One tells the truth......

[Ward-Minter]

My daughter and I watched Labyrinth and I had to explain this.......

Two guards standing by two doors. One door leads to death, the other paradise.

One guard ALWAYS tells the truth. The other ALWAYS lies.

You can only ask one question each to establish what door to take.

An old trick I know, but I can't find a fathomable answer on the web!!

HELP I am being out foxed by a 7 year old!!!!

[ermintrude35]

..I think it's , you ask guard 1 if he's lying ,and ask guard 2 if guard 1 is telling the truth..

[gen2]

This problem can be solved with just one question, albeit a question within a question.

Go up to one of the guards and ask this question:
"If I aked the other guard 'does this door lead to death?', what would he say?"

The answer given will always be the opposite of the truth no matter which guard stands in front of which door.

[Hammond Egg]

You ask one guard "If I asked the other guard which door leads to paradise, what would he tell me?"

You then take the other door.

[gen2]

ermintrude35's answer would not work (every answer would be a 'No') and in any case you have used up two questions and still don't know which door leads to death.

[Hammond Egg]

Apologies gen2, you clearly beat me to it.

[Ward-Minter]

Thank you for the answers. It's one of those that needs a lot of quiet contemplation.

[=rizla=]

Ask one gaurd if he's standing by the door to paradise, then the other if he is standing next to a door. If the second says no then obviously hes lieing so the other guard must be telling the truth, if he says he is then he is obviously telling the truth so the other gaurd must be lieing.