i would be the third or there would be the 2 of us or just me. I assume then there will be no head which bites nothing, so my chances are improved
I agree. But I think the rule is that the heads bite whether or not there is a soul on the pedestal. Which doesn't really makes sense but then the solution would no longer be about probability.
@@danielyuan9862 "It's literally stated" when?? I think 0:26 onwards states it pretty clearly: "...when one of its 3 heads biites down on the soul in front of it..." AND "...at which point Cerberus will FEED again.". A head won't bite if there's no soul in front of it and the Cerberus ALWAYS feeds, based on the intro information.
@@mrmurpleqwerty4838 You get another chance but it's still possible to not get picked at all. 60% is not very high odds, just ask anyone who's played Pokemon or XCom.
@@eliseo5416 60% is very high odds, ask someone who plays Marvel Future Fight. People would kill for 60% odds in Marvel Future Fight, where odds for the good rewards are 5% or less. The chances in cosmic core for ctps for instance? A little over 1%! PS: Just kidding, I know what you're trying to say.
When I was thinking of this, the literal 100th spot would have nobody to your right, which would cause you to have a 100% chance to be freed due to if you are the last one to enter the 3 spots, you will never be to the left of someone causing Cerberus to have to bite you to end the line. I'm not sure why this can't be a solution as I may have misunderstood the rules but I definitely thought I got it when I continued the video.
I 100% agree with you here. The riddle however did not indicate what happens when there are less than 3 souls left to go before Cerberus, which will inevitably happen to one or two of the last souls in line
@0:59 @1:34 (rules) _"3. Rule 2 still applies at the end of the line, so Cerberus may bite down on an empty spot if there's no one to fill it. Any souls to the left would then get out of line."_ This rules out the "100% chance". -By choosing the 100th spot, It's the same chance as choosing the 3rd spot. Hence both answers should be correct for this riddle.-
@@codewaz it’s only the same chance if Cerberus bites number 97 on the first pedestal putting you on the third. If he bites #99 on the third pedestal that puts you alone on the first pedestal
This is literally first time I got the puzzle right, it was an instinct though I simply chose 3rd spot in first line because I it's 75% chance of survival, after first 3 it can get completely random
I used the augmented matrix method of solving a system voluntarily for the first time ever in working out the solution. That led me to the fact a random person deep in the line has a survival chance approaching one half, and from there I came up with the key concepts leading to the simpler solution given here. In other words, I got the answer right, but did way too much math to get there. (It was still fun.)
I made a system of three variables (a, b and c) that represented the chance of surviving if you were 1, 2 or 3 spots from the edge of the selection platform. I put them in terms of each other by imagining the various chances of converting from one to another. Then I used the matrix method to solve the equation and got values of 1/2, 1/3 and 1/6... or something like that. I don't remember how exactly it worked out. @@piyushchoudhury3709
yeah me too, I was like, 3rd spot grants the reroll if you dont get picked first try.. but since I also thought of THE LINE as the actual line (so not the 3 guys being judged right at this very moment) I had no quick idea on how to guarantee to end up on the 3rd place as soon as it would be my turn to be judged..
Kinda surprised on this one. I figured trying to go for the last position would be the best and try and force yourself to be the only one left on the platform. If you are the last one in line and there is one person, then you are guaranteed to live, if there are two, then either you go free or they grab the guy in front and then you loop back to the previous situation. If you are third, either you get taken or you end up in the other two situations. Basically the last person in line seems guaranteed to succeed because it always reduces down to him being the only person available for Cerberus to eat or him being eaten and skipping over whoever is unfortunate enough to be in front of him. Guess the puzzle included an extra thing where he can choose to bite down on a pedestal with no one on it.
Sure if you invent your own extra rules like "Cerberus' heads won't bite on empty pedestals" you may get different answer, but that is answer to different problem.
@@colgatelampinen2501 I mean, the video says Cerberus "bites down on the soul in front of it" which implies he only bites on non-empty positions. The solution implies otherwise though.
@@zapzya. And context for that is "When one of his three heads bites down on the soul in front of it,...", it doesn't imply at all that Cerberus only bites non-empty positions, it merely tells what happens when it happens to bite down soul. Later it said "Each of the dog’s heads has an equal chance of being the one to bite each time," if heads with empty spots in front of them had 0 chance to bite, it would not be equal chance. Also rule 3 is quite explicit about it: "Rule 2 still applies at the end of the line, so Cerberus may bite down on an empty spot if there's no one to fill it. Any souls to the left would then get out of line."
I realized I wanted to be in position three to increase the odds but I overthought it like crazy and was trying to figure out how to determine which position out of 100 would guarantee you landed on three .. instead of just placing him directly there 😅
I think the last spot (100th spot) is actually the best. The first rule specifies that the souls to the left of the bite only stay in hades if the Cerberus bites someone, so the only way you can stay in Hades is for Cerberus to bite someone behind you in the line. Therefore, if you’re in the last spot and there’s nobody behind you in line, then you’re guaranteed to go to the living world
I calculated the chances per platform and I was able to determine the best spot to land onto. But on the part where I would have to think of a number to give to Hermes, I was trying so hard to find a pattern for all the 100 spots, thinking this is another case of the hostile AI riddle. When I continued the video I just realised why didn't I just pick the direct spot lol
@@im1085 EXACTLY, if you don't see the few seconds of it showing the numbered people and just listen, any adept problem solver would think that, it's more of a wording technicality that isn't necessarily wrong but is certainly confusing.
Another solution can be: You just pick a spot divisible by 9 Let's say 1st 2nd and 3rd each dog bites one time then out of 6 people 3 will live and 3 will rott there (you can pick any sequence). After that you get a new set of 3 people. 7th will be in the first spot 8th will be in the second spot and the 9th will be in the 3rd spot(the best spot).
Can't you just stay at the end so that: - you will always be last in the last group of three - if you do not get eaten you move forward with no one behind you - once in first place the only place the heads can eat from is yours making your survival rate 100%
@@bradensorensen966 rule no.3 states that the dog can bite empty spaces. But I was thinking of similar solution. Once you are at the end and the only one left, take the right most position and keep staying there and eventually you ll be bitten n freed
actually, the chances are worse than the third position, because it could end up that you could be the only person remaining and Cerberus bites person three, meaning there are 2 empty spots when you go on the podium, which Cerberus can choose from. The last position in line has the same 50/50 shot as most other positions
I had some trouble understanding the calculation at 3:41, until I realised this was just the calculation if you chose the 3rd spot in line. But there's also an error there, because number 6 is also a correct way to be saved. The narration says the chance is 16/27, but on the screen only 15 of 27 options are highlighted as valid.
If I understood you right, there s a possible chance that after Cerberus bites a soul you can result in #4 and thus it will break the probability of taking the place #3
The best place is 96th. If you consider in a long term each head eatings will be same as there is equally likely outsome ( as if we toss 100 coin head and tall will be 50/50) so keeping this in mind. After every 3 round the possibility of people eaten would be ( 1-3-6, 1-4-6, 2-3-6,2-5-6,3-5-6,3-4-6) if all 3 eat one by one equally So standing on multile of number 6 will save you 100%. But here they eat randomly some so we choose last multiple of 6 which is 96 we increase our chances. By believing each head eating will become same in long term.
