The Potato Paradox
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Jon and @George-K are each given a bottle of (cheap) Scotch by their respective wives as a Christmas present. Over drinks they start arguing over who has the cheaper Scotch. They agree to have a wager over it. They will consult their wives and find out the prices of the bottles. The terms of the bet are that the man with the more expensive bottle has to give it to the other as the prize.
Jon reasons as follows: winning and losing are equally likely. If I lose, then I lose the value of my bottle. But if I win, then I win more than the value of my bottle. Therefore, the wager is to my advantage. George can consider the wager in exactly the same way; thus, paradoxically, both have the advantage in the bet. Or do they not?
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Jon and @George-K are each given a bottle of (cheap) Scotch by their respective wives as a Christmas present. Over drinks they start arguing over who has the cheaper Scotch. They agree to have a wager over it. They will consult their wives and find out the prices of the bottles. The terms of the bet are that the man with the more expensive bottle has to give it to the other as the prize.
Jon reasons as follows: winning and losing are equally likely. If I lose, then I lose the value of my bottle. But if I win, then I win more than the value of my bottle. Therefore, the wager is to my advantage. George can consider the wager in exactly the same way; thus, paradoxically, both have the advantage in the bet. Or do they not?
@klaus said in The Potato Paradox:
Therefore, the wager is to my advantage. George can consider the wager in exactly the same way; thus, paradoxically, both have the advantage in the bet. Or do they not?
It probably depends on how well they know each other's wives.
