Miracles and The 100 Prisoners Problem

[doubtingthomas]

I may know different people than you but I cannot remember myself ever thinking prayer was the answer to all problems and was not aware that anybody I knew thought such a thing.

Best approach to problems is to pick up your own responsibility and get to it.

So you believe in some form of Christian Deism?

[doubtingthomas]

I don’t understand the question - how can they increase the odds of success to a precise probability of 31%?

So hopefully this helps
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/100_prisoners_problem

I probably have to do a better job at explaining things.

[msnobody]

There are 100 numbered prisoners waiting outside and 100 numbered boxes in a room. The boxes in the room are all in numerical order and have a label. All the boxes have another number (1-100) inside, but the number inside a box doesn't necessarily match the number that is printed on the label, the numbers inside the boxes are randomly distributed. No number repeats.

The prisoners must enter the room one at a time. When a prisoner is inside, he has to open the boxes to look for his own number.


The Rules
Only one prisoner can be inside the room at a time.
Each prisoner is allowed to open 50 boxes.
Before leaving the room, the prisoners have to close the boxes, exactly like they were.
A prisoner is not allowed to communicate with others after he enters and leaves the room.

All 100 prisoners have to find their assigned number. The probability of success is (1/2)^100.

What strategy can the prisoners use prisoners improve their probability of success to 0.31?

Answer: Prayer. If the prisoners are successful, it means God helped them.

https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.10 ... 45061-0_28

God is not obligated to improve their probability of success.

[malkie]

...
God is not obligated to improve their probability of success.

Two things occur to me here:

1. Has God not said that if you ask in faith you shall receive?
2. An un-obligated God, or a God who reneges on a promise, may be completely indistinguishable from a non-existent God

[msnobody]

I read this article a couple of years ago that lists death row inmates last meals and last words.
https://www.al.com/news/g66l-2019/05/b4 ... h-row.html