You have chosen....*spoilers*

[hammer]

I got this wrong on the first try also (I got it on the second try) and here's why:

The setup of the puzzle doesn't say, which of these is more valuable ON A DESERT ISLAND.

It says which is more valuable in general.

I know for a fact that my wife would berate me for the rest of my life if I chose a sandwich over the book of all knowledge.

[chucklas]

When I tried that time, I have no clue either, but obviously Gold should be last one, so I only tried total of 12 combination.

It should have only been 6 combinations at this point. 3 X 2 X 1 = 6.

A, B, C
A, C, B
B, A, C
B, C, A
C, A, B
C, B, A

[calvinfoo]

When I tried that time, I have no clue either, but obviously Gold should be last one, so I only tried total of 12 combination.

It should have only been 6 combinations at this point. 3 X 2 X 1 = 6.

A, B, C
A, C, B
B, A, C
B, C, A
C, A, B
C, B, A

Yeah, thanks for the correction.

[Blackthorne519]

I, on many occasions, have chosen a sandwich over great knowledge. And I must say, it was always the right decision.


Bt

[Erpy]

I know for a fact that my wife would berate me for the rest of my life if I chose a sandwich over the book of all knowledge.

But what would your wife do if she had the choice between "no food" or "no knowledge"? The knowledge book and the jewel are both means to ends, while food is an end in itself.

[MusicallyInspired]

It doesn't even have to be a decision based on a desert island scenario. What do you spend your money on right now by priority? Obviously one needs to eat. You need to buy groceries to have energy for anything. You buy a house, rent an apartment, pay rent, pay property taxes, etc, or what have you because you need a place to stay. Then you'd spend money on education to better yourself and increase your knowledge. After all this luxuries, increased wealth, and nice things come last. That's exactly our priority every time we get a paycheque.

[hammer]

I know for a fact that my wife would berate me for the rest of my life if I chose a sandwich over the book of all knowledge.

But what would your wife do if she had the choice between "no food" or "no knowledge"? The knowledge book and the jewel are both means to ends, while food is an end in itself.

"Food is an end in itself" - my wife would love that one.

I don't think that's what you meant to say but if it is, I disagree.

[hammer]

It doesn't even have to be a decision based on a desert island scenario. What do you spend your money on right now by priority? Obviously one needs to eat. You need to buy groceries to have energy for anything. You buy a house, rent an apartment, pay rent, pay property taxes, etc, or what have you because you need a place to stay. Then you'd spend money on education to better yourself and increase your knowledge. After all this luxuries, increased wealth, and nice things come last. That's exactly our priority every time we get a paycheque.

That may be what everyone does but it doesn't mean those are what should be our true priorities in life. I wonder what The Dalai Lama or someone similar would pick in this test. Are you telling me that the great test to get the "magic pinball" as someone else called it can be easily answered by any shmoe off the street, and that everyone on earth has the right priorities in life? Everyone dies happy? It just takes "common sense" to solve this puzzle?

[Anonymous Game Creator 2]

Instead of just asking the random street shmoes and the Dalai Lama the theoretical trial questions, imagine this scenario: You physically put them in a remote and harsh environment, and you allow them bring along only ONE item to ensure they survive the LONGEST amount of time. You cannot assume that there will be plentiful supplies of food or resources there, and they must rely only on the items you specifically give them. You will NOT give them the second item until they have benefited from the effects of the first. What would that one item be?

Food & Water (for sustainance and energy)

After using the first item, you allow a cargo plane to fly overhead and drop another item on the Island, to ensure they survive a little longer still. Again, you will NOT give them the third item until they have benefited from the effects of the second. What would that one item be?

Tools and supplies for building shelter (For immediate protection against rain, wind, sun, and sickness).

We already know that the jewel is useless in such an environment, which makes the book of knowledge/academics/education/entertainment default to third place.

Regardless of his values, I believe that even the Dalai Lama would succumb to death unless he prioritized food first and shelter second.

[DrJones]

I think people are taking this puzzle at heart, as if failing it were some kind of insult. But there's a logic behind it, this puzzle is based on SCIENCE! Okay, it's "social" science coming from a psychologist, which means that is not truly science, but things Maslow pretended to pass up as science based on personal opinion, anecdotal evidence, and a small collection of data. In fact, the top of his pyramid doesn't even have anything to support his theory, but that's not AGDI's fault. Right?

Well, in any case, you now know the answer to the puzzle, so you will never fail at life. You now possess a tiny pearl of wisdom that you will be able to share whenever someone else makes the same mistake. Don't take this as sarcasm, but as a wonderful realization.

[hammer]

Instead of just asking the random street shmoes and the Dalai Lama the theoretical trial questions, imagine this scenario: You physically put them in a remote and harsh environment, and you allow them bring along only ONE item to ensure they survive the LONGEST amount of time. You cannot assume that there will be plentiful supplies of food or resources there, and they must rely only on the items you specifically give them. You will NOT give them the second item until they have benefited from the effects of the first. What would that one item be?

Food & Water (for sustainance and energy)

After using the first item, you allow a cargo plane to fly overhead and drop another item on the Island, to ensure they survive a little longer still. Again, you will NOT give them the third item until they have benefited from the effects of the second. What would that one item be?

Tools and supplies for building shelter (For immediate protection against rain, wind, sun, and sickness).

We already know that the jewel is useless in such an environment, which makes the book of knowledge/academics/education/entertainment default to third place.

Regardless of his values, I believe that even the Dalai Lama would succumb to death unless he prioritized food first and shelter second.

Agreed, and that's why I said that the puzzle made more sense if the setup said that the person was in a harsh environment or desert island. But let's say the guy is sitting in McDonalds?

[hammer]

Instead of just asking the random street shmoes and the Dalai Lama the theoretical trial questions, imagine this scenario: You physically put them in a remote and harsh environment, and you allow them bring along only ONE item to ensure they survive the LONGEST amount of time. You cannot assume that there will be plentiful supplies of food or resources there, and they must rely only on the items you specifically give them. You will NOT give them the second item until they have benefited from the effects of the first. What would that one item be?

Food & Water (for sustainance and energy)

After using the first item, you allow a cargo plane to fly overhead and drop another item on the Island, to ensure they survive a little longer still. Again, you will NOT give them the third item until they have benefited from the effects of the second. What would that one item be?

Tools and supplies for building shelter (For immediate protection against rain, wind, sun, and sickness).

We already know that the jewel is useless in such an environment, which makes the book of knowledge/academics/education/entertainment default to third place.

Regardless of his values, I believe that even the Dalai Lama would succumb to death unless he prioritized food first and shelter second.

Another point - maybe the Dalai Lama would succumb to death, but would that make him wrong? He lived for a day but gained all wisdom, vs. he lived for 20 more years in ignorance. Is the purpose of life just to live longer?

[BeerNutts]

Instead of just asking the random street shmoes and the Dalai Lama the theoretical trial questions, imagine this scenario: You physically put them in a remote and harsh environment, and you allow them bring along only ONE item to ensure they survive the LONGEST amount of time. You cannot assume that there will be plentiful supplies of food or resources there, and they must rely only on the items you specifically give them. You will NOT give them the second item until they have benefited from the effects of the first. What would that one item be?

Food & Water (for sustainance and energy)

After using the first item, you allow a cargo plane to fly overhead and drop another item on the Island, to ensure they survive a little longer still. Again, you will NOT give them the third item until they have benefited from the effects of the second. What would that one item be?

Tools and supplies for building shelter (For immediate protection against rain, wind, sun, and sickness).

We already know that the jewel is useless in such an environment, which makes the book of knowledge/academics/education/entertainment default to third place.

Regardless of his values, I believe that even the Dalai Lama would succumb to death unless he prioritized food first and shelter second.

AGC2 (Love KQ3Redux BTW), that wasn't the situation as was presented, and you can't expect that to be interpreted as what we should be prioritizing without changing the script.

[MusicallyInspired]

Another point - maybe the Dalai Lama would succumb to death, but would that make him wrong? He lived for a day but gained all wisdom, vs. he lived for 20 more years in ignorance. Is the purpose of life just to live longer?

Why would you settle to have all knowledge for 3 short days when you could have it for the rest of your life by prioritizing correctly? And what good is all that knowledge if you could never put it to use? It's a waste is what it is, no matter how you look at it. As is having limitless wealth without food or shelter.

[Blackthorne519]

If you chose all the knowledge in the world, you'd know to pick the food first. QUANDRY.


Bt

[MusicallyInspired]

OHHHHHH

[hammer]

Another point - maybe the Dalai Lama would succumb to death, but would that make him wrong? He lived for a day but gained all wisdom, vs. he lived for 20 more years in ignorance. Is the purpose of life just to live longer?

Why would you settle to have all knowledge for 3 short days when you could have it for the rest of your life by prioritizing correctly? And what good is all that knowledge if you could never put it to use? It's a waste is what it is, no matter how you look at it. As is having limitless wealth without food or shelter.

So most people get the all knowledge then? Because going after the food and shelter first really eventually leads to the time to pursue knowledge, and not just the time to pursue more food and shelter (HDTVs, etc.)?

There's plenty of food out there and no reason to assume that the book of all knowledge will be around if you wait until tomorrow. Also no reason to assume that you'll be around tomorrow.

[Chyron_8472]

Are people on the forums intentionally reading too much into this?

"What if you're sitting in a McDonald's" indeed.


The solution is really really basic. First you need food, then you need shelter, then you can pursue knowledge.

Don't keep adding extraneous criteria into the equation where it's obviously not necessary.

I'm beginning to think that some people are either intentionally trying to confuse the issue, or else playing devil's advocate for no other reason than to draw out the conversation a bit further. I would think this quite funny if I knew that was the intent, but I'm not sure that it is.

[Blackthorne519]

Sometimes I think the most important question to ask of anything is "Can I screw it?"


Bt

[MusicallyInspired]

I just realised the best way to understand this puzzle is to play a game of Minecraft. lol Although technically it doesn't work because you don't need food first in that game...but it's close!

[Loney Childress]

Are you sure the priorities aren't : 1)video games, 2)knowledge, 3)food, 4)moving out of mommy's house?

Come on people, I can't believe people are still arguing about the solution to this. I have to admit, I missed it at first too, but after thinking about it, it makes sense.

[Brainiac]

Sometimes I think the most important question to ask of anything is "Can I screw it?"

Heh-heh-heh...it's appropriate.

[Bobbin Threadbare]

Too bad you can't. You weren't allowed to.

[euroq]

The fact is, although the answer to "what are the most important items if you suddenly got dropped off with no tools in the wilderness" is first the food, then the shelter, then the knowledge, the game doesn't present that to the player as the question.

The question is asked in the pretext of what items are the most important to you. I read the question many times, and I couldn't justify the answer to not be knowledge first. You don't give a man a fish, you teach him how to fish.

[euroq]

Sorry to double post... but I keep thinking about this

The first thing you should do when you go camping is build a shelter. The first thing you should do if you get stranded in the woods is build a shelter. A shelter is, depending on the circumstances, usually the first thing you should be working on. You can survive without food for months; you probably can't survive without shelter for months.