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this post was submitted on 06 Aug 2026
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The correct answer is to leave all the options unmarked.
If you do pick an answer, then you didn't do it randomly. When not marking the answers, the if-statement has the result of "false", but that's not the question.
If your teacher then asks why you didn't answer it, you can safely and unparadoxically claim that inaction is also an option.
The question is not asking you to pick at random. It's asking you to suppose that you do pick at random and to mark the correct answer not at random.
Technically they're not even asking me to answer the statement.
It only states that if I pick an answer then something. And I just don't.
The idea that you must mark an answer is only implied by it being a standard test.
This might seem silly, but it happens in real life too. For instance:
Please choose the correct answer to the question: Is Mitch McConnell dead or alive? Yes or no.
The republicans have chosen not to answer that test. Can we blame them? Yes, but for what, they didn't do anything? They are avoiding the Schrödinger paradox by choosing inaction. In some other kinds of cases it might be criminal to withhold information through inaction, but it's always difficult to prove such a case.
Buddhism also has a lot of these riddles, where the correct action or teaching is to not acknowledge the question.
They aren't asking them to pick an answer at random though.
If "no answer" is in the set of possible answers, then it is not a correct answer because there's then a 20% chance of it being picked at random. But usually that's not the case for tests anyways.
Severe programmer mentality 😂 I like it, but I doubt it would play out in the real world