Ask Me Help Desk - Lateral Thinking Puzzle

Yes, I meant in real life. I can't imagine he'd be dead in the puzzle and still be able to tell anyone anything. (Unless you want to bring the ghosts into it.) Haha - the ghosts. I thought you might be thinking he was dead in the course of the puzzle.

Was his occupation relevant? This is tough to answer. Maybe ask it in another way.

Was his station in life relevant? No

Does "lie" here mean telling something that was factually untrue? yes

Does "telling the truth" here mean something that was factually true? Yes

Or, does "telling the truth" here mean only what he thought to be the truth but perhaps was not? No

I assume this is someone we would not know of through knowing your basic history? (i.e. just some story handed down that your average person would not know) yes - correct

Are there particular circumstances surrounding this lie that are relevant? (How's that for an open-ended question.) Yes

Does "age" mean his actual chronological years of being alive out of a womb? Yes

Is the setting in which this lie telling took place relevant? (Take it any way you like: country, type of area, building, whatever. If you say yes I'll narrow it down later.) The setting could be one of many. You'd be better off skipping this.

Are the people he told the lie to relevant? Yes

(Note that I'm trying to distinguish between circumstances, as in events or relationships, etc. versus setting like the type of location, or both if relevant.) The circumstances are relevant.

Was he aware that he was lying?

Did he ever die and come back to life?

Are these other people actually people plural?

Are they relatives?

(Did you miss the one in #719 or still thinking?)

I think this is all for now. I really need to concentrate on my other stuff for a while, but I'll be back a bit later and see what else I can cough up.

He lied about his age but he was telling the truth. How could this be?
Was he aware that he was lying? Yes

Did he ever die and come back to life? No

Are these other people actually people plural? One person.

Are they relatives? No

(Did you miss the one in #719 or still thinking?) Sorry - missed it. Based on the assumption this is someone we don't know of (since he wasn't famous), would it be relevant to know the time he lived in? Yes to get to the specific answer, but it could have happened at any time. I don't expect you to get the story it's based on, only how it could be true.

I think this is all for now. I really need to concentrate on my other stuff for a while, but I'll be back a bit later and see what else I can cough up.I'll be going to bed soon. If I wake up, I'll check in - but I'm finally sleeping better.[/QUOTE]

Okay... if you insist...

Did he lie about his birthday?
- Birth hour?
- Birth year?

Location of birth?
(Maybe he was travelling when he was born, and the certificate said he was in the later country where in fact, he was born in the previous country)

Okay... if you insist... It's much more fun when you play. :)

Did he lie about his birthday? Only his age.
- Birth hour?
- Birth year?

Location of birth? No
(Maybe he was travelling when he was born, and the certificate said he was in the later country where in fact, he was born in the previous country)[/QUOTE]

Did he lie to a relative of him?

Would his answer be different at a different time, but still holds true and false at the same time?

Did he lie to a relative of him? No

Would his answer be different at a different time, but still holds true and false at the same time? No. He definitely lied about his age.

Did he lie to someone he knew?
- Was it his friend?

Did he had a good reason to lie about his age?
- Was his life put at sake?

Was the truth he said related to a general truth?
- To something else about him?
- To this someone he lied to?
- To some other relevant detail?

Did he lie to someone he knew? He didn't know the person prior to this.
- Was it his friend?

Did he had a good reason to lie about his age? Debatable, but Yes, he thought so.
- Was his life put at sake? No

Was the truth he said related to a general truth? Yes
- To something else about him? No
- To this someone he lied to? No
- To some other relevant detail? Yes

Was this truth related to:
- The space?
- Psychology?
- Physics?

Did he thought that the 'someone' was on the 'wrong' track and wanted that person to know the truth?

Was the 'someone' famous?
- Was this person related to a judiciary system?
- Related to some sovereignty?
- Related to politics?

Quote:

If I wake up, I'll check in - but I'm finally sleeping better.

I've been sleeping great the last few days. Now if I could just sleep earlier.

Was this truth related to:
- The space? No
- Psychology? No
- Physics? No

Did he thought that the 'someone' was on the 'wrong' track and wanted that person to know the truth? No

Was the 'someone' famous? No
- Was this person related to a judiciary system? No
- Related to some sovereignty? No
- Related to politics? No

Quote:

Okay... if you insist...

You exaggerate, sir. I merely mentioned it. :p

Quote:

Would his answer be different at a different time, but still holds true and false at the same time? No. He definitely lied about his age.

Was the truth he said related to a general truth? Yes.
- To something else about him? No.
- To this someone he lied to? No.
- To some other relevant detail? Yes.

I'm sorry, but I'm not understanding these questions.

Did he tell the lie, and tell the truth at the same time? i.e. he only said one thing and that was a lie and the truth both?

Quote:

Originally Posted by morgaine300

You exaggerate, sir. I merely mentioned it. :p

I'm sorry, but I'm not understanding these questions.

I twisted his arm on the Mysteries thread. :)

This is what the questions meant to me:

Was the truth he said related to a general truth? Yes.
- To something else about him? No.
- To this someone he lied to? No.
- To some other relevant detail? Yes.

