Re^3: Demo of the 100 Prisoners Problem using Perl

[cavac]

Yes, my phrasing was a bit poor. In my defense, i never went to Uni, so never received formal scientific training. I'm just a simple software developer.

To be fair, in my usual use cases "works correctly to the forth digit after the comma in all cases" fullfills all my usual project requirements (as set by law). So in these circumstances simulating it to that degree is equivalent to "proof that the solution works".

But yes, i totally agree that there is a big difference between actual mathematical proof and my 1970s-british-automotive-worker "that will do" attitude ;-)

[LanX]

The approach is legit, since constructing a counterexample is a way to prove a theory is wrong. ¹

Computational mathematics - the use of computers for mathematics itself - is a hot and controversial topic.

I have more problems with calling it Veritasium's riddle, though I like the blog.

But I hope the nature of the solution is clearer now, because the success of large groups of prisoners is coupled. If they are member of the same cycle they either all succeed or all fail.

Imagine a hypothetical strategy coupling all prisoners, the success rate would be even 50% not only 30%.

Update

¹) just the opposite isn't true, there are plenty of conjectures which "work" for a while... Till they don't.

Update

coincidentally I just watched a video from the same channel explaining to the end how hard it is to find a counterexample for a wrong conjecture: The Simplest Math Problem No One Can Solve - Collatz Conjecture

see also the Pólya conjecture

[cavac]

there are plenty of conjectures which "work" for a while... Till they don't.

This applies to pretty much all of my software :-)

[pfaut]

But yes, i totally agree that there is a big difference between actual mathematical proof and my 1970s-british-automotive-worker "that will do" attitude ;-)

Another motorhead? Whenever I get frustrated at work I threaten to return to my old job fixing lawnmowers. :)

[cavac]

Another motorhead?

Well, i know a lot about transfer boxes, but not much of anything else. I worked for over a decade as sysadmin for an automotive supplier in Austria. We made rear axle transfer boxes/diffs for a lot of different types of cars, including the Mercedes G class¹. My job was to help keep the production lines running. Before that, i worked a few years for a software company that provided custom-made software for those production lines.

I would be the absolute worst choice of person to be trusted with a socket wrench, but if you ever need someone to keep operating systems on life support for 15 after official end-of-life, using nothing more than software hacks and a soldering iron, i do have some experience.

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¹ For a while, my office was right next to that specific line. I could just open my door and take two steps to solve any IT problem. Then some idiot decided we have to move out of our office container in the production hall to some hard-to-reach place on the other end of the building. You know, because our original office didn't have access to sunlight. Guess what, the blinds stayed closed in the new office all the time, because that makes it easier to see the screens...