Daily Riddle: You Come to a Fork in the Road

You are faced with a fork in the road after a long journey to paradise and have one chance to get information from two guards.

As you set forth on a new journey, vast lands of trees and bright skies accompany you. It is a long road, yet full of adventure and excitement with many lessons to learn.

There are sad nights and lonely days, both of which you will survive, knowing that at the end of it all is a paradise like no other – one which knows no frustration and pain.

As your journey comes to a close, a fork at the end of the road awaits. Next to each passageway stands a guard with the same face, who you do not know.

However, you were blessed with the knowledge that one path leads to eternal damnation, while the other brings you to a beautiful paradise, but neither roads you can distinguish.

You know that among the two guards, one tells only the truth, while the other says nothing but lies. Again, you cannot distinguish between the two.

Granted, you may ask one guard one question to discover which path leads to paradise; what question would guarantee you an answer that will lead you to where you want?

Answer: Ask either of the guards, “Which door would the other guard say leads to paradise?”

If the honest guard answers, he would look at the lying guard and point at the road that will lead to eternal damnation, which the lying guard would say leads to paradise.

On the other hand, if the lying guard answers, he would look at the truthful guard and point at the road that will lead to eternal damnation since he is lying.

Regardless who you ask, both would point at the wrong path; hence, you can take the other direction that leads to paradise. Did you like this riddle? For a similar brain exercise, guess what happened to two sons and their father’s last will.