# Multiple choice conundrum **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 22, 2023, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-choice-conundrum/978611 "2023-01-22T15:47:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2023, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-choice-conundrum/978611/1 "2023-01-22T15:47:48Z")
I saw this elsewhere: If you pick an answer to this question at random, what is the chance that you are correct? A) 25% B) 50% C} 60% D) 25% No, there are no misprints. šŸ˜„ Iā€™m thinking the answer is ā€œBā€. Am I right? ---
**Author:** ![colinfred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colinfred/32/21338_2.png) [@colinfred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colinfred)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2023, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-choice-conundrum/978611/2 "2023-01-22T15:52:24Z")
No good answers. You have a 50% chance of picking 25% and a 25% of picking 50% so neither are correct. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2023, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-choice-conundrum/978611/3 "2023-01-22T16:18:03Z")
For one thing, it depends on whether ā€œcorrectā€ means you have to match the letter or the answer that the letter stands for. But this has been discussed before: > [@Probability question -](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/probability-question/950030): > > I just saw this online: If you choose an answer to this question at random, what is the chance that you will be correct? A. 25% B. 0% C. 50% D. 25% > [@Anyone want to try to solve this riddle?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-want-to-try-to-solve-this-riddle/601335): > > If you choose an answer to this question at random, what is the chance you will be correct? A) 25% B) 50% C) 0% D) 25% ---
**Author:** ![Themenin0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a183cd/32.png) [@Themenin0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Themenin0)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2023, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-choice-conundrum/978611/4 "2023-01-22T16:23:09Z")
It might need a closer parsing, but at first blush thereā€™s no question to answer. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2023, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-choice-conundrum/978611/5 "2023-01-22T16:23:50Z")
Isnā€™t it just a reframing of > All SDMB posters are liars > **[Epimenides paradox](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epimenides_paradox)** > > The Epimenides paradox reveals a problem with self-reference in logic. It is named after the Cretan philosopher Epimenides of Knossos (alive circa 600 BC) who is credited with the original statement. A typical description of the problem is given in the book Gƶdel, Escher, Bach, by Douglas Hofstadter: > Epimenides was a Cretan who made the immortal statement: "All Cretans are liars."\[a\] A paradox of self-reference arises when one considers whether it is possible for Epimenides to have spoken the ... Itā€™s just that you must do a little more work to figure out the inherent self-contradiction. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2023, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-choice-conundrum/978611/6 "2023-01-22T16:26:01Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Isnā€™t it just a reframing of > > > All SDMB posters are liars > [@](#): > > Itā€™s just that you must do a little more work to figure out the inherent self-contradiction. How is that one a contradiction? ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2023, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-choice-conundrum/978611/7 "2023-01-22T19:02:34Z")
> [@Themenin0](#): > > t might need a closer parsing, but at first blush thereā€™s no question to answer Thatā€™s my reaction: my chances are effectively zero, because thereā€™s no way to tell what the question is. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2023, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-choice-conundrum/978611/8 "2023-01-22T19:15:16Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > thereā€™s no way to tell what the question is. The question is ā€œIf you pick an answer to this question at random, what is the chance that you are correct?ā€ Itā€™s self-referential, and possibly paradoxical or ill-defined, but it is a question. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2023, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-choice-conundrum/978611/9 "2023-01-22T19:17:14Z")
But it appears that the field of answers oneā€™s choosing from is all the answers in the universe. Because thereā€™s nothing there that says ā€œall the possible answers are listed below.ā€ ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2023, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-choice-conundrum/978611/10 "2023-01-22T19:36:21Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Because thereā€™s nothing there that says ā€œall the possible answers are listed below.ā€ I think thatā€™s implicit in the multiple choice format. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2023, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-choice-conundrum/978611/11 "2023-01-22T19:45:13Z")
Your chance of getting the right answer is 0%. And 0% isnā€™t one of the options, so you have 0% chance of picking it.