Which door would you choose?

Which door would you choose?

29 answers , last was 16 years ago

You find yourself on a game show called "Let's Make A Deal." The game is very simple. There are three doors: door #1, door #2, and door #3. Behind one door is a million dollars. The other two doors contain worthless joke prizes. All you have to do is pick which door you want to open, and you get whatever is behind it. But you only get to open one door. By simple math, then, you obviously have a 1 in 3 chance of picking the correct door and becoming an instant millionaire.

You pick a door. As soon as you tell Monty (the gameshow host) what door you want to open, he stops and says, "Okay, you've made your choice. Now, I'm going to do what we always do here on this game. I'm going to open one of the other two doors for you that I know has a booby prize." And he does so. Then he asks, "Okay, now, would you like to stay with your original guess, or would you like to switch to the other door that's still closed? You only get one shot, so do you want to stay with your original choice, or switch?"

Here's the question: is there any compelling reason to switch doors?

Asked by Unknown Brain in Random Questions at 2:09pm on February 27th, 2008
John Supp 2272
Voted for No, switching d... at 4:31pm on April 4th, 2008
No, you only ever had a 1/3 chance of winning. Regardless of what you do, there will always be an available joke prize for Monty to reveal. I guess you could say that your probability jumped to 1/2 after that, but the fact that they can always reveal one joke prize has no bearing on your odds at all. It's all a suspense ploy to make the show seem more interesting to those who don't understand probability. Deal or No Deal operates on the same principal.
Arturo Rivera Frese 1349
Voted for Yes, there is g... at 1:39am on March 14th, 2008
YES! I made a school homework about this, statistically you have 2/3 chances of winning if you change doors given that you only loose if at the beggining you chose the winning door (1 - 1/3) (If you chose a losing door at the beggining and change it after your last offer, (2/3) you WIN!). So yes, I also tried simulation making a computer program (basic) and it proved me right.

ps. Just to make myself clear, if you don't change doors, you have 1 out of 3 probability to win... if you change it is 2 out of 3... :)
Altangerel Jigmid 1224
Voted for Yes, there is g... at 2:22pm on March 4th, 2008
if person stay with his/her original chose so it means it`s all about luck.
if person switch to the other door so it means he/she believe in hisself/herself
Areg Azatyan 1513
Voted for Yes, there is g... at 1:01pm on March 4th, 2008
well with only 3 doors its a lot about luck if there were more doors then switching would give you a bigger advantage but statistically switching them in this case would increase your chance from 1/3 to 2/3 of winning it therefore doubling your chances
Unknown Brain 1830
Voted for No, switching d... at 8:08am on February 29th, 2008
Before he opened the door, there was a 1/3 chance of getting the million dollars. After he opened the door, you know the prize is either behind the door you picked or the other door he didn't open, so this leaves you with a 1/2 chance of getting the prize. Since there are two doors, the other door must also have a 1/2 chance of having the prize, because the probabilities for all the options must add up to 1, and the door he opened has a 0 chance of having the prize. So switching doors will not change your odds of winning the million dollars unless you switch to the door he opened already! Maybe it was a mystery box. But the mystery box could be anything! It could even be a million dollars! You know how much I've been wanting that!...
Jon Oldaker New Brain
Voted for Yes, there is g... at 7:54pm on February 28th, 2008
I think about it this way. I start with 3 doors and I have a 1 in 3 chance of getting it right. Right now the odds are against me and my door that I have just picked. So that means that its more likely that it is one of the other doors that I have not choosen. Once one of the 2 doors left are taken away I would switch. This would only be wise if you agree that your math is better than your luck XD
Evelen Hough 1911
Voted for No, switching d... at 6:15pm on February 28th, 2008
Even though the odds of your door being right have changed from 1/3 to 1/2 there is no new information that tells you anything new about the chosen door so there is no reason to change. In fact, if anything, the odds are, statistically, better.
Milena Petrova 1247
Voted for No, switching d... at 4:33pm on February 28th, 2008
This is the same as when on Deal or No Deal there are only 2 cases left, one up on stage and the one you originally picked, after you have eliminated/opened all of the rest. Howie always asks the contestant if they want to switch the cases at that point. Nobody switches! Because how would you feel if you switched at that moment, and then it turns out that the case you were originally holding had the million dollars?
Jesse Pierce 1248
Voted for No, switching d... at 3:21pm on February 28th, 2008
Ok. The answer is NO. Imagine some magical way that a penny has 100 sides. Sure, at first you have a 1/100 shot of picking the right side. Now as we wittle the sides down to two sides of the coin, are you telling me Heslop, that on a coin with two sides that I have a 1/100 chance of getting the side I picked correctly?
Kevin Copenhaver 2371
Voted for No, switching d... at 2:07pm on February 28th, 2008
Tho only new information is that you chose door one originally and you are glad you didn't choose door 3. However, it could still be door one or two. Changing doors will not change anything, just piss you off if you had the 1mill and went to the hair dryer.
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