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From: vrenios@enuxsa.eas.asu.edu (Alexander Vrenios)
Subject: Re: Muddy Children Problem?
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Organization: Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ
Date: Fri, 3 Nov 1995 22:05:08 GMT
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   Thanks to all who responded! I received -many-
references to:

      "Reasoning about Knowledge" MIT Press 1995
      by Halpern, et. al.

In article <DHGA5p.J7D@ennews.eas.asu.edu>,
Alexander Vrenios <vrenios@enuxsa.eas.asu.edu> wrote:
>   I would like a reference to the "Muddy Children
>Problem" - paper or text. Thanks in advance.
>
>---
>
>   The problem goes something like: there are five
>intelligent children, playing in the yard. Three
>of them have muddy spots on their foreheads, the
>other two do not. An adult enters the scene and
>they all get up to hear what is said. (Children,
>by the way are not allowed to talk to each other
>or communicate in any way - they're good kids -
>but they can listen to the adult, they can see each
>other, particularly they see muddy spots on some of
>their playmates' foreheads. And they can THINK, and
>remember they are intelligent!)
>
>   The adult says, "At least one of you children is
>muddy. Raise your hand if you think you are muddy."
>
>   Nothing happens, so the adult asks again. Still
>nothing so the adult asks once more... And on asking
>the third time (there are three out of five children
>with muddy foreheads, remember) the three muddy kids
>raise their hands!              --------------------
>
>   This is not a joke; it has something to do with
>the kinds of knowledge (distributed, existensial and
>universal) and how, through inference, FACTS can move
>through the phases of knowledge to higher levels in a
>distributed system.
>
>   I'm a programmer, so don't expect me to say much
>more about this. I would be grateful for a reference
>to the explaination/proof. I would appreciate direct
>email. Thanks again.
>
>
>Regards,
>
>Alex Vrenios
>Vrenios@asu.edu


