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The
prisoners are perfectly logical in every decision they make, and they will
not do anything unless they are absolutely certain of the outcome. The
prisoners are also aware that the other prisoners are perfect logicians.
However, they cannot communicate with each other. They are each locked
in a cube made of glass preventing them from speaking with one another.
They are also forbidden to communicate with each other, or signing, or
writing messages, else they be executed immediately.
Each night, the warden gives the prisoners a chance to leave the
penal colony they have been imprisoned in. If a prisoner tells the warden
the shape on his or her forehead, they will be immediately released. If they
get it wrong, they will undergo a long, painful, and agonizing death.
Every morning a guru, who the prisoners know to always tell the
truth, speaks, he only makes one statement about what he sees among the
prisoners and it is broadcasted to all the prisoners and they hear it within
their cells. The guru has no mark on his forehead. One day, he stands up
before all 100 prisoners and says: