Who Slimed the Psychiatrist?

Marilyn is Wrong Copyright © 1999-2007 Herb Weiner. All rights reserved.

Ask Marilyn ® by Marilyn vos Savant is a column in Parade Magazine, published by PARADE, 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA. According to Parade, Marilyn vos Savant is listed in the "Guinness Book of World Records Hall of Fame" for "Highest IQ."

In her Parade Magazine column of July 1, 2007, Marilyn applies faulty logic to solve a logic puzzle.

Sorry, Marilyn, but your readers have found the flaw in your logic

Three readers (Charlie Kluepfel <chasklu@aol.com>, Daniel Cristofani <cristofd@hevanet.com>, and Nickolas Reynolds <nickels@gmail.com>) contacted me the first day to point out Marilyn's error. Nickolas provided the most concise explanation of Marilyn's error:

Her error is assuming that "the evildoer arrived before me" being false implies "the evildoer arrived after me" is true. It actually implies "the evildoer arrived after me, or I am the evildoer" is true.

Thus, while her solution is valid, it is not the only solution, and her explanation is wrong.


http://www.wiskit.com/marilyn/slime.html last updated July 2, 2007 by herbw@wiskit.com ÿ