History of the Muddy Children Puzzle

A recent study traces the two-century history of the "Muddy Children Puzzle", a classic problem that inspired the development of epistemic logic in AI. The paper also introduces unique variations and a novel self-referential puzzle.

Computer Science > Artificial Intelligence

Title:History of the Muddy Children Puzzle

View PDF HTML (experimental)Abstract:The Muddy Children Puzzle is a puzzle about knowledge and ignorance that has been inspiring for the development of epistemic logic. Who came up with it first? This is unclear. We trace the origin of the Muddy Children Puzzle through logical and literary publications over the past two centuries. The puzzle inspired a numerous variations such as involving numbers or coloured hats. We also present a novel hats puzzle involving self-reference.

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