The Man and the Judge

In this case, you have the moral victory as you know he wants the beer so much its making his tatoo itch. Plus you have a 50/50 chance of picking the right path.

.....

The beer question as a solution to the problem actually came from a famous mathemtician, whose name I have no chance of remembering, who liked beer. He also queried the behaviour of someone who is lying. Is the intent to give an answer which is always false, or is it to give an answer which is misleading.
If it is to give a false answer, then you can try to get round it with logic. If the intent is to decieve, then you can't do a 'if I were to ask you this, what would you say' question, cos the liar will give the most misleading answer, even if its logically impossible.
Hence, the beer question.
Also this:
http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0327.html

Phil

OOTS. Been a while. 🙂 I'll have to go through them again.

The man said: I am not guilty.

Originally posted by geepamoogle
I don't know that this one has an answer.

If it did, it would be something like "If I were to ask you if that way is the way to Freaktown, would you say yes?"

The problem is, he answers randomly, his next statement might have the opposite truth value, rendering the standard analysis inapplicable.

Now if we knew all his statements had the same truth value, then we could determine which way...

I think it has a reasonable answer, no tricks with beer needed. It's a bit like your suggestion.

Originally posted by Joe Mondor
The man said: I am not guilty.

"That statement is false! 6 years for you!"

Originally posted by sloppyb
A man was to be sentenced, and the judge told him, "You may make a statement. If it is true, I'll sentence you to four years in prison. If it is false, I'll sentence you to six years in prison." After the man made his statement, the judge decided to let him go free. What did the man say?

ANSWER AWAY!!!

The man says, "the chicken came before the egg"