What he said could be deemed truthful (a general truth), but what he said was not something else about him (e.g. his clothes were the age he lied about). It had nothing to do with the person he lied to - it could have been any person and his lie would still be truthful. The relevant detail is what you are trying to figure out - how could he have told the truth when we know he lied. There is a detail that makes it all make sense.

Quote:

Originally Posted by morgaine300

Did he tell the lie, and tell the truth at the same time? i.e. he only said one thing and that was a lie and the truth both?

Yes

Quote:

Was his occupation relevant? This is tough to answer. Maybe ask it in another way.

Was his occupation relevant to the circumstances but not to the lie itself?

Guess I don't get what "general truth" is supposed to mean. Since I already asked if the truth was also about his age (and therefore not something else), I'm going to pretend that this is not important to me.

Was his occupation relevant to the circumstances but not to the lie itself?
No. There is something to this line of questioning, but it's just a little "off".

Don't worry, Unky. History is not my forte either. Or at least, there's many 'popular' history topics I don't know. There are a few things I know a decent amount about cause they happen to interest me.

I know where she got this from and the "historical" type puzzles they do don't generally require a knowledge of history, so I didn't let that scare me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Just Looking

Was his occupation relevant to the circumstances but not to the lie itself?
No. There is something to this line of questioning, but it's just a little "off".

I'm thinking. :) I marked it in red as something to ponder.

Did he not have an "occupation"?

I take general truth as things like "The sun rises at the east and sets at the west".

Did he know that what he was saying was true?

Quote:

Originally Posted by morgaine300

Did he not have an "occupation"?

No.

And go to bed! That was my break. (I suddenly remembered I had to mail a bill tomorrow and had to walk it down to the mailbox down the street.) But I'm getting back to my stuff for a while anyway.

You just can't resist when there's another question, can you? I know how that is. :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unknown008

I take general truth as things like "The sun rises at the east and sets at the west".

Did he know that what he was saying was true?

Ahhh, it's not something like that.

Yes, he knew it was both a lie and the truth.

My bad. I asked a "not" question, so now I don't understand your response. Let's turn it around.

Did he have an occupation?

Quote:

Originally Posted by morgaine300

And go to bed! That was my break. (I suddenly remembered I had to mail a bill tomorrow and had to walk it down to the mailbox down the street.) But I'm getting back to my stuff for a while anyway.

You just can't resist when there's another question, can you? I know how that is. :)

I can't. I laid down for 2 minutes, and got up to see if there was a question. Unky was here... I couldn't leave. Then you came along... :)

I am so wide awake. Okay, I am going to bed in 25 minutes, tired or not.

Quote:

Originally Posted by morgaine300

My bad. I asked a "not" question, so now I don't understand your response. Let's turn it around.

Did he have an occupation?

Went right over my head. No

Does it involve a war?
Did he lie to someone dying?

Does it involve a war? Yes (See - great question)
Did he lie to someone dying? No

Was he a soldier in the war?

Did he lie about his age to be able to fight (i.e. minimum age)?

Did he actually state his age as a number of years?

(Are you in bed, or are you peaking?)

Was he a soldier in the war? Trying to be - see next question

Did he lie about his age to be able to fight (i.e. minimum age)? Yes

Did he actually state his age as a number of years? I have to say it - yes-ish

(Are you in bed, or are you peaking?) This made me laugh. I was sleeping. We are having thunder and lightening. My dog gets scared so he woke me up. :(

Did he know other languages?

Quote:

(Are you in bed, or are you peaking?) This made me laugh. I was sleeping. We are having thunder and lightening. My dog gets scared so he woke me up.

I'd hate that. I sleep great through storms, as for some odd reason I find them calming, so I'd be ticked if my dog woke up. (But I have cats, and while they don't like thunder, they tend to dive under the bed, not wake me up.)

Let's go with this language thing...

Did he say his age that in one language meant one thing and in another language meant another? (That would be a very odd coincidence if so.)

Did he hold up a number of fingers?

Was one of his fingers missing?

Did he know other languages? No

I'd hate that. I sleep great through storms, as for some odd reason I find them calming, so I'd be ticked if my dog woke up. (But I have cats, and while they don't like thunder, they tend to dive under the bed, not wake me up.)
He's a good boy, but he's always afraid of the thunder and lightening. Soon after I posted, it stopped and started raining really hard. We had a quiet rest of the night. It can be frustrating - he moans and I know he's upset and wants comforting. He's a big dog (yellow lab), so it's kind of funny.

Did he say his age that in one language meant one thing and in another language meant another? (That would be a very odd coincidence if so.) No

Did he hold up a number of fingers? No

Was one of his fingers missing? No - but that's an interesting thought.

Was the question he answered to something like "How old are you?"?

Did he reply by saying solely a number?

Was the question he answered to something like "How old are you?"? Yes

Did he reply by saying solely a number? No - and this is a good line of questioning.

Did he say something along the lines of "This is my sixteenth summer"?

Since you celebrate your birthday at the END of the year it's marking, it could be taken to mean he's 16, when depending on the time of year he was born, he would only be 15 and some months.