- You’ve just arrived in a new town, seeking your fortune, and you need a haircut. In this town, there are two barbers. The first barber has a neat, dapper haircut, and his shop is immaculately clean. The second barber’s haircut is grotesque, and his shop is filthy—giant tumbleweeds of hair drift across the floor, and the scissors are caked in layers of rust. Which barber do you want to cut your hair?
Answer: You cleverly deduce that the first, well-groomed barber couldn’t possibly cut his own hair; therefore, he must get his hair cut by the second barber. And, though the second barbershop is filthy, it’s because the second barber has so many customers that there’s simply no time to clean. Thus, you correctly decide to patronize the second barbershop.
- You worked up an appetite trying to settle on a barbershop. In this town, there are two sandwich shops. The first sandwich shop is spick and span, with floors that you could eat off of. The owner is a jolly fat man. The second shop is filthy, with piles of rancid bologna on the floor, pepperoncini in the toilet, and Swiss cheese jammed into broken light fixtures. The owner is emaciated and covered in sores. Where do you get your sandwich?
Answer: You should obviously get lunch from the clean sandwich shop. Never buy food from a place with such glaring health-code violations! You don’t have to be good at riddles to know that; it’s just common sense. Unfortunately, you choose to get a sandwich from the second shop. You have assumed that the rules that applied to the town’s barbershops would apply to its delis as well. Why would you think that? A guy who makes sandwiches can easily eat his own sandwiches.
- You ate a bad sandwich and are feeling sick. In this town, there are two doctors. The first doctor’s patients are the very picture of health, and his waiting room has an excellent magazine selection. The second doctor chain-smokes and refuses to wash his hands, and in his waiting room there’s only a waterlogged Sports Illustrated from 1995—not that you’d be able to read it anyway; the dying patients packed in there wail so loudly that it’s impossible to concentrate on anything. Which doctor do you decide to see?